Lex Libertas accepts Mahumapelo’s challenge to defend White Cross Project claims before Parliament

Lex Libertas has formally accepted an invitation from Supra Mahumapelo, Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, to present and defend the claims associated with the White Cross Project before Parliament.

Mahumapelo issued a statement on 19 October in response to an open letter by Lex Libertas Executive Director Dr Ernst Roets to International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola. In the statement, Mahumapelo challenged Lex Libertas to present its evidence on issues including farm attacks, property rights and race-based legislation publicly before Parliament, under oath and subject to questioning.

'We accept the invitation,' Roets said. 'If Parliament wants the evidence, we will bring it. We are prepared to answer questions, defend our conclusions and subject our claims to public scrutiny.'

Lex Libertas has requested that the Portfolio Committee arrange a formal public session. The organisation has also proposed that other experts who addressed the White Cross Project Conference in Washington, D.C., be invited to participate so that the issues can be examined through evidence and argument rather than political slogans.

In an open letter addressed to Mahumapelo today, Roets also responds to several claims made in the parliamentary statement. These include its characterisation of the White Cross Project’s position on farm attacks and 'white genocide', the Expropriation Act, B-BBEE, sanctions and international engagement.

The letter further points out that Mahumapelo’s description of section 16 of the Constitution is incorrect. Section 16 does not contain the exclusion relating to the misrepresentation of the country for material advantage that appears in his statement.

Lex Libertas also welcomes what appears to be a change or significant clarification in Mahumapelo’s position on stripping citizens of their citizenship. His latest statement says that nobody proposed removing citizenship merely because someone holds a different political opinion and denies calling for citizenship to be stripped arbitrarily.

'The most important development is that Parliament has now said that these matters should be tested openly,' Roets said. 'We agree. Let the claims be stated accurately, let the evidence be examined and let the better argument prevail.'

Lex Libertas maintains that Parliament is an appropriate forum for this discussion, but not the only legitimate forum. The organisation will continue engaging institutions and policymakers both in South Africa and internationally.

• The full open letter to Mahumapelo can be read here.