No apartheid memorabilia or flags would be welcomed at an anti-farm murder gathering in Klapmuts, Cape Town, on Monday morning.
The gathering will rather focus on unity among all South Africans, ‘Genoeg is Genoeg’ [Enough is Enough] organiser Talita Basson told News24.
“We are against everything that is a part of the old South Africa. We won’t be singing Die Stem , we won’t be carrying the apartheid flag and we won’t allow any hate speech.”
“What we are doing is about the new South Africa, from the farmer to the farm worker.”
She said farm workers have been approached to do one of the prayers at the gathering.
“We are doing everything in the name of the Lord.”
Between 500 to 1500 people are expected to gather at Kanonkop, Klapmuts, from 06:00.
From there at 08:00, participants would drive along the R44 to the Cape Town Green Point Park where a prayer gathering will be held.
On Facebook, 1 400 people indicated that they’ll be attending the gathering.
Basson, 21, an education student at Stellenbosch University said she was inspired to organise the event after she drove past Joubert Conradie’s farm.
Conradie died on Tuesday last week after he was shot on his farm in Klapmuts.
“At first I wanted to just ignore it and drive away, but when I saw people praying I decided to stop. I knew I wanted to do something; I needed to do something.”
Basson said farm manager Chris Loubser is also in support of the gathering.
A video of Loubser was widely shared on social media the past week where he made an emotional plea for South Africans to stand together against farm murders.
A separate gathering by Johan Willemse is being held in front of the National Assembly on Monday morning, but Basson said ‘Genoeg is Genoeg’ is not aligned with Willemse.
Willemse previously chained himself to a Jan van Riebeeck statue in the Cape Town CBD over concerns of its removal.
“We are strictly a non-political gathering,” Basson said.
Western Cape Police Spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut said police are aware of the ‘Genoeg is Genoeg’ gathering and will deploy an “adequate number of police officers”.
Basson and her co-organiser Daniel Briers approached the City of Cape Town for event approval, but on Friday afternoon it had not yet been granted.
Briers, 44, a farmer outside Paarl said the gathering is “not a call for chaos, but a call for love”.
“We are wearing black on Monday for every daughter [who] is raped on a field, for every murder that occurs in this country. We are saying enough is enough,” he said.
“We are not calling for division, but we are calling everyone to unite for love, joy and peace for this country.”
News24