Who is Pieter Kriel? Young activist shakes up SA's political landscape with controversial views on race
Image: Supplied
Pieter Kriel, a 21-year-old political dynamo, has burst into the scene with explosive and divisive opinions and South Africa and the globe have taken note.
Kriel, positioning himself as the antithesis of Kallie Kriel, the chief executive of AfriForum, has made a significant impact in South Africa's political arena with his left-leaning views.
In an interview with IOL, he shared that from a young age, he envisioned a future in leadership or advocacy roles.
"Something between philosopher, politician, and public voice. I've always wanted to fight for what's just," Kriel said. "I'm a humanist. I believe in human dignity, internationalism, unity, and justice. I advocate for equality, African integration, wealth redistribution, post-nationalism, and social realism. I'm against both racial superiority and racial ignorance. I support decolonisation in both structure and mindset."
He began his plunge into politics in 2018 when he became an atheist and started questioning all systems of power, including political, religious, and historical. The young man idolises Thomas Sankara, Steve Biko, Christopher Hitchens, George Orwell, and said he enjoys some of Karl Marx's ideas, but denied being a Marxist.
In a recent article by IOL, Kriel shared his views on the Afrikaner exodus to the US, asserting that the 49 individuals involved were not fleeing racial persecution but rather seeking equality. His comments sparked significant backlash on social media, drawing criticism from various quarters, including voices from the US.
"To the Americans foaming at the mouth because I dared to speak the truth, I don't owe you an apology. America has never apologised for being the global blueprint of hypocrisy for slavery, invasion, regime changes and mass incarcerations.
"To the Afrikaners clutching their pearls; the fact that my own community is attacking me with more rage than they did for apartheid, shows the work I'm doing matters, and I'm not here to comfort you, I'm here to expose you. I will not back off."
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Next
Stay
Close ✕
One recurring criticism of Kriel is that his voice is elevated being he is a white man. He claimed that this is true and that he benefits from privilege compared to his black contemporaries.
"I understand the suspicion that I am propping myself up as a white saviour," Kriel said. "But I don't speak for black South Africans. I speak with and alongside them. My goal isn't to 'save anyone. It's to tear down the myths that keep us divided."
The activist added that he also has political ambitions, but not those of the traditional kind.
"I want to build grassroots, youth-driven, Pan-African humanist movement. Whether that becomes formal politics or stays activist-based is still to be seen. I'm growing my platform, organising, and preparing for the long game. I'll be active on the ground, not just online. I want to raise a generation of thinkers, not just followers. The goal is justice. Real, material, irreversible justice."
IOL Politics Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mail & Guardian
9 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
Africa-Japan: Reflections on Tokyo International Conference on African Development
Japan went through a process of transforming from a country with a weak agricultural base to the success that it is today. Photo: File The Japanese have a saying: 'Shippai wa seiko no haha.' It translates as 'Failure is the mother of success.' In other words, never give up! Next week, African leaders will assemble in Japan for the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) — 32 years after its birth. This is therefore a good time to reflect on how the political and economic experience of The most essential lesson Africa can learn from Japan is political, because what Africa needs most today is peace and stability, which can only be achieved in the political realm. It is important to note that, unfortunately, Africa's level of conflict was the Conflict resolution In my judgment, politics in Japan has at least four interrelated dimensions. First, there is the widespread perception that politics is not a zero-sum game. The best way to achieve a compromise is to ensure that today's political loser can be tomorrow's winner. This eliminates the need to resort to any means necessary to usurp power or cling to it until forcibly removed. The unwritten rule of politics in much of Africa today seems to be different — one loses a political contest, often a violent and sometimes bloody contest, then that marks the end of that person's political career, or even of his life. In such a contest, one, therefore, has two choices: either to win and exterminate his opponent or to lose and be exterminated. As the Kenyan scholar Ali Mazrui once put it: 'In many African countries, presidential power is a zero-sum game. Either one is head of state or a figure of fun and derision, if not vulnerable to imprisonment or death. This state of affairs encourages some heads of state to cling to power indefinitely. They have everything to lose by giving up the state house.' The second dimension of politics in Japan pertains to the phenomenon of political recycling, the idea that politicians, especially those holding higher offices, should expect to be called back to service after their term of office ends. The premise is that the old order need not be wiped clean by a new order. The net effect of this approach in Japan has been to institutionalise a positive-sum game of politics, foster the desire among political contestants not only to be good losers but also gracious winners and, above all, to induce the desire to cooperate. In Africa, it is fair to say that political recycling is almost unknown. Third, there is, in Japan, the idea of the victor without the vanquished. I was a young graduate student from Africa in Japan in the 1990s. In that decade, the country changed its prime ministers nine times, needless to say, always peacefully. Both the winner and the loser could continue to co-exist. It is not a coincidence that Japan today has 11 former prime ministers, who are aging gracefully, some of whom, possibly, may also be waiting in the wings for another call to service. And finally, there is the notion that an effective politician is one who can successfully make a compromise in the face of conflicting positions. The origin of this win-win approach can be traced back to the Meiji period and beyond. In 1877, a regional lord named Saigo Takamori rose against the Meiji reformers in a rebellion that ultimately claimed thousands of Japanese lives. The rebellion itself grew out of the disaffection of those whose influence was declining as a result of the reform. After the conflict ended, Takamori came to be described by the victorious reformers as a 'misguided patriot' and, years later, was officially elevated to the position of a 'national hero'. The reformers did not doubt the genuineness of Takamori's concerns for the welfare of his fellow Japanese, even though his vision of how it was to be achieved differed from theirs. A statute was subsequently erected in Takamori's name, which stands to this day in Tokyo's Ueno Park. In a sense, Takamori may be more remembered in Japan today than the Meiji reformers themselves. He was also the inspiration behind the 2003 popular American film, The Last Samurai . Serious political disagreements do arise in contemporary Japan, too, but they never lead to mutual annihilation. The Japanese have learned how to flexibly accommodate each other and change their positions when circumstances dictate. Africa, too, could perhaps take a leaf out of Japan's book. Sustained economic development On balance, Japan's experience in economic modernisation reveals that it successfully pursued three strategies: diversification, domestication and indigenisation. First, Japan's Meiji reformers proclaimed in 1868 that 'knowledge shall be sought throughout the world', and absorbed Western skills and adopted Western institutions from as many and diverse sources as possible. The second strategy was what the Japanese economic anthropologist Keiji Maegawa called translative adaptation, the making of foreign products, institutions and ideas more relevant or more useful to local needs. It is worth noting that the Japanese were less concerned about whether what was modified had or did not have a close resemblance to the original. Third, Japan pursued indigenisation, the fuller use of its human and material resources. This process also entailed the use and idealisation of what was indigenous. Japan's modernisers never sought to transform their culture radically. Instead, they successfully indigenised modernity. In each of the above areas, Africa's experience was decidedly different. In general, why does Africa appear to be a less efficient learner? We can refer to a scene from Mazrui's The Africans, the internationally acclaimed documentary, to illustrate this point. Holding in his hand a crude homemade gun that the liberation fighters in East Africa had used in the 1950s, Mazrui says in This issue takes us to another matter Africa has to come to grips with. Technological self-reliance Let us consider Mazrui's comment above in connection with the observation made by the American historian, George Basalla. It was about what happened in the 16th century when Portuguese adventurers brought to Japan two handguns made in Europe. At the time, guns were unknown in Japan. Basalla wrote: 'The Japanese were so impressed by these primitive firearms that they purchased them on the spot and set their swordsmiths to work duplicating them. Within a decade, gunsmiths all over Japan were turning out firearms in quantity.' Far from Japan, the Portuguese also took the same objects, guns, to another place in almost the same period, and introduced them to another group of people in Africa. The new weapon also had a similar practical appeal to the Africans as the Japanese. The idea of making guns spread rapidly in one society (Japan), as indicated above. In the other, however, the idea did not gain any traction. For the succeeding centuries, in the latter, the spear continued to play its traditional role in warfare. The place in question is 16th-century Ethiopia, at the time a Northeast African Christian kingdom in the Northern part of present-day Ethiopia. Even long before Mazrui and Bassalla, the prominent Meiji-era intellectual Yukichi Fukuzawa wrote in 1899: 'It was not until 1853 that a steamship was seen for the first time [in Japan]; it was only in 1855 that we began to study navigation from the Dutch in Nagasaki; by 1860, the science was sufficiently understood to enable us to sail a ship across to the Pacific. This means that about seven years after the first sight of a steamship, after only about five years of practice, the Japanese people made a trans-Pacific crossing without help from foreign experts.' What, then, explains the difference? Why did Africa and Japan react to contacts with the West so differently? The answer to this question is complex, for sure. But it would have also to include the divergence in the way the challenges of modernisation were perceived in the two societies, as urgent and stark in one case and less so in the other. In the case of Meiji Japan, the need to catch up with the West was framed in existential terms — as a matter of survival of the nation. With the persistent threat from the major powers of the time, and with the country open to seeing and interacting with the external world, Japan realised that it was lagging behind these powers in some areas and that it must catch up with them if it was to safeguard its national security. At this crucial moment in history, the belief that national improvement was achievable through determined effort also became widely and firmly accepted in Japan. In Africa's case, the question of catching up with the West, as vital as it was, was never framed in this way, as a matter of 'do or die'. It was probably not a coincidence that Ethiopia, under Emperor Tewodros in the 19th century, should be the only African country to seek Western weapon technology, though unsuccessfully, as it was seen as essential for the country's survival. All in all, there is a key takeaway from a comparative examination of the political and economic experience of Meiji Japan and postcolonial Africa. Japan can offer valuable lessons to Africa on what to learn, how to learn and how to learn quickly. And, why to never give up. Dr Seifudein Adem is a research fellow at JICA Ogata Research Institute for Peace and Development in Tokyo, Japan.
Daily Maverick
12 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
As Trump slaps 30% tariffs on SA, Africa's trade reckoning has arrived
The revival of sweeping US tariffs under President Donald Trump's administration has once again placed developing economies — particularly those in Africa — on the frontlines of a trade war not of their own making. Trump's latest imposition of tariffs on more than 90 countries is not just a reordering of the global trade hierarchy — it's a jarring signal that developing countries can no longer rely on the goodwill of powerful economies to access international markets without political strings attached. Although Africa is not a direct target of the tariffs, South Africa now stands as an explicit casualty. As of 7 August, a 30% tariff on all South African goods entering the US was in effect — two days after President Cyril Ramaphosa reportedly called Trump in a last-minute effort to negotiate. The Presidency issued a statement highlighting ongoing trade dialogue, but the timing of the enforcement — just hours later — laid bare the limitations of diplomatic overtures in an era of economic unilateralism. Make no mistake: this is not just a diplomatic skirmish. It is the opening salvo in a trade war that threatens to destabilise Africa's economic recovery. While Ramaphosa has demonstrated admirable restraint and commitment to dialogue, the Trump administration has chosen economic unilateralism over bilateral engagement. The tariff trap and global trade reordering These tariffs are more than mere economic tools — they are a form of political signalling with deep global consequences. Trump's protectionism undercuts decades of progress in trade liberalisation and reveals a worrying disregard for the multilateral trading system. For South Africa, this represents not just a blow to exports — especially in automotive parts, citrus and wine — but a broader signal of how vulnerable even middle-income African economies remain in global trade diplomacy. Sadly, African states are still rule takers, not rule makers, in international trade talks. The risk of dumping and trade distortion The fallout from this tariff will not be contained within US-SA trade flows. African markets, which often lack robust anti-dumping laws, are likely to face a surge in cheap goods — steel, textiles, electronics — originally destined for the US. Dumping will devastate local industries that are already fragile and undercapitalised. It will also widen Africa's trade deficit and increase unemployment, especially in the manufacturing sector. In some cases, these distortions may trigger retaliatory actions or increased subsidies, raising the spectre of full-blown trade wars among developing economies that can least afford them. It can be argued that many of the support programmes to soften the US tariffs and targeting exporters or specific sectors (automotive, agriculture) may make them 'specific' subsidies, particularly if the support is contingent on export performance or import substitution — and hence not subject to World Trade Organization rules on prohibited or actionable subsidies. In the short term, the South African support strategy is probably permissible, especially under the public interest and development exceptions in World Trade Organization rules — and considering the retaliatory nature of the US tariffs (which itself may breach World Trade Organization norms). But the risk for countervailing measures by countries like the US increases, especially if support remains narrowly targeted to exporters with major price impact in other countries' domestic markets, and if South Africa succeeds in replacing US markets with World Trade Organization members like the EU, Japan, or China. This is a form of economic suffocation that will not be televised, but it will be felt. Ramaphosa's tariff gamble and strategic misalignment Ramaphosa's attempt at quiet diplomacy — both during his May visit to the US and again in the last-minute phone call — reflects South Africa's preference for stability and negotiation. However, such strategies appear tragically mismatched against Trump's zero-sum, populist economics. In the absence of a coherent and reciprocal response from Washington, South Africa's strategy may need to shift from engagement to economic repositioning. To date, Pretoria has pursued selective sectoral lobbying, winning small concessions on seasonal fruit exports, but this has done little to protect the broader economy. It is time South Africa recognises that trade diplomacy with Trump's America may no longer be conducted on traditional terms. Interestingly, Pretoria has condemned the US tariffs as unjust and economically incoherent. Government officials argue the move ignores South Africa's complementary role in US supply chains and the fact that more than 75% of American goods enter South Africa duty free. Ramaphosa's administration had even offered investments and LNG purchases under a proposed bilateral framework agreement, which remains unacknowledged by Washington. In response, South Africa has launched a comprehensive, multi-pronged support strategy aimed at cushioning the economic blow: An export support desk has been created to help South African firms explore new international markets. A competitiveness support programme offers financial aid and equipment to manufacturers hit by tariffs. A Local Production Support Fund has been deployed to incentivise import substitution and protect local industry. Competition law exemptions now allow exporters to collaborate on logistics and cost sharing. Additionally, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has been activated to absorb job losses, estimated at up to 100,000, especially in the automotive and agricultural sectors. Unemployment was already at a staggering 32.9% before the tariffs. Automotive exports to the US have since collapsed by more than 80%, with ripple effects expected across the citrus, wine and table grape industries. South Africa's rapid-response strategy is laudable in ambition, but its long-term sustainability remains in question. Globally, such programmes — emergency subsidies, market reorientation initiatives, and support funds — have shown mixed success. Similar export pivot efforts in Latin America and Southeast Asia have often struggled under the weight of slow bureaucratic implementation, limited state capacity to disburse funds efficiently, and over-reliance on uncertain new markets South Africa's response hinges on three critical variables: the agility of state agencies; the effectiveness of business uptake; and the readiness of alternative markets to absorb redirected exports. Any slippage in these areas could render the response insufficient and deepen the crisis. Moreover, such trade support frameworks are financially intensive. Without new revenue streams or international financing, Pretoria's ability to sustain these programmes over the medium term may falter, especially in a fiscally constrained environment. China: Opportunistic ally or economic colonist? Meanwhile, China has wasted no time in offering African nations softer loan terms, lower tariffs and increased trade lines. But we must not romanticise this pivot. As some scholars have warned, China's Belt and Road incentives often come entangled with opaque loan conditions and regulatory conditionalities and debt entanglements. While Beijing may offer a short-term trade parachute, the long-term cost may be strategic dependency. In this geopolitical chessboard, African economies are too often pawns, never players. Geopolitically, South Africa's BRICS+ alignment may also be shaping Washington's posture. Trump's recent remarks at the BRICS+ summit in Rio warned of consequences for countries backing 'anti-American' initiatives. This, combined with ideological differences over racial justice and Israel-Palestine legal disputes, is adding friction to an already fragile diplomatic relationship. AfCFTA: No longer a dream, but an urgent necessity If there's a silver lining to this tariff tsunami, it is the wake-up call it offers to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The World Bank has made it clear: AfCFTA has the potential to lift 30 million people out of poverty and increase intra-African trade by more than 80%. Yet, implementation remains painfully slow, stalled by bureaucratic inefficiencies, political inertia and infrastructural gaps. The Trump tariffs must now serve as an economic alarm. Africa can no longer afford to rely on goodwill from the West, nor can it keep putting off the structural integration that AfCFTA promises. It is time to move from intention to execution. A new doctrine for African trade The 30% tariff imposed on South Africa is not an isolated event — it is a glimpse into a future where the Global South must fend for itself. Ramaphosa's call to Trump may have bought a sliver of diplomatic capital, but it also exposed the limits of soft power when faced with hard tariffs. Africa's path forward is clear. It must diversify its trading partners, strengthen intra-African markets, develop robust trade remedy frameworks and reduce its vulnerability to the whims of any single superpower. If Trump's tariffs represent the thunder, then the lightning must be Africa's resolve to trade with itself and chart its own economic course. Anything less would be economic negligence. The unpredictability of Trump's tariff doctrine underlines a broader truth: no African country can afford to hinge its economic future on the benevolence or volatility of a single trading partner. For South Africa, the US remains its second-largest trading partner, with $17.64-billion in bilateral trade in 2023. But such exposure comes with risks, especially when preferential access can be withdrawn overnight. The International Trade Centre and UN Trade and Development have long warned of these vulnerabilities, urging diversification and intra-African trade expansion as long-term solutions. If this trade turbulence does anything, let it be a clarion call to accelerate the building of resilient, intra-continental supply chains, create robust trade remedy institutions and reduce overexposure to foreign economic storms. African countries must learn to trade more with each other and less at the mercy of superpowers with shifting agendas. For Africa, the path forward is not looking outwards for salvation — it is looking inwards for strength. DM
eNCA
14 hours ago
- eNCA
Four days left to square the circle on global plastic pollution treaty
GENEVA - Countries remained at loggerheads on Monday over how to tackle plastic pollution, with only four days left to craft a landmark global treaty on reining in the ever-growing scourge. While plastic has transformed modern life, plastic pollution poses an increasing threat to the environment and the human body -- and every day the garbage accumulates on land and in the oceans. The 184 countries meeting at the United Nations to sculpt a first international accord setting out the way forward return to the negotiating table after a day off on Sunday to reflect on their differences. AFP | Dibyangshu SARKAR The first week of talks in Geneva fell behind schedule and failed to produce a clear text, with states still deeply divided at square one: the purpose and scope of the treaty they started negotiating two and a half years ago. Last week, working groups met on technical topics ranging from the design of plastic to waste management, production, financing for recycling, plastic reuse, and funding waste collection in developing countries. They also discussed molecules and chemical additives that pose environmental and health risks. - Rival camps - A nebulous cluster of mostly oil-producing states calling themselves the Like-Minded Group -- including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia, Iran, and Malaysia -- want the treaty to focus primarily on waste management. AFP | Sylvie HUSSON, Christophe THALABOT The United States and India are also close to this club. At the other end of the spectrum, a growing faction calling themselves the "ambitious" group want radical action written into the treaty, including measures to curb the damage caused by plastic garbage, such as phasing out the most dangerous chemicals. Plastic pollution is so ubiquitous that microplastics have been found on the highest mountain peaks, in the deepest ocean trench and scattered throughout almost every part of the human body. The ambitious group wants a clause reining in plastic production, which is set to triple by 2060. The club brings together the European Union, many African and Latin American countries, Australia, Britain, Switzerland and Canada. AFP | Olivier MORIN It also includes island micro-nations drowning in plastic trash they did little to produce and have little capacity to deal with. Palau, speaking for 39 small island developing states (SIDS), said the treaty had to deal with removing the plastic garbage "already choking our oceans". "SIDS will not stand by while our future is bartered away in a stalemate," and "this brinkmanship has a real price: a dying ocean," the Micronesian archipelago said. - Consensus 'delusion' - The treaty is set to be settled by universal consensus, but with countries far apart, the lowest-ambition countries are quite comfortable not budging, observers said. AFP | Nicholas SHEARMAN "We risk having a meaningless treaty without any binding global rules like bans and phase-outs. This is unacceptable," Eirik Lindebjerg, global plastics adviser for the World Wide Fund for Nature, told AFP. "Expecting any meaningful outcome to this process through consensus is a delusion. With the time remaining, the ambitious governments must come together as a majority to finalise the treaty text and prepare to agree it through a vote." Without touching on whether ambitious countries would ultimately abandon consensus and go for a vote, the EU's environment commissioner Jessika Roswall, due in Geneva on Monday, urged countries to speed up negotiations and not "miss this historic opportunity". The draft treaty has ballooned from 22 to 35 pages -- with the number of brackets in the text going up near five-fold to almost 1,500 as countries insert a blizzard of conflicting wishes and ideas. In total, 70 ministers and around 30 senior government officials are expected in Geneva from Tuesday onwards and could perhaps help break the deadlock. by Isabel Malsang
