Source Article: News24.com
Many Afrikaners feel “excluded and alienated”, and have lost confidence in government. But because they love South Africa they not only want to pursue their own interests but also help turn the country around, Flip Buys, head of the Solidarity movement, said at a two-day summit between Afrikaner interest groups and the Thabo Mbeki Foundation.
In a statement signed yesterday by 12 Afrikaner interest groups and the Mbeki Foundation at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands, Cape Town, the parties agreed that 11 priorities should be addressed in the Afrikaner community because the are critical to social cohesion and the economic development of South Africa and the African continent.
The priorities include:
. Creating a growing and inclusive economy by removing policies that hinder economic revival;
. A new financing model for emerging and existing farmers in the midst of a crisis at the Land Bank. City Press understands that Germany is interested in investing in this.
. Identifying successful agricultural projects that can serve as role models for the rest of the country;
. The promotion of indigenous languages in schools and other educational institutions. As part of this, the groups want to tackle two symbolically important projects. One is to save the Lovedale Press in Alice in the Eastern Cape, which was founded in 1823 and published in 1836, among other papers, the first isiXhosa newspaper, Izimvo Zabantsundu (views of the black people).
The second is the revival of the Groenberg school on Schalk Burger’s Wellington wine farm Welbedacht, where Afrikaans writer CP Hoogenhout was principal between 1869 and 1904 when he became editor of the early Afrikaans publication Die Patriot.
. Addressing the feeling of alienation and lack of trust with the government, which, according to participants, is felt by all communities “but is particularly visible in the case of Afrikaners”.
“It is important to understand the source of this so that we can finally overcome it and the pain that stems from our conflicts in the past,” the participants decided.
. Greater inclusion of minorities in politics. Afrikaners need “access to executive authority policymakers, especially on issues raised here in order to develop trust and cooperation”.
Through the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Afrikaners also undertake to reach out to other communities in South Africa and the rest of the continent to exploit the potential for cooperation and to promote “mutual recognition and respect”.
. Afrikaners want to work with other communities to use “all available skills and experience regarding municipal infrastructure” in struggling municipalities. Two or three municipalities will serve as a model for further intervention;
. Afrikaners do not want to be discriminated against in education and demand a degree of “autonomy” to run private educational institutions;
. Afrikaners, “as an African cultural community”, want to be treated and recognised just like other traditional and cultural communities in South Africa.
The violent crime crisis, which is also experienced on farms, also needs urgent attention.
In this regard, AfriForum has developed a community-based security system that can be used as part of the country’s larger anti-crime strategy.
However, they demand that the police and police minister recognise their role in fighting crime.
City Press understands that AfriForum already makes its drones available to the police in large parts of the country.
The weekend’s intensive talks and the signed statement were the culmination of rapprochement between Afrikaners and the Thabo Mbeki Foundation which dates back to 2014 and which parties yesterday undertook to continue.
The parties were the Thabo Mbeki Foundation; the Afrikaner Africa Initiative; the Solidarity movement; the trade union Solidarity; AfrikanerBond; AfriForum; the Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Associations; the Dagbreek Trust; the SA Academy for Science and the Arts; Business League; the Freedom Foundation (Orania); the Southern African Agri Initiative; the National Employers Association of SA; as well as professor Irma Eloff and Burger.
“The parties acknowledge that it will be impossible to build a country on foundations of mistrust. This is therefore a practical journey to develop trust between our people and our communities, and, more importantly, to work together to promote the spirit of vuk’uzunzele, independence, self-help and independence between our communities,” said the statement.
Vuk’uzunzele is a Nguni word for “stand up and do it yourself”.
In a cool council chamber over the course of two days, about 40 delegates from both groups tried to articulate a vision that looks ahead without forgetting the past and chose cooperation between Afrikaners and other communities over direct contact with government.
There was consensus that the country is at a crossroads, that divisions are growing, that we are sitting on a time bomb and that government’s plans are a failure.
At the same time, Afrikaners ask not to be denounced by politicians as “criminals and land thieves”, but to be recognised as a cultural and linguistic community that is and can still be a huge asset to the country and all its people.
Former diplomat Chris Opperman, founder of the Afrikaner Africa Initiative and convener of the summit, said he had seen “inclusive African nationalism” in Tanzania in the 1990s under President Julius Nyerere and got to know what Afrikaners considered an African tribe.
an Bosman of the AfrikanerBond says, however, that this dream is in danger here: “In 1994, most of us bought into the idea of the new South Africa. But 27 years later many of us are angry, disillusioned South Africans. And Afrikaners feel alienated. We are specifically targeted – if we say we are South Africans then we are called land thieves, racists, colonialists of a special nature or invaders. Let’s accept the different identities we have, but rediscover shared values and interests and a shared ideal.”
Vincent Maphai, the prominent businessman who signed on behalf of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation and helped organise the summit, warned of alienation: “What keeps a society stable is that you have a vested interest in the survival of that society. When you are alienated you are even willing to destroy what already exists. We need to relocate our social capital and build on what has already been achieved.”
Maphai told the signatories on behalf of the Mbeki group: “We are signing because these are legitimate concerns of people. Let’s examine them further. Afrikaners are very important for the country’s economic survival [through] their resources, their commitment to the country.”
Then he turned to Buys and said: “We do not want you to go anywhere else. We need you to rebuild this country.”
Buys responded: “We are going nowhere.”
And I say to him: “We do not want you to go anywhere. We need you in the reconstruction of this country.”
Jurist Koos Malan lamented the fact that the Constitution was no longer the “master narrative” in South Africa.
“Afrikaners should not be arrogant. In fact, they have plenty of reason to be extremely modest, but after 1994, after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Afrikaners regained their self-confidence. There is something incredibly wholesome in a cultural community that accepts responsibility for itself but at the same time says ‘not just for ourselves. Let’s join hands and build bridges so that we can unlock cooperation between communities.’ In my opinion, this is the master concept here.”
While Dirk Hermann of Solidarity described yesterday’s signing as a “historic occasion”, it was also hailed as “brave” by a participant who chose not to speak on record in the hope that the issues raised would be discussed further in ANC structures.
“We need each other. And as we begin to act together, we will find that we solve many problems,” said one speaker.
Delegates were also reminded that politicians who make divisive statements, especially about white people, “are only the voice of a minority”.
“I am absolutely certain that there is no majority of black people who hate Afrikaners. That majority does not exist. Our task is to ensure that we look at what power we can mobilise to build a better South Africa, in line with a vision we all share. As we act together, we will show that we can win and we will win.”