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Social Identities: Journal

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Afrikaner Nationalism:
The End of a Dream?
Janis Grobbelaar
Published online: 25 Aug 2010.

To cite this article: Janis Grobbelaar (1998) Afrikaner Nationalism: The End
of a Dream?, Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and
Culture, 4:3, 385-398, DOI: 10.1080/13504639851681

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 Social Identities, V olum e 4, N um ber 3, 1998

A frika ne r N ation alis m : the E n d o f a D re am ?*

JA N IS GRO B BE LA A R
U nive rsity of South A frica
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The South A frican state is in transformation. Legally de ned and of cially

entrenche d A partheid is no longe r formally operative. The country , as we all
know , held its rst ever dem ocratic ele ction durin g A pril 1994 and a govern -
men t of national unity is in place. Four and a half decades of of cial Afrikaner
nationalist rule over South A frica has ende d.
W hat of Afrikaner nationalism? A ny ende avour to examine sociologically
the future of Afrikaner nationalism need s not only to conside r its historical
genesis and contem porary nature substantive ly but also to look broadly at
some of the attempts to deal w ith comparable phen omena conceptually.
M any of us, myse lf included, w ould prefer to argue for a sociological
conceptual approach w hich does not in prin ciple or by w ay of departure
problem atise diversity or view race, ethnic or nationalist represen tations as
in he ren tly or generically con ict ge ne rating . The so-calle d social constructionist
view s on nations, nationalism , ethno-nationalism, race and ethnicity as articu-
lated by a range of theories (includin g M arxism and pluralism ), provide
persuasive arguments that such phen omen a are essen tially ideological prod-
ucts and/or inven tions. Ethn ic groups and volke are accord ing to these ap-
proaches ultimately `im agine d com munities , as Bened ict Anderson (1983)
w ould have it. Their sign i cance is devised and /or developed at speci c
historical conjunctures in `a far from innocent political discourse (see for
example Anderson , 1983; H obsbaw n, 1990; Vail, 1989; Sharp, 1988 and Lever,
1995). In the w ake of the recently of cially deceased Apartheid experie nce,
w he re race and ethn icity were ide alise d and rei ed, and race and ethn ic
gerrym andering reached unpreceden ted leve ls, the allure of analyse s w hich
sugges t that they are ideological and obfuscatory creations, w hich can be
undone, is overw he lm ing. All the more so because of the dee p prim ordialist
claims made by the ferocious advocates of Afrik aner nationalism !
Ethn icity, race and ethnonationalis m as in uential and even determ ining
variables are `evide nt in countries and regions all over the w orld . In a (recent)
article the N igerian social scien tist C laude Ake sugges ts that ethnicity is a
`a most sig ni cant elem en t of the A frican reality and further that

we do violence to the A frican reality by failing to explore the possibili-

ties of ethnicity, by failing to follow its contours and its rhyth m, for that

* Inaugural Lecture, Profes sor of Sociolog y, U n ive rsity of South A frica.

1350-4630/98/030385-14 $7.00 1998 C arfax Publish ing L td

 386 Janis G robbelaar

w ould be part of startin g w ith the w ay we are inste ad of discard ing it

for w hat we migh t be. (1993, p. 5)

He goes on to suggest that ethn icity lls (can ll) the public sphe re or civil
society in Africa and as such provide (s) `checks to the centralising tenden cies
of the post-colonial state. Given the arg umen t that the vitality and depth of
democracy is joined inex tricably to the existen ce of civil society, A ke (1993) is
in fact sugges ting that, in the drive for more accountable and represen tative
forms of governance in Africa, ethn icity is not inevita bly a problem. It can act
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as a `space creating phen omenon encapsulating the ke y notion of relatively

autonom ous domestic en tities as the basis for healthy dem ocracies.
In Central and Eastern Europe it is clear that Lenin s so-calle d national
que stion w as not ef caciously `resolved durin g the socialist era. In the former
Soviet U nion and Yugoslavia, for exam ple, bitter ethn onationalist and ethn ic
con icts rage and one is forced to confront the question as to w hether ethnicity
and/or race can be disassociated from an autonom ous or a relatively auton-
om ous polity and territoriality (i.e. from a position that theoretically draw s on
prim ordialis t theory). Furthermore, in W estern Europe and N orth A merica one
need s to add ress the apparent failure of the modern western state to deal w ith
the ethnon ationalist grow th of separatist m ovemen ts in the w ake of the
development of capitalism . In this reg ard, the Q uebec and Basque separatist
m ovemen ts come to m ind. Because nationalism s persist and sustain them-
selves , we need (again) to ask w hat they are and how they can come to be
accommodated. Are they mere social constructions?
As I have trie d to indicate in this brie f exposition, sociologists and social
scientists in gene ral nd it very dif cult to prese nt a clear analytic or explana-
tory account of these com plex phen omen a. It is not at all obvious or clearly self
eviden t w hat it is that we are discussing w he n we, as social scien tists, speak of
nationalism , race or of ethnic moveme nts . W hilst the literature on the subject
m atter is extens ive it tends also to be descriptive and circular. The many
theore tical and conceptual debates often raise more questions than they pro-
vide answers . In m y view then we have not developed adeq uate social
scienti c accounts of race, ethnicity, ethn onationalism and/or nationalis m.
H avin g thus attempted brie y to draw attention to the conceptual problem s in
the eld , let me attem pt to shed some ligh t on the question of Afrikaner
nationalist dreams of self-determ ination or selfbeskikking, and their relevance to
the problem s of ide ntity and dem ocracy in a South Africa in transform ation in
1995.
In their latest w ork, the respected South Africanist authors Heribert A dam
and Kogila M oodley have both join tly and severally (1993a, 1993b and 1994)
been exploring the issues of nationalism and its various form s vis a vis
non-racialism , as com peting ideo logies of the post aparthe id state. The y sug-
gest further that `dem ocratic transform ation in South Africa rests partially on
the sk illful managem en t of racial and ethnic perceptions and that non -
racialism is the core ide ology of the new state (A dam , 1994, p. 15). In other
w ords, South A frica need s a non-racial inte grative iden tity for the ne w state.
According to the emine nt South African political philosopher Johan Dege-
 A frikane r N ationa lism : the End of a D ream ? 387

naar (1995), no attempt sh ould be made to build a South A frican nation nor can
one in fact be built. Degen aar moreover argue s that the imposition of a uniform
culture or iden tity in a multi-cultural context w ould not only almost inev itably
lead to ethnic and /or nationalist con ict, it w ould also fatally aw any attempt
at nation build ing in South Africa. In his view , en deavours at nation build ing
w ill inev itably stim ulate ethn onationalisms such as Afrik aner and Zulu
nationalism , and hen ce any nation build ing project is doomed (1995, p. 9). He
posits the view that reg ionality, diversity and ethnicity should be accommo-
dated in a federally structured and constituted state of sorts. He notes:
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If we discusse d this notion of a `national iden tity and accept the idea of
dem ocracy inste ad, it is possible to nd a different focus for our loyalty.
In a multicultural society loyalty is focusse d around a constitution that
has been collectively arrived at. At the same time the citizens of the
country may feel a loyalty tow ards a speci c culture, lang uage and
relig ion w ithout making nationalistic dem and s in that reg ard. (1995,
p. 9, translation)

A dam and M oodley (1993; 1994) as well as Degen aar (1995) probe the ques-
tions of diversity , of ide ntity, of social m ovemen ts, of groups and group related
ideolog ies and phen omen a of a South A frica in transformation. The latter are
viewed by the authors as extrem ely sig ni cant variables in com ing to unde r-
stand the South African polity and the potential it holds for a democratic
future. Questions of trade-offs, of tradables, of accommodation and of the
politics of ne gotiation according ly remain at the centre of the quest for a
democratic South A frica.
If we accept that question s of ethn icity, race and ethnon ationalism have
conse quen ces in South Africa that is, notw ithstand ing their controversial,
somew hat intang ib le, and perhaps even shiftin g boundarie s there are at
least four ideal ge ne ral policy options that could be conside red on the part of
decision make rs. In this regard it may be argued that the prospects of the
A frikane r nationalist dream can (m oreover) be usefully located w ithin
the ambit of these ideal typical policy options.
In a rst option it w ould be necessary to ensure that hypothetical policy
guaranteed equal opportunity, outcome and impact for all groups in South
A frica. That, in the face of very serious and even debilitating historical
circumstances, all ethn ic and/or racial groups be afforded not only the scope
to gain access to the syste m but also the bene t of a range of appropriate and
congruous strategie s that w ill en sure equitable and af rm ing outcomes and
impacts for all groups. If such a policy (or vision of equity) were to be decided
upon, it w ould have to be sens itive to the feeling s of w rongfulne ss w hich
w ould und oubtedly be experie nced by, for exam ple, the previous ruling and
privile ged Afrikaner nationalist elite. W e have only to take note of recent
unem ployme nt statistics released by the Central Statistical Services 40% of
`black South Africans are unem ploye d against only 6% of `w hite South
A fricans to see that opportunity ge ared tow ards equity in outcome and
impact w ould drastically effect group em ploymen t ratios in South A frica.
W hen jobs are lost (or there is a perception that they w ill be), it is possible that
 388 Janis G robbelaar

people w ould not only fall back into the organic or laager-like comfort of group
m obilisin g ide ntities like Afrikaner nationalism , but also that the loss
of self-esteem and dign ity experie nced w ould contribute tow ard s radically
underm in ing a vision and strategy of equity across the board .
Second, a policy to ne gate the broad sociological sig ni cance of group
diversity such as one of non-racialism could be follow ed. In an ideal
typical situation, and in the event of it being carried to its logical conclusion,
the socio-political sign i cance of group membersh ip in term s of this policy w ill
need to be actively demyth ologised and deb unke d. We should ask w hether
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very m uch w ould change in the m aterial life conditions of ord inary South
A fricans if this approach became formal govern ment policy. C learly not.
Third , a policy facilitating some or other form of cultural or ethn ic political
autonom y could be followed. Here diversity w ould be built into policy and a
range of tradables w ould need to be ne gotiated. For exam ple, the state w ould
need to take on a more decentralised or even federal form and, ideally, ethn ic
need s w ould be met at a `secondary level .
Finally , secession or radical partition remain for some an ideal policy option
in 1995. If this strategy were to be seriously conside red it w ould have to stand
again st the weigh t of South African history w here geog raphical partition has
been used to deny people not only their dignity and humanity, but, more
importantly, reasonable life chances, via a process of system atic and brutal
structured exploitation. I w ill return to these four policy options.
Afrikaner nationalism is not a social movemen t, an ethn onationalist force or
coheren t ideo logy reaching out from the m id-seventeen th century merch ant
capitalist occupation of the C ape of Good H ope, as the gre at majority of
A frikane r nationalist historians (including those of the prese nt post aparthe id
era) w ould have us believe. It is not evide nced, for example, in Adam Tas s
historic rebellion agains t Van der Stel, the even ts in the Eastern Cape that have
come to be know n as the Slagtersne k rebellion or even , for that matter, The
G reat Trek, and the m uch ide alised Battle of Blood Rive r. These inciden ts,
together w ith many others, have been carefully selected and incorporated into
the inevita ble and necessary `myth making process that is inheren t in the
construction of appropriate historie s for any social m ovemen t particularly a
nationalist one.
Contrary to the above notion, the genesis of A frikane r nationalism in
Southern Africa is rooted in the events that took place durin g the last quarter
of the ninetee nth century. This point is well made by, inter alia, the Afrikaans
historian Floors van Jaarsve ld (1961). He sketche s the context immediately
preced ing the inception of A frikane r nationalism as follow s:

We can best begin by describing the condition of the Afrik aans-speakin g

population shortly before the seven ties and eighties of the last century.
At that time term s such as South A frica or A frik aans people had no
spiritual or political meaning for them ; sin ce they lacked unity and
national consciousness, such term s could not den ote a `fatherland or a
`nation . In sh ort, they had not yet become `nationally m inded . Over
a distance of nearly 1,500 miles, stretch ing from the C ape to the
 A frikane r N ationa lism : the End of a D ream ? 389

Zoutpansberg , there were isolated groups and there w as only lim ited
intellectual exchange . (F.A. Van Jaarsveld , 1964, p. 33)

W hat happene d to change this state of affairs? South Africas enorm ous
m inera l wealth w as `discovered . These even ts he ralde d an era of fundamen tal
socio-political and econom ic change in the reg ion. In their w ake came urbani-
sation, eme rgen t ind ustrialisation , and later commercial agriculture. Strong
anti-British imperialist and capitalist sen timen ts developed in the strug gles that
took place over the ow ne rsh ip of the forces of production. Together, these
events and the dyn amics they unleashed formed the crucible from w hich the
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A frikane r nationalist ideology and social m ovemen t initially sprung (see, e.g.,
Van Jaarsve ld, 1964; Du Toit, 1975; 1983a and b). A frik aner nationalism has
been a principal, if shifting product of South African history for the past 100
years, and not for 300 years as most w ould have it or w ant it.
Afrikaner nationalism , the strategies and organisational infrastructures
forged to give it momen tum , the rew ards and patronage w ith w hich it has
endow ed its adhe rents and the mobilisin g and modern ising tende ncies it has
engen dere d lead to the creation of the form al aparthe id state. In 1948, the latter
led to the furthe r embourgeoisme nt of the m ajority of w hite South Africans
especially those of A frikane r descent via an extrem ely successful policy of
racial and ethnic patronage in the civil service and in a series of w hite
A frikane r dominated parastatals that were establis he d. (W hite Afrik aner males
were the special recipients of these very rew ard ing af rm ative action strate-
gies.)
In the decades precedin g afrikaner nationalism s victory at the polls in 1948
the volk w as, as now , w racked and torn by internal battles (see e.g. Roberts and
Trollip, 1946 and Furlon g, 1987). Hence the routine cry for unity unity is
strength or in the w ords of one of its most promine nt ide ologues, the m uch
revere d Vader Kestell:

We have after all to be united as a nation. W ith us it is not a m atter of

blood being thicker than w ater. It should not be like this. W e need to feel
that our fellow A frikane rs are our ow n esh and blood. M y nation is in
great peril. The bigge st peril facing my nation is its division. (1941, p. 46,
translation)

G iven A frik aner nationalis m s partial coherence over time , and the institution-
alis ation of in its core narrative its monolithic status in the eyes of `outside rs
should be carefully weighed . Particularly w hen evaluating the actions and role
of the aparthe id state over time.
The sh ort revie w that follow s is `punctuated by the formation of the
C onservative Party of South Africa under the leadersh ip of the breakaw ay
N ational Party cabine t m inister Andrie s Tre urnicht in 1982. It denotes the start
of an era of reinv igorated and res uscitated A frik aner nationalist activity, w hich
itse lf is perh aps best unde rstood in term s of w atershe ds and historical parallels.
It can be divided into three period s 1982 to 1992 (Neo-Verw oerd ian); 1992
to 1994 (a period of inn ovation) and 1994 to the presen t (a period of `renew ed
constitutional participation and of ethnic/racial `trading ).
 390 Janis G robbelaar

So-calle d monumen tal A frikane r nationalism constructed unde r the tutelage

of the N ational Party from 1948 via the instrumen ts of its apartheid state
apparatus formally split into tw o m ajor groups in 1982: the `new N ational
Party, and the so-calle d w hite rig ht w ing. As I have argued else w he re (1991),
the latter became, and is, the torchbearer of a reconstituted Afrikane r national-
ism . A ccording ly the w hite righ t w ing sh ould be understood to embody and
sym bolise not only the historical guard ianship of the Afrikaner nationalist
dream but also its contemporary strivin g for self-determ ination, and hen ce a
threat to the presen t state. It may be sugge sted further that given its presen t,
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quite fragile organisational and strategic hege mony, it is also a threat to

govern ment at a less constituted level. We nee d only to recall and conside r the
1993 political assassina tion of C hris H ani, the South A frican C omm unist Party
chief!
For a period of approximately ten years the C onse rvative Party of South
A frica (C P) stood at the centre of a resuscitated A frik ane r nationalist move-
men t that is, up until and including the 1992 w hite-only referen dum. Its
formation, as has been sugge sted , w as the culmination of w ide rangin g
disson ance on both the levels of ideology and praxis w ithin the ranks of the
govern ing w hite Afrikane r elite in the face of the w ider South African
socio-political and economic crisis. U ntil approximately 1992, the party s policy
w as dominated by a ne o-Verw oerd ian notion of political praxis. It belie ved
through out this period that it could w in power through the ballot (i.e. in the
old dispensation) and fully implement its 1913/1936 Land A ct political option
of Partition. (This lack of unde rstanding of the political realities of South Africa
still bedevils w hat is left of this party.)
The C P mobilise d, as had the N P earlier, via a broader ne tw ork of w hite
A frikane r organisational complexes and formations. This cultural, racial and
nationalist mobilis ation lie s at the root of the historical `successes of Afrikaner
nationalism and at the core of the C P s attem pt to w in power, at both the local
and national levels. This netw ork or volksfront (people s front), of w hich the
party came to be not only a constituen t, but also the core elem en t, w as, and is,
characterised by cross-cutting and coinciding membersh ips and inte rlocking
elites. For analytic purposes it can be unde rstood to be made up as follow s:
party political organisations in a participatory constitutional sen se (until the
A pril 1994 elections the C P w as not only the prim ary represen tative but at
time s also the of cial opposition in Parliament since last years election,
Viljoen s Freed om Front (FF) has become the represen tative of this strand);
religious formations; policy study and /or thin k tank units; paramilitary
organisations; other civil society en tities and kultuurpolitieke (cultural political)
organisations.
N onetheless, up to and including the 1992 referend um result, the C P did
not succeed in gainin g m ore than 30% of the w hite vote at a national level, that
is 3 out of 10 w hite voters at m ost cast their ballots for the CP. O n the other
hand , it sh ould be rem embered that these votes, in fact, represen ted at least
50% of w hite A frikane r votes in the former Orange Free State and Trans vaal
provin ces (i.e. excluding the w ider Johannes burg metropole).
Through out this period strife and debate rage d w ithin the Afrikaner
 A frikane r N ationa lism : the End of a D ream ? 391

nationalist righ t w in g, but the C onservative Party reigne d. This w as not

because it manage d to develop new or viable policy, but because it w as able to
provide security on at least tw o important levels. In the rst place, it devel-
oped, as had the N ational party in a previous era, an excellen t grassroots
organisational infrastructure that `held people concretely. The party regu larly
organised local meeting s; called on its constituents methodically to collect
membersh ip fees; m obilise d to w in control over school boards , farmer s coop-
eratives and so on and encourage d membersh ip of the w ider volksfront organ-
isations. In the second place the CP s aparthe id rhe toric and its effective
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organisation on the ground also `spoke to those w ho were beginning to feel

lost and alien ated as the Botha regime , the prim ary A frik aans churche s, and the
in tern ational comm unity suggeste d a mes sage of change aparthe id w as
unacceptable! If South Africa were to survive it nee ded to adapt it nee ded
to reform. (The Botha regime , nee dless to say, had begun a tentative reformist
and techn ocratic path tow ards survival from the early 1980s onw ard s.) Further-
m ore, the success of the mass dem ocratic m ovemen t and the African N ational
C ongre ss in their res istance and liberation campaigns through out the 1980s
contin ued to chip aw ay at A frikane r nationalis t rulin g class con dence. Of vital
importance, and as a consequen ce of the above, the South African econom y
contin ued its backw ard slide. In these circumstances the righ t w ing, w ith the
C P at its centre, under the leadersh ip of an ex -Dutch Reform C hurch dom inee,
also an ex-presiden t of the A frik ane r-broederbond , prom ise d a `w ay back . It
provided for psychological security, for a fam iliar group consciousnes s and the
conviction that the dream of w hite A frikane r self-de term ination w as, notw ith-
standing, defen sible and viable. It prom ised the return to a gemeinschaft ethos
that had once been the hallm ark of Afrik aner nationalism aw ay from
grow ing alien ation.
Despite eviden ce of tensions vis a vis the need for pragm atic and viable new
policy am ongst its adheren ts, the C P could not act forcefully or seriously on
this m atter. F.W . de Klerk s announcemen t on Rooivrydag (Red Frid ay)
(2 Fe bruary 1990) see med to lull it furthe r into a state of false consciousne ss
and, objectively speaking , policy impotence. It entered the 1992 referen dum
w ithout a `new strategy and it achieved disastrous results only 3 out of 10
w hites voted N O. Participation in the referend um proved ultimately to be not
only the strategic blunder w hich `lost the party its central role in the Afrikaner
nationalist movement but also the battle for political power w ithin the parame-
ters of the `old South A frican constitutional script.
The se 1992 events he ralded a new discourse in the battle of and between
A frikane r nationalists. The press ure to act, as well as to reconstruct policy
again st the backd rop of the fast moving South African political scenario
ushere d in tw o signi cant even ts. First, the `gene rals under the leadersh ip of
C onstand Viljoe n en tered the aren a. The y brough t w ith them not only techno-
cratic and strategically `advanced but also innovative approaches to the vexing
questions of policy formulation, neg otiation and military res istance. They were,
after all, products of the total onslaug ht era and experts in counter revolutionary
strategy and w arfare. (The C P w as refusin g to negotiate at Kem pton Park . The
A N C did not represe nt a volk and he nce the process itself unde rm ine d the
 392 Janis G robbelaar

party s reason for being.) As a result of their initiatives rst C OSA G (The
C oncerne d South A frican Group) and then the Freed om Alliance w as formed
(1993). These alliances brough t conserv ative black groups, including the
Ink atha Freed om Party (IFP), together w ith Afrikaner nationalists in an attempt
to create a bulw ark against the AN C and N P de ned neg otiation strategies .
M oreover, the umbrella right- w ing alliance, the A frikane r V olksfront (A VU ),
w as formed w ith the goal of unitin g and mobilisin g the rig htw ing in the more
emphatic pursuance of the goals of A frikane r self determ ination through
engagem en t and ne gotiation. Second, the C Ps fragile unity w as sh attered in
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1992 w he n it lost seven Mem bers of Parliament to Andrie s Beye rs ne w ly

formed A frikane rvolksunie . The latter w as intent upon enterin g the Kempton
Park ne gotiation arena in the w ake of the refere nd um defeat in an attempt to
`save someth ing for A frikane r nationalists .
In practice, Viljoe n and his gene rals w ith their technocratic visions and
skills began to `take over the Afrikaner nationalist moveme nt. The y kept their
options open on the issues of dire ct ne gotiation w ith the AN C , on participation
in the then forthcoming April 1994 election s and on a territorially sm aller
volkstaat for A frikane r nationalists .
The death of Andrie s Treurnicht in 1993 proved to be the nal blow to the
now posturin g C onservative Party. Viljoe n and his people became not only
`movers and shake rs but Viljoen more personally em bodied Afrikaner
nationalism s hope `if all else failed . (A frikane r nationalists have throughout the
period under discussion , that is, from 1982 onw ard, belie ved, that if `all else
failed they could rule South Africa via their m ilitary stre ng th or at least
m ake it impossible for any one else to do so!) Viljoe n kept all options open
he registe red a political party, The Freed om Front (on 4 M arch 1994), for
possible participation in the A pril 1994 election. He also wen t ahead in
attempting to consolid ate a paramilitary commando syste m (the Boere Kri-
sisaks ie). Then the so-called Bophuthatsw ana debacle took place in M arch of
1994. A s a res ult Viljoen he w ould forcefully com mit him self to a radically
differen t constitutional route a hitherto unthinkable though t for the majority
of the belie vers in `die erwe van ons vadre (A frikane r nationalis ts) that of
constitutional participation. In pursuit of a consitutional route (give n the clear
collapse of a military option as re ected in the Bophuthatsw ana m ilitary defeat
of the w hite Afrikaner forces), and just before the April 1994 elections, Viljoe n
and the FF neg otiated, in exchange for participation, an amend men t to the
Interim C onstitution. Article 34 of Sched ule 4 (i.e. the en shrine d C onstitutional
Principles of 1994) made constitutional provision for a notion of the righ t to
self-determ ination by any comm unity sh arin g a comm on cultural and language
he ritage , w hether in a territorial entity w ithin the Republic or in any other
recognised w ay. The relev ant article goes on to en sh rine the above if there is
substantial proven support. Furthermore C hapter 11A of the Interim C onstitution
m ade provisio n for the establish men t of a V olkstaat C ouncil. The C ouncil,
accordin g to the C onstitution, sh all serve as a constitutional mechanism to
enable the proponents of the ide a of a V olkstaat constitutionally to pursue the
establis hm en t of such a v olkstaat.
Viljoen and the FF are now actively part and parcel of legitim ate
 A frikane r N ationa lism : the End of a D ream ? 393

constitutional activity in South A frica. They have nine seats in the national
parliamen t and fourteen in the nine provincial parliamen ts (1995). Viljoe n
himself has stature bey ond the formal and quite lim ited numerical constituency
he represen ts both nationally and inte rnationally . He is presen tly comm itted
to the path of constitutional engagem en t. In other w ords the dream of achiev-
in g a `new Afrikane r nationalist volkstaat and he nce self determ ination ap-
pears, at presen t, to be not only in distinguishably constitutionalise d and
endorsed via govern men t participation as well as in the activities of the
V olkstaatraad, but also through the strategies of elite accommodation. In
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the w ords of a V olkstaatraad mem ber (June 1995) `Afrikaners are a competitive
and skilled m inority their accommodation w ould clearly be of bene t to the
govern ment of national unity (personal inte rview ). Neverthe less and clearly
the prim ordialist roots of Afrikaner nationalis m are, as alw ays, evide nt.
W hat w as the state of the dreamed -of volkstaat in 1995? A ccording to the
First Inte rim Re port of the V olkstaat C ouncil (May 1995) it w as: `A state, the
in habitants of w hich belong prim arily to a speci c volk people (1995, p. 7).
In 1941 durin g an earlier era of Afrik aner nationalis t mobilisation, N ico
D iedericks (later to become a long servin g South African ministe r of nance
and State Preside nt under the N ational Party govern men t), said of the volkstaat
for w hich the N P w as then striv ing:
It w ill stop being the neutral, colourle ss state it is today that can be used
by any govern ment majority of the day to the detrime nt of the core of
the A frikane r v olk and to the advantage of foreign powers and elements.
It w ill become the servant of a ge nuine , well-es tablished volks com-
munity. It w ill have to positive ly pursue volks values. It w ill be
the migh tiest of weapons in securin g the freedom of this volk. (1941,
pp. 128 29, translation)

The V olk State C ouncil (reme mber that this C ouncil is part of the state
apparatus in term s of the 1994 C onstitution) de nes self-determ ination as
political sovereignty. It enables a volk to dete rm ine its ow n destin y and to give
expression to its nee d for freedom from suppression and discrim ination, for
pursuin g the developmen t of its human and natural resources and for deciding
on the form and nature of its govern ment (1995). It has nothing to do w ith
racially exclusive categories , in other w ords. The report itself is the product of
comprom ise between tw o broad groups of Afrikaner nationalists w ho serve on
the C ouncil and w hose volkstaat strategies differ from one another quite
signi cantly. On the other hand , they sh are a pled ge to pursue constitutional
participation and ne gotiation. (In a June 1995 interview a council member went
so far as to suggest that the notion of the volkstaat and the survival of Afrikaner
nationalist dream had in some w ays been prom oted by the A N C s `coming to
power ).
A second report (June 1995), also dealing w ith the question of the future of
A frikane r ethnon ationalism and self determ ination, w as released by the so-
called extra-parliamen tary A frikane r nationalists. (Those w ho are mem bers of
w hat is left of the once powerful A frik aner V olksfront). This group is essen tially
m ade up of the now fragme ntin g CP. Its report w as com pleted unde r the
 394 Janis G robbelaar

auspices of the V olksrepubliekw erkkom itee (the N ational Republic W ork C om-
m ittee), a sub comm ittee of the AVF. Patriot, weekly of cial new spaper
m outhpiece of the CP, com men ts on the tw o reports in the follow ing term s:

The differences are dealt w ith in a sin gle remark. One report, that of the
V olkstaatraad ,w as in the rst place subm itted to Pres ide nt M ande la and
is a report that is intended to be discusse d in the com munistic council
cham bers of this country . H owever, the report of the V olks Republic
W ork C ommittee has been submitted by its chairm an, Dr W illie Sny-
man, to D r H artzenberg for presen tation to the Boer volk! The VRW C
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report is a report from the volk to the volk in aid of the v olk. (Patriot,
leader article, 9 June 1995, p. 6)

W ith these w ords the C P again unde rlined the fact that it w as unable to come
to term s w ith the material and tang ible reality of the governm en t of national
unity. It w as unable to break the con ne s of a now empty ruling class
posturin g. This severe ly lim its its pro ciency to be practical. Its territo rial
claims are considerably greater than those of the V olkstaatraad and under the
leadership of H artzenberg it has lost its sign i cance. In short, by its ow n
volition, it large ly has excluded itself from the prese nt deb ate on Afrikaner
nationalism s future. In summ ary, there are three main `poles in this deb ate:
the Freed om Fron t `linked members of the V olkstaatraad; the A frikane rvry-
heidstigting or Boshoff-Orania `linke d members of the V olkstaatraad, and those
that cluster around the now almost defunct AVF and the dying C P.
Before attempting, in conclusion , to situate the A frikane r nationalist dream,
some com mentary on those w hite A frikane rs w ho m ake up the majority of the
w hite Afrik aans speaking population in South A frica is appropriate. It w ould,
I belie ve, be fair to say that the majority of these people voted for the N ational
Party in 1994 (see e.g. Reyn olds, 1994). The N P reje cts, it says, ethn o-national-
ism and has embraced non-racialism together w ith `political federalis m as its
core ideology and policy. W hat does this mean?
Some 17 ye ars ago, on the occasion of his inaugural prese ntation at this
U nive rsity (D ie Pro el V an `n A frikane r), C ornie Alant put forw ard a four
category typology of w hite Afrik aners. C ontemporary w hite A frikane r mem -
bers of the N ational Party could best be placed in his C category that of `die
K om prom is (comprom ise minde d) Afrikaner ? A lant says of this category of
A frikane rs:

It is obvious, however, that this type of A frik aner acts in a `dual m anner
in the sen se that the C ompromising Afrik aner on the one hand supports
traditional values, but on the other hand desires to m ake `the ne cessary
adjustmen ts unde r the pressu re of circumstances. (1978, p. 7,
translation)

This, then, and notw ithstanding the N P s formal policy, is the natural constitu-
ency of the Freed om Front. W hat w ould prom pt w hite A frikane rs to join the
latter? According to `insider s : grow ing law les sne ss, that is, conditions of
deteriorating law and orde r; (furthe r) economic decline ; attacks on the sym bols
of the w hite Afrik aner culture such as the prese nt `attack on the Afrikaans
 A frikane r N ationa lism : the End of a D ream ? 395

lang uage ; threatening the eiesoortigheid (particularity) of A frikane r schools and

places of learnin g; nationalisation of land ; taxation of agricultural land; the
ne gation of the volk and a programme of radical af rm ative action.
I am sugge stin g that the thrust of Afrikaner nationalist self determ ination
strivin gs are at prese nt coalesced around the state sponsored V olkstaatraad and
the Freed om Front. That they, as well as the govern ment of national unity, are
in 1995 ende avouring, via constitutionalised means and a strategy of elite
accommodation, to norm alise ethn icity and ethn onationalism. At the same time
they w ant to trade ethnicity and ethnon ationalist capacity w ith the other. This
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boils dow n to attempts to launde r ethnicity and to deracialise it in the cauldron

of South Africas future and in the ligh t of w hite Afrikaners apartheid crime
again st humanity.
The V olkstaatraad report itself presen ts us w ith tw o strategic options. In the
rst place, the notion of a constituent state is placed on the table. O ne w hich is
eventually to become politically sovere ign but is nevertheless part of a w ider
federated South A frican state and its economy. Attached to it w ill be tw o
further units areas of lim ited self determ ination calle d autonom ous units and
civic councils via w hich cultural self-dete rm ination can be established for small
pockets of A frikane r nationalists through out w ider South Africa. This approach
is clearly en visaged to be one of exib ility and of progre ssive ne ss on the part
of its proponents. It rests on tw in pillars, one of trade-off and one of technoc-
racy. It is, in other w ords, largely an elite driven en terprise . W hat does it see
itse lf as offerin g? Its supporters argue a com petitive , skille d and potentially
m otivated core of people w ho w ill comm it themselves to a peaceful and
prosperous South A frica and w ho are able and w ill be w illin g to contribute to
the RD P. If their Afrikaner nationalist sentimen ts are not accommodated, they
w ill, they argue , be `lost to South A frica they w ill take w hat they can
w ithout reg ard, and/or they w ill leave South Africa and/or they w ill plan
in surre ction. In sh ort, they offer an argument that they could quite easily
become a real liability instead of a potential asset. Inversely, A frikane r na-
tionalists could, `if all else fails , look to the IFP and Zulu nationalism . In so
doing they w ould greatly exacerb ate the problems of democratising South
A frica by genera ting ethnon ationalist con ict ins tead of, in their term s, broad-
ening democracy for all in South Africa by being accommodated constitution-
ally in group term s.
This approach draw s on the law s of rationality , of scien ce, and is `biddable
in the eyes of its upholde rs. It departs, and this is very sig ni cant, from the
notion of territorial self-determ ination in territories (and it argues that such
areas exist) w ithin w hich the Afrikaner w ill be in a position to capture the
m ajority vote through the dem ocratic process (V olkstaatraad, 1995(a), p. 8). On
the other hand, there is an anomaly eviden t in the report. It `adds on the
A frikane rvryheidstigting (Afrik aner freed om option) or the Boshoff option and
he rein lie s the obvious split w ithin the C ouncil.
The A frikanervryheidstigtingargues for a D eclaration of Intent to be included
in the nal constitution. Its vision aries belie ve that a volkstaat for Afrikaner
nationalists w ill only be viable w he n a `substantial group of people w ant it,
and are w illing to move to, occupy, and build in a territory w hich is at prese nt
 396 Janis G robbelaar

underp opulated and undeveloped. Its argumen ts rest on the `w ill of the
citizenry rather than that of the elite s. It belie ves that it w ill not be possible to
engineer a v olkstaat from above. The latter vision does not rest on the precon-
dition of existin g majority territoria l occupation. It sugge sts an Afrikaner
volkstaat, in an unde rpopulated area of South A frica to be enabled by a
constitutionalise d D eclaration of Inte nt to be take n up in the new C onstitution
if suf cient Afrik aners should desire it. It deals w ith the question of race by
arguing that a volk need s to do its ow n `w ork that is, the application of the
principles of selfversorging (self-direc tion) and eiewerksaam heid(autonomy). This
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esse ntially excludes people of colour acquirin g reside nce.

In conclusion , and sim ply in relation to the four ideal typical policy options
spelt out tow ard s the begin nin g of this address, it can be concluded that
A frikane r nationalists reject both a policy of non -racialism as well as that of
equity. The y are concerned w ith the relative or federal political autonomy
option and, `if all else fails w ith that of radical militarise d secession. Please
allow me to share a few large ly speculative impression s. In m y view Afrikaner
nationalism is alive after approxim ately 100 years sin ce its birth . The era of
A frikane r nationalis t activity in South Africa is not quite the vestige of the past
that most of us w ould w ant to believe it to be. It is, however, m ost certainly
ailin g. It is also clear that the grow ing international respectability and legiti-
m acy attrib uted to issue s of ethnicity, ethnonationalis m and diversity together
w ith the culture of dialogue and neg otiation in South A frica, are playing a vital
role in attem pts to address Afrik aner nationalis t ide ntity. Afrikane r nationalist
elites dominating the moveme nt are at presen t and in ge ne ral committed to
`trading and ne gotiating. The question s of soft territorial boundaries and
relative cultural autonomy are on the constitutional menu in South A frica for
the foresee able future.
To sugge st that A frikane r nationalism is a com pletely empty and spent
force w ould be to m isundersta nd the modern history of South Africa. On the
other hand, to arg ue in the ligh t of the available eviden ce, as w as illustrated
through out this paper, that it w ould be easy for presen t day Afrikaner
nationalist forces to act as a cohesive unit w ould be equally untrue. Finally, if
threat and insecurity in ge ne ral were to become the dominating culture in
South A frica, it is m ore than like ly that support for the vision of the belie vers
in die erwe van ons vadre w ould grow sign i cantly am ongst w hite South
A fricans and we w ill not have heard the last of this once powerful force.

Janis G robbelaar m ay be conta cted at The D epartm ent of Sociology, U N ISA , PO Box
392 , 0001 Pretoria, So uth A frica.

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