South
Africa Versus the Afrikaners:
Interview with a South African Trade Unionist
By
John Vinson
ackground:
The Afrikaner people in South Africa are the descendants
of Dutch Calvinists and other Europeans who settled what
is now South Africa in the mid-1600s. They arrived in many
parts of the country before the arrival of black African
Bantu peoples who make up the majority of South Africa's
population today.
The
Afrikaners, who developed a distinctive language called
Afrikaans, set down roots in the country as farmers. Another
name for the Afrikaner is "Boer" which means "farmer"
in Afrikaans. Many historians have noted the similarity
between the Afrikaner pioneers and the early American settlers.
As
the 20th Century unfolded, South Africa emerged as one of
the most prosperous countries on the African continent.
It drew strong international condemnation, however, for
its system of "apartheid," the goal of which was
separate development for the country's different racial
and ethnic groups. With the support of both Communist guerillas
and Western political figures, leaders of the black majority
demanded that the prosperous country be handed over to black
rule.
In
1994, South Africa's white political leadership agreed to
black demands in exchange for promises that the emerging
government of the Communist-run African National Congress
(ANC) would respect minority Afrikaner rights. Under rule
by the ANC since then, South Africa has adopted aggressive
"affirmative action" policies in all aspects of
national life, replacing skilled whites in high-paying positions
throughout the government and economy with less experienced
non-whites.
Besides
a dramatic increase in violent crime, characterized mostly
by rapes, murders and rampant car jackings, South Africa
has also begun to endure sporadic power outages and fuel
shortages. The most recent blackouts occurred in the Western
Cape and Johannesburg. The Johannesburg Star noted that
"the city's power network is in a serious state of
disrepair," and reported that in the Western Cape,
"the people have a right to know who is responsible
for the mess and what was the exact cause of problems at
the Koeberg nuclear plant" where the outages occurred.
The
Afrikaner trade union Solidariteit (Solidarity) found serious
labor problems at Eskom, the power company. Solidarity reported
that morale is so low that 75 percent of the white employees
are considering leaving to find work elsewhere.
"Seventy-seven
percent of the workers identified the current lack of staff
with the right skills as one of the causes of the [power]
crisis," said Jaco Kleynhans, the union's communications
director. He said employees reported that race relations
at the company have soured because of its aggressive "racial
equity" plan in which skilled whites are being passed
over. "Already, the company admitted that they are
very short of nuclear scientists. At Koeberg alone, eight
of the 60 engineers have already left and those posts have
not been adequately filled," he said.
Recently
Middle American News correspondent John Vinson interviewed
Jaco Kleynhans about the situation whites face in South
Africa.
Vinson: Could you tell us something about Solidarity,
including it origin and purposes.
Kleynhans: The Solidarity labor union was formed
in 2001 after the amalgamation of several small South African
labor unions. Today the union is the largest independent
union in South Africa. The union focus on minority groups
in South Africa and specifically the Afrikaans-speaking
community. The union has a proud tradition of conservative
Christian principles. It promotes a work ethic of mutual
cooperation and trust among its members. Solidarity believes
in the free market and in responsible capitalism that encourages
competition which, in turn, promotes economic growth and
job creation.
Solidarity
is one of the largest trade unions in the South African
manufacturing sector. It also represents thousands of white
collar workers in the services sector and other sectors
of the economy.
Vinson: When apartheid fell in 1994, the new government
promised equitable treatment for all citizens. What has
been the outcome for Afrikaners?
Kleynhans: The majority of Afrikaners feel that the
government is pro-actively working against them. Affirmative
action is specifically targeting Afrikaner workers in many
big companies and especially the public sector where there
has been a huge decrease in Afrikaner workers. Other policies
specifically targeting Afrikaners are the cutting of security
measures in rural farming areas and land redistribution.
Therefore many Afrikaners feel that they are not part of
the New South Africa and that the government doesn't see
them as Africans or even South Africans.
Vinson: Some liberals in America say that while discrimination
against Afrikaners is unfortunate, but it is in fact justice
for the discrimination practiced by Afrikaners during apartheid.
How do you respond to this belief?
Kleynhans: You don't fix discrimination by reversed
discrimination. You don't improve disadvantaged people's
lives by taking the advantaged groups' land, work and rights
away from them. You then just create a new group of disadvantaged
people. If South Africa wants to be a peaceful country where
everyone lives in harmony, the strategy of reversed discrimination
will not work. Afrikaners are leaving the country, are getting
poorer by the day, and are more and more feeling estranged
from their own country.
Vinson: What is the situation for Afrikaners with
respect to crime, with specific reference to violence against
farm families?
Kleynhans: More than 2100 farmers and their families
have been brutally killed on their farms since the ANC took
over the government in 1994. Thousands more have been brutally
tortured for hours. In the meantime, the government decided
to end the commando system which was set up to fight crime
in rural, farming areas. The suburbs where most Afrikaners
live also have seen an increase in crime, and Afrikaners
are today spending an unusual proportion of their income
on personal safety and protecting their homes.
Vinson: Do you think that the ANC government has
an agenda to permit crime against Afrikaner farmers so that
it will be able to seize their land, after the fashion of
Zimbabwe?
Kleynhans: The seizure of land is very close in South
Africa. The government already started with plans to force
farmers to sell their land to the government. Just the fact
that our president (Thabo Mbeki) and the Zimbabwe president
(Robert Mugabe) are good friends is alarming, as well as
the fact that many political leaders in South African support
Mugabe. Also of great concern are government proposals to
disarm law-abiding citizens.
Vinson: What are Afrikaners doing to cope with the
social, political and economic problems that they now face?
Kleynhans: A union like Solidarity is doing everything
possible to support the Afrikaner community. We have a Helping
Hand Fund which gives scholarships to needy students, supports
feeding programs at schools, gives warm clothes and other
needed items to poor communities during winter time. I also
provides Christmas gifts to poor children at Christmas time
and supports children's homes and other institutions for
needy people.
We also help unemployed Afrikaners to find jobs and to get
the necessary training to become entrepreneurs.
Vinson: As America, due to immigration, becomes more
similar to multi-cultural South Africa, do you have any
advice for us?
Kleynhans: It is important that people keep their
traditions, culture (including cultural activities), religion
and religious activities. It is also important that a cultural
group must keep the things that they're proud of and their
standards of living, including academic, ethical and other
standards.
Vinson: What do you think are the long-term prospects
for the Afrikaner people in South Africa?
Kleynhans: The Afrikaner people will have to create
and support their own institutions. Then they also need
to keep their culture, religion and language alive. Support
from like-minded groups in other countries is also necessary
for survival.
Vinson:
What can interested Americans do to help the Afrikaner
people?
Kleynhans: The first thing that interested Americans
can and must do is to help us change the bad perceptions
that many Americans have about Afrikaners. Then we also
need them to support us financially where possible. Our
website (www.solidarity.co.za)
gives all the necessary information on how people can give
money to our Helping Hand fund. E-mail enquiries can be
directed to enquiries@solidariteit.co.za.
