Day of Reconciliation: Recognise the Afrikaner's cultural rights ...

The Bill of Rights in the Constitution of South Africa recognises communities and individuals’ right to participate in the cultural life of their choice and to enjoy their culture. So, Afrikaners’ annual commemoration of the 1838 Vow on this day, also known as “Geloftedag”, is a constitutional right.

This is the main theme of the message delivered by Dr Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF Plus, during today’s commemoration of the Vow at Smitsfield near Ermelo in Mpumalanga.

According to Dr Groenewald, Reconciliation Day and the annual commemoration of the 1838 Vow are not in competition with but are complementary to each other. It would be a mistake to force Afrikaners to choose between the two.

Most South Africans want peace and a secure future for their children. Afrikaners have a constitutional right to celebrate and commemorate their culture.

If reconciliation in South Africa requires the respective nations and cultural groups to deny and destroy what is uniquely theirs, it is not reconciliation at all, but imposed assimilation and cultural annihilation.

South Africa is a multicultural country with twelve official languages and it should be honoured, recognised and respected. Afrikaners have the right to be proud to be themselves.

Government is doing everything in its power to vilify and eradicate Afrikaner history. But Afrikaners also have a duty to teach their children about their heritage. It no longer happens at school.

In a country with so many languages and cultures, everyone should be proud to be who or what they are. If that right is recognised, reconciliation will inevitably follow.

If Afrikaner youth can resist the onslaught on the Afrikaner’s history, i.e., casting it in a negative and prejudiced light for the sake of populism, there is hope for the Afrikaner’s future.

The latest onslaught is the BELA legislation, which aims to phase out our right to mother-tongue education under the guise that language policies are exclusively being used to deny black children access to Afrikaans schools.

Afrikaners have, over the course of centuries, played a significant role in building South Africa up for everyone’s benefit. Afrikaners can and should be proud of their contribution and need not be apologetic about it.