| 1st Row: Paul Kruger · Andries Pretorius · Louis Botha · 2nd Row: J. B. M. Hertzog · Jan Smuts · Eugene Marais · 3rd Row: André Brink · Charlize Theron |
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Anglo-Africans · Coloureds · Dutch · Flemish · French · Germans |
Afrikaners (including the distinct [6] Boer subgroup) are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers[7] of Dutch (including Flemish), French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.
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The term Afrikaner as used in the 20th and 21st century context refers to all white Afrikaans-speaking people, i.e. those of the larger Cape Dutch origin and of the smaller Boer origin, who are descended from northwestern European settlers who first arrived in the Cape of Good Hope during the period of administration (1652 – 1795) by the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC). Their ancestors were primarily Dutch Calvinists, with smaller numbers of Frisians, English, Germans and French Huguenots, and with minor numbers of other European groups (such as Dutch Jews, Scandinavians, Portuguese, Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, Scots, Irish, Polish). South Africans of British descent are considered a separate ethnic group from Afrikaners, and their first language is English.
The Dutch who first settled at the Cape in 1652 established a geographically limited refreshment station for the Dutch East India Company; originally, the Company was not interested in establishing a permanent settlement. However, in order to ensure the viability of the refreshment station, some employees of the Company were freed from their contracts (so-called vrijburgers or free burghers) and allowed to farm. Over time, the boundaries of the colony expanded. The arrival in 1688 of some French Huguenot refugees, who had fled to the Dutch Republic to escape Roman Catholic religious persecution following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, increased the number of settlers. Some of the later colonists, such as German mercenaries in the employ of the Company, and settlers from other parts of Europe (e.g. Scandinavia, Ireland and Scotland) were also incorporated into what became the Boers and Cape Dutch. Most Afrikaner families have between 5% and 7% non-white ancestry as the early Dutch settlement at the Cape allowed inter-racial marriage.[8] This is well attested by genealogical records and DNA research.[7] During the Apartheid era, race classification was based on appearance and there were many borderline cases.[9]
The first person recorded to have identified himself as an Afrikaner was Hendrik Biebouw, who, in March 1707, stated, Ik ben een Afrikander (I am an African), and did not want to leave South Africa. Biebouw was resisting his expulsion from the Cape Colony, as ordered by the magistrate of Stellenbosch. He was banished and sent to Batavia.[10] The term shows the individual's first loyalty and a sense of belonging to the territory of modern South Africa, rather than to any ancestral homeland in Europe. In January, 1902, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used the word Africanders in referring to the Dutch settler expansion northwards from the Cape.[11]
The pastoral Afrikaans-speakers who developed on the Cape frontier were called Boers (boer is the Dutch word for farmer). They have often been considered a slightly separate entity from the Afrikaners,.[12] However, the Boers of Trekboer descent who developed on the Cape frontier from the late 17th century are an anthropologically distinct group from the Afrikaners who developed in the south western Cape region[13] who were often known as the Cape Dutch.[14] It was only in 1910, with the creation of the Union of South Africa that the word Afrikaner came to widespread use to refer to both the Boer and Cape Dutch. As a direct result of the Union, the majority Cape Dutch culturally assimilated the minority Boer people of the Transvaal and Orange Free State; adopting a lot of the traditions and values of the Boer people within a new Afrikaner Nationalism[15]
The mass migrations under British rule collectively known as the Great Trek were pivotal for the preservation of Boer ethnic identity. The Boers created a number of states that were independent of British colonial oversight.
In the 1830s and 1840s, an estimated 10,000 Boers, later referred to as Voortrekkers or "First Movers", migrated to the future Northern Cape, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal/Northern Interior provinces. They were motivated by the desire to escape British rule and to preserve their religious conservatism. The Trek resulted in a cultural split between the Voortrekkers, later known as the Boers, and the Cape Afrikaners. These distinctions overlapped with economic differences, as the Trekkers generally had fewer material resources on the frontier than those who remained behind. During the Anglo-Boer War, a number of Cape Afrikaners assisted the British in fighting against the Boers due to their long historical pro Colonial outlook.[16]
As important as the Trek was to the formation of Boer ethnic identity, so were the running conflicts with various indigenous groups along the way. None is considered more central to the construction of Boer identity than the clashes with the Zulu in what today is KwaZulu-Natal.
The Boers who entered Natal discovered that the land they wanted was under the authority of the Zulu chief Dingane ka Senzangakhona, who ruled that part of what is now called KwaZulu-Natal. The British had a small port colony there but were unable to seize the whole of area from the war-ready Zulus, and only kept to the Port of Natal. The Boers found the land safe from the English and sent an un-armed Boer land treaty delegation under Piet Retief on February 6, 1838, to negotiate with the Zulu King. The negotiations went well and a contract between Retief and Dingane was signed.
After the signing, Dingane's forces surprised and killed the members of the delegation; a large-scale massacre of the Boer followed. Zulu impis (regiments) attacked Boer encampments in the Drakensberg foothills at what was later called Blaauwkrans and Weenen, killing women and children along with men. By contrast, in earlier conflicts the Trekkers had along the eastern Cape frontier, the Xhosa had refrained from harming women and children. If it were not for an Italian woman by the name of Thérèsa Viglione none of the Boers in Natal would have survived. She was a trader who camped near the Trekkers with three Italian men and three wagons to trade. During the attack by the Zulus on Bloukrans, she fearlessly charged down the banks of the Boesmans River on a horse to warn the laager of Gerrit Maritz against the oncoming Zulus. Because of her action, the Boers were forewarned and could defend themselves - many lives were saved.[17]
The Transvaal Republic sent a commando brigade of 470 men to help the settlers. The Boers vowed to God that if they were victorious over the Zulus, they and future generations would commemorate the day as a Sabbath.
The Zulus customarily attacked in the evening. The gun powder that the Boers used had to be kept completely dry. That evening a mist and light rain came down on the camp, soaking everything. The guns would not work and the Boers waited to die but the Zulus did not come. The Zulus only attacked the next morning when the gunpowder was dry again. Later, it was heard from the Zulu survivors that a strange light hung over the camp and that a monster circled the perimeter keeping them from coming closer. The Zulus also recount that a company of their troops had somehow gotten lost, weakening their army.
On 16 December 1838, a 470-strong force of Andries Pretorius confronted about 10,000 Zulus at the prepared positions.[18] The Boers suffered three injuries without any fatalities. Due to the blood of 3,000 slain Zulus that stained the Ncome River, the conflict afterwards became known as the Battle of Blood River.
Boers celebrate the 16th of December as a public holiday, colloquially called "Dingane's Day". After 1952, the holiday became officially called the Day of the Covenant, changed in 1980 to Day of the Vow (Mackenzie 1999:69). The Boers believed their victory at the Battle of Blood River meant they had found divine favor for their exodus from British rule.
His power broken, King Dingane faced an uprising against his cruel rule in his own tribe and fled to Swaziland where others of his own people brutally killed him. The Boers were invited by the Zulus to bring homage to their new king after the death of the tyrant.
In 1998 at the inauguration of the most recent version of the monument in honor of Blood River, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Zulu politician and then Minister of Home Affairs, apologized to the Boer people for the murder of Piet Retief and the subsequent suffering of the Boer people.[19]
After defeating the Zulu and the recovery of the treaty between Dingane and Retief, the Voortrekkers proclaimed the Boer state of the Natalia Republic. Soon afterward, in 1843, Britain annexed this territory and the Boers who were not warriors vacated.
Due to the return of British rule, Boers fled to the frontiers to the north-west of the Drakensberg mountains, and onto the highveld (steppes) of the Transvaal and Transoranje "Transorangia". These areas were lightly occupied due to armed resistance by the Mfecane. Some Boers ventured far beyond the present-day borders of South Africa, north as far as present-day Zambia and Angola. Others reached the Portuguese colony of Delagoa Bay, later called Lourenço Marques. It is now called Maputo, capital of Mozambique.
The Boers created independent states in what is now South Africa: de Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (the South African Republic) and the Orange Free State were the most prominent and lasted the longest.
Gold was discovered and awakened British interest in the Boer republics.
When the British annexed these territories, the two Boer Wars resulted: The First Boer War (1880–1881) and the Second Boer War (1899–1902). They ended with British victory and annexation of the Boer areas into the British colonies. The Boers won the first war and retained their independence temporarily. They lost the second. The British employed scorched earth tactics and held many Boers in concentration camps as they tried to take control. An estimated 27,000 Boer civilians (mainly women and children under sixteen) died in the camps from hunger and disease. This was 15 percent of the Boer population of the republics.
In the 1890s, some Boers moved to Mashonaland and Matabeleland (today Zimbabwe), where they were concentrated at the town of Enkeldoorn, now Chivhu (Du Toit 1998:47). After the second Boer War, more Boers left South Africa. Starting in 1902 a large group emigrated to the Patagonia region of Argentina (most notably in the town of Sarmiento).[20] Another group emigrated to British-ruled Kenya, from where most returned to South Africa during the 1930s as a result of warfare there with indigenous people. A third group, under the leadership of General Ben Viljoen, emigrated to Chihuahua in northern Mexico and to states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas in the south-western USA. Others migrated to other parts of Africa, including German East Africa (present day Tanzania, mostly near Arusha). Some refugees went to Angola, where smaller and larger groups settled on the Bihe and the Humpata plateaus, respectively; Du Toit 1998:45.
It was a relatively large group of Boers who settled in Kenya. Historian Brian du Toit found that the first wave of migrants were single families, followed by larger multiple family treks (Du Toit 1998:57). Some had arrived by 1904, as documented by the caption of a newspaper photograph noting a tent town for "some of the early settlers from South Africa" on what today is the campus of the University of Nairobi.[21] Probably the first to arrive was W.J. Van Breda (1903), followed by John de Waal and Frans Arnoldi at Nakuru (1906). Jannie De Beer's family resided at Athi River, while Ignatius Gouws resided at Solai (Du Toit 1998:45,62).
The second wave of migrants is exemplified by Jan Janse van Rensburg's trek. Janse van Rensburg left the Transvaal on an exploratory trip to British East Africa in 1906 from Lourenço Marques (then Portuguese), Mozambique. Janse van Rensburg was inspired by an earlier Boer migrant, Abraham Joubert, who had moved to Nairobi from Arusha in 1906, along with others. When Joubert visited the Transvaal that year, Janse van Rensburg met with him (Du Toit 1998:61). Sources disagree about whether Janse van Rensburg received guarantees for land from the Governor, Sir James Hayes Sadler (Du Toit 1998:62).
On his return to the Transvaal, Janse van Rensburg recruited about 280 people (comprising either 47 or 60 families) to accompany him to British East Africa. Most came from districts around Ermelo and Carolina. On 9 July 1908 Janse van Rensburg's party sailed in the chartered ship SS Windhuk from Lourenço Marques to Mombasa, from where they boarded a train for Nairobi. The party travelled by five trains to Nakuru.[22]
In 1911 the last of the large trek groups departed for Kenya, when some 60 families from the Orange Free State boarded the SS Skramstad in Durban under leadership of C.J. Cloete.[22] But migration dwindled, partly due to the British secretary of state's (then Lord Crewe) cash requirements for immigrants. When the British granted self-government to the former Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State in 1906 and 1907, respectively, the pressure for emigration decreased. A trickle of individual trekker families continued to migrate into the 1950s (Du Toit 1998:63).
A combination of factors spurred on Boer migration. Some, like Janse van Rensburg and Cloete, had collaborated with the British, or had surrendered during the Boer War (Du Toit 1998:63). These joiners and hensoppers subsequently experienced hostility from other Boers. Many migrants were extremely poor and had subsisted on others' property.[22] Collaborators tended to move to British East Africa, while those who had fought to the end (called bittereinders) initially preferred German West Africa (Du Toit 1999:45). One of the best known Boer settlements in the British East Africa Protectorate was at Eldoret, in the south west of what became known as Kenya in 1920. By 1934 some 700 Boers lived here, near the Uganda border.[23]
With the onset of the First World War, the Union of South Africa was asked by the Allied forces to attack the German territory of South West Africa, resulting in the South-West Africa Campaign. Armed forces under the leadership of General Louis Botha defeated the German forces, who were unable to put up much resistance to the overwhelming South African forces.
Many Boers, who had little love or respect for Britain, objected to the use of the “children from the concentration camps” to attack the anti-British Germans, resulting in the Maritz Rebellion of 1914, which was quickly quelled by the government forces.
Some Boer subsequently moved to South West Africa, which was administered by South Africa until its independence in 1990, after which the country was named Namibia.
In South Africa, the black majority was excluded from equal participation in the affairs of the State and country (except for the homelands of Qwaqwa, Zululand, Ciskei, Transkei, Venda, and Bophuthatswana which were nominally self governed) until 1994.
Apartheid laws were enacted by the British controlled government when the Pass Laws were passed in 1923.
Due to the threat of Communism the status quo was maintained and restrictions on non-whites' social and political segregation further tightened and internationally supported when Afrikaner-led political parties gained control of government in the 1960s.[24] Apartheid unofficially ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Communism. This resulted in the freeing of Nelson Mandela.[25]
The South African referendum, 1992 was held on 17 March 1992. In it, South Africans were asked to vote in the last tricameral election held under the apartheid system, in which the Coloured and Indian population groups could also vote, to determine whether or not they supported the negotiated reforms begun by then State President F.W. de Klerk two years earlier. With Communism gone, the result of the election was a large victory for the "yes" side. Election analysts however reported that support to dismantle Apartheid among the Afrikaners was actually slightly higher than among English speakers.[26] This assertion is debatable given that statistical analysis published by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation(CSVR) has shown that Afrikaners supported apartheid policies to a greater extent than English-speakers from the 1970s to the 1990s. (Between Acknowledgement and Ignorance:How white South Africans have dealt with the apartheid past)
Efforts are being made by a few Afrikaners to secure minority rights even though protection of minority rights is fundamental to the new 1996 post-apartheid Constitution of South Africa. These efforts include the Volkstaat movement. In contrast, a handful of Afrikaners have joined the ruling African National Congress party, which is overwhelmingly supported by South Africa's black majority. However, the vast majority of Afrikaners/Boer have joined White English-speakers in supporting South Africa's official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, indicating their acceptance of non-racism within a free enterprise economy.
Employment Equity legislation favours employment of black (African, Indian and Coloured) South Africans and women over white men. Black Economic Empowerment legislation further favours blacks as the government considers ownership, employment, training and social responsibility initiatives which empower black South Africans as important criteria when awarding tenders. However, private enterprise adheres to this legislation voluntarily.[27] Some reports indicate a growing number of whites suffering poverty compared to the pre-Apartheid years and attribute this to such laws - over 350,000 Afrikaners may be classified as poor, with some research claiming that up to 150,000 are struggling for survival.[28][29] This combined with a wave of violent crime has led to vast numbers of English and Boer South Africans leaving the country.
There have been increasing incidents of racism against white South Africans since 1994. In particular the actions of racist police personnel towards white victims have attracted media attention.[30] White men arrested and held in overcrowded cells on minor or spurious charges have taken legal action against the government, as many have been raped and assaulted by violent criminals (often rape and murder suspects) held in the same cells.[31]
Genocide Watch has theorized that farm attacks constitute early warning signs of genocide against Afrikaners and has criticised the South African government for its inaction on the issue, pointing out that the murder rate for them ("ethno-European farmers" in their report, which also included non-Afrikaner farmers of European race) is four times that of the general South African population.[32] There are 40,000 white farmers in South Africa. Since 1994 close to three thousand farmers have been murdered in thousands of farm attacks,[33] with many being brutally tortured and/or raped. Some victims have been burned with smoothing irons or had boiling water poured down their throats.[34]
Since 1994 there has been significant emigration of skilled white persons from South Africa. There are thus currently large Afrikaner and English South African communities in the UK and other developed nations. Since 1994, more than one million South Africans have emigrated, citing violent and racially motivated crime[35] as the main reason.[36] Farmers have emigrated to other parts of Africa to develop efficient commercial farming there.[37] See human capital flight in South Africa for details.
There were 133,324 speakers of Afrikaans in Namibia, forming 9.5% of the total national population, according to the 1991 census. However the majority of these speakers come from the Coloured and Baster communities. Afrikaners are mostly found in Windhoek and in the Southern provinces.[38]
A significant number of Afrikaners have migrated to countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil.
A large number of young Afrikaners are taking advantage of working holiday visas made available by the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, as well as the Netherlands and Belgium, to gain work experience. The scheme under which UK working holiday visas were issued ended on the 27th November 2008 and has been replaced by the Tier 5 (Youth Mobility) visa. South Africa is unlikely to partake in this scheme.
As of 2011, Georgia is encouraging Afrikaner immigration to help kickstart the country's agriculture industry, which has declined significantly since the fall of communism.[39]
Mainly Christian, the Calvinism of Boers in South Africa developed in much the same way as the New England colonies in North America. The original South African Boer republics were founded on the principles of the Dutch Reformed Church.
A good example of how the Boer culture and religion interlinked can be seen when gold was discovered in Johannesburg. The Boer community desperately tried to keep it a secret for fear that exploitation of the resource would lead to moral degradation of the Republic. Even after the mines were running, the Boers did not get involved and kept to farming.
The Afrikaans language changed over time from the Dutch spoken by the first white settlers at the Cape. From the late 17th century, the form of Dutch spoken at the Cape developed differences, mostly in morphology but also in pronunciation and accent and, to a lesser extent, in syntax and vocabulary, from that of the Netherlands, although the languages are still similar enough to be mutually intelligible. Settlers who arrived speaking German and French soon shifted to using Dutch and later Afrikaans. The process of language change was influenced by the languages spoken by slaves, Khoikhoi and people of mixed descent, as well as by Cape Malay, Zulu, English and Portuguese. While the Dutch of the Netherlands remained the official language, the new dialect, often known as Cape Dutch, African Dutch, "Kitchen Dutch", or "Taal" (meaning language in Afrikaans) developed into a separate language by the 19th century, with much work done by the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners and other writers such as Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven. In a 1925 act of Parliament, Afrikaans replaced standard Dutch as one of the two official languages of the Union of South Africa. There was much objection to the attempt to legislate the creation of Afrikaans as a new language. Marthinus Steyn, a prominent jurist and politician, and others were vocal in their opposition. They perceived that legalization of Afrikaans as an official language would only serve to isolate the Afrikaners, as they would be the only people in the world to speak Afrikaans. Steyn, who died before 1925, had been educated in Holland and England and was a worldly cosmopolitan figure. Today, Afrikaans is recognised as one of the eleven official languages of the new South Africa, and is widely accepted as an appropriate means of communication for a large number of South Africans.
Afrikaners have a long literary tradition, and have produced a number of notable novelists and poets, including Eugene Marais, Uys Krige, Elisabeth Eybers, Breyten Breytenbach, André Brink, C. J. Langenhoven and Etienne Leroux. See section on South African literature
Music is probably the most popular art form among Afrikaners. While the traditional Boeremusiek (Boer Music) and Volkspele (literally, People Games) folk dancing enjoyed popularity in the past, most Afrikaners today favour a variety of international genres and light popular Afrikaans music. American country and western music has enjoyed great popularity and has a strong following among many South Africans. Some also enjoy a social dance event called a sokkie. The South African rock band, Seether, has a hidden track on their album, Karma and Effect, that is sung in the Afrikaans language. It is titled, Kom Saam Met My, which is translated as Come With Me. There is also an underground rock music movement and bands like the controversial Fokofpolisiekar have a large following. The television Channel MK (channel) also supports local Afrikaans music and mainly screen videos from the Afrikaans Rock genre.[40] Also see section on protest music(South African)
Rugby, cricket, and golf are generally considered to be the most popular sports among Afrikaners. Rugby in particular is considered one of the central pillars of the Afrikaner community. The Springboks won the 1995 and 2007 Rugby World Cups.
"Boere-sport" also played a very big role in the Afrikaner history. It consisted of a variety of sports like tug of war, three-legged races, jukskei, skilpadloop (tortoise walk) and other games.
The world's first ounce-denominated gold coin, the Krugerrand was struck at the South African Mint on the third of July 1967. The name Krugerrand was derived from Kruger (President Paul Kruger) and rand the monetary unit of South Africa. The Rand is associated with the area called Witwatersrand, "the ridge of white water" an important gold producing area.
In April 2007, the South African Mint coined a collectors R1 gold coin commemorating the Afrikaner people as part of its cultural series, depicting the Great Trek across the Drakensberg mountains.
The Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging (ATKV) (Afrikaans Language and Culture Society) is responsible for promoting the Afrikaans language and culture.
Die Voortrekkers is a youth movement for Afrikaners in South Africa and Namibia with a membership of over 10 000 active members to promote cultural values, maintaining norms and standards as Christians, and being accountable members of public society.[41]
An estimated 82% of Afrikaners supported the Democratic Alliance, the official opposition party, in the 2009 general election.[42]
Smaller numbers are involved in nationalist or separatist political organizations. The Freedom Front Plus is an Afrikaner ethnic political party in the Republican tradition, which lobbies for minority rights to be granted to all of the South African ethnic minorities. The Freedom Front Plus is also leading the Volkstaat initiative and is closely associated with the small town of Orania.[43]
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