A protest by Afrikaners at the Voortrekker Monument last November emerged as a key issue during heated talks between the ANC and Afrikaans leaders this week.
The meeting, at a Sandton hotel, was facilitated by the PAC.
It was chaired by PAC leader Mzwanele Nyhontso and attended by the ANC’s Nomvula Mokonyane, Lindiwe Sisulu, Afriforum’s Kallie Kriel, Dirk Hermann from Solidariteit and Theuns Eloff and Theo de Jager from the Southern African Agricultural Initiative, among others.
While the participants agreed to not reveal what was discussed, a source who attended the meeting said “everyone was angry".
"Some, like Dirk [Hermann] and Kallie [Kriel] even arrived angry. But seriously, on the Afrikaner side, the main anger was about the Basic Education Laws Amendment [Bela] Act and the BEE fight between Solidariteit and government, which will now go to court. Land expropriation was also discussed.
“On the ANC side, most of the anger was about the protest march Afrikaner opponents of the Bela bill took in November last year, to hand a memorandum over to the government of national unity. The ANC feels that the Afrikaners are included in the GNU yet betrayed the coalition by organising the march.
“One of the Afrikaners said ‘But we did not even disrupt traffic, we did it at the Voortrekker Monument,’ to which an ANC leader replied: ‘There should not even be a Voortrekker Monument.’
"One of the Afrikaners then wanted to know whether the ANC was angry that the march took place or because more than 10,000 people took part in it.”
When it came to Bela, the ANC delegates accused the Afrikaners of being selfish, while the Afrikaners hit back by saying that under the current law, only schools in the North and Western Cape will be able to remain Afrikaans,” the source said.
Both sides accused one another of spreading disinformation. The ANC accused the Afrikaners of lying to the US about white genocide, while the Afrikaners denied this claim, saying they have already won media ombud battles against publications who accused them of this.
— Source
“Even they [the PAC] asked some critical questions of both parties. They also helped to calm people down every time someone started packing up to leave,” the source said.
“Both sides accused one another of spreading disinformation. The ANC accused the Afrikaners of lying to the US about white genocide, while the Afrikaners denied this claim, saying they have already won media ombud battles against publications who accused them of this.
“The Afrikaners then brought up the Eastern Cape school principal to whom minister of police Senzo Mchunu recently apologized [for naming him as a person of interest in a child rape investigation]. The flames surrounding this situation were given fuel by incorrect police statements while high ranking ANC officials fanned the fire.”
The source said almost all the participants at various stages started packing up to end the meeting and leave. “But calmer heads prevailed and everyone stayed.”
Another participant confirmed the issues but said that all ended well.
“Afterwards all participants shared supper in the dining room of the same hotel. While we did not have a big table for all of us, I think being split up into smaller parties helped a lot. I did giggle when I saw Lindiwe and Nomvula sharing a table with Kallie and Dirk. That must be a sign of progress,” the source said.
Was the meeting a success?
“Yes. There is this nervous energy between the two sides. The meeting brought the anger but it also dissipated that nervous energy. There will be more similar meetings in the future, although it will probably be between smaller groups. This seeking of middle ground and mutual understanding must continue.”
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