JOHANNESBURG - ANC bigwigs yesterday met a group of  Afrikaner organisations for an “Afrikaans Dialogue Summit”.

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, treasurer-general Mathews Phosa, spokesmen Jackson Mthembu and Keith Khoza, Agriculture Minister Tina  Joemat-Pettersson and Deputy Public Enterprises Minister Enoch Godongwana attended the event at the Balalaika Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg north.

Afrikaans groups represented at the meeting included the Afrikanerbond, the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk, the Voortrekker Monument, the Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging, the Afri-kaanse Taalraad and the Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Mantashe said the organisations  wanted to make a contribution towards making South Africa work.

He said the Afrikaans language also featured in the discussions.

“What came out was that there is no intention of elevating Afrikaans at the expense of other languages.”

 “Whether they vote for us or not, we have an obligation to understand where they are coming from and their concerns.

The ANC has an obligation to understand the concerns of Afrikaans bodies.”

Phosa described the meeting as frank and robust.

Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut CEO Christo van der Rheede said language, governance, corruption and the issue of crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli were discussed in the meeting.

The Afrikaans Dialogue Summit comes after a  group of Afrikaans-speaking academics submitted to the ANC that the white Afrikaner community is feeling alienated from the ANC. 

Trade union Solidarity snubbed the meeting, describing the meeting as a marketing instrument for the ANC.

Solidarity’s deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann told The Citizen: “We don’t want to be part of the process within the ANC to campaign among Afrikaners to vote for the ANC in the next election.

We don’t   see the meeting as bona fide process of addressing issues of Afrikaners.”

– ngwakom@citizen.co.za