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Leaving conservative Afrikaners out of South Africa’s National Dialogue could reignite old tensions and deepen instability at a critical political moment.
A group of Afrikaners gathered outside the American Embassy in Pretoria to deliver a memorandum to US President Donald Trump. Picture: Nigel Sibanda /The Citizen
It is obvious that, in many ways, South Africa is a vastly different place from when politicians and civic organisations sat down to negotiate a peaceful end to apartheid and a transition to a majority-rule democracy in the early ’90s.
However, in some worrying respects, there are aspects of our current situation which mirror those of that era.
As the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa) gathered in Kempton Park in 1991, it was clear the end was in sight for the National Party government.
International pressure was mounting and the country was teetering on the edge of the abyss of a civil war.
In a sense, the ANC is facing a similar “end of days” scenario to the Nats, having lost electoral support and facing challenges from both sides of the political spectrum.
It is also facing, rightly or wrongly, international censure because some foreign governments – led by the Americans – believe whites are being persecuted.
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Another parallel is that, so far, those representing conservative Afrikaners don’t appear to have been brought under the umbrella of the National Dialogue announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
These right-wing groups have led the charge against the ANC and have gained a receptive audience overseas.
Afrikaners like Ernst Roets, who has strong relationships with international conservatism, are proposing a form of federal government arrangement which, they claim, does not amount to a revival of the “Volkstaat” concept… although it seems to be so in all but name.
Whether Ramaphosa and the other participants in the National Dialogue like it or not, that issue cannot be ignored.
If it is, the way is open for further racial polarisation and instability – and even worse down the line.
What the dialogue must not become is an expensive talk shop. Our country is falling apart and it needs to be fixed.
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