Search Results

Protecting the Wildlife in South Africa Protecting the Big 5 in South Africa The Big Five refer to African lions, leopards, rhinoceros and Cape buffalo. Although they are very dangerous animals they are not invincible and the African lion, leopard and elephant are all classed as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The black rhino is ‘critically endangered’ and the White rhino is ‘Near Threatened’. These animals are still hunted and this project aims to work with local and national authorities as well as the local community to preserve and protect the Big Five. Wildlife conservation is the practice of protecting wild plant and animal species and their habitat. The goal is to ensure that nature will survive the many generations to come so that they may enjoy & recognize the importance of wildlife & wilderness for humans & other species alike. Conservation is a collaborative effort between communities, landowners, policy makers, educators, scientists & so on. This requires a highly skilled research team on the ground daily. South Africa is home to iconic wildlife including the largest land mammals – the African elephant and rhinos. In recent years, these species have been under increased pressure due to reduced habitat and demand for ivory and rhino horn. Rising poaching levels threaten the future of these animals. Why does it matter? Wildlife are crucial to nature’s delicate web of life. Yet their biggest threats are due to human impacts on the environment. These include habitat loss and overexploitation through illegal trade, both local and international. Demand from Asia, for wildlife parts and products, continues to drive this black market trade. This challenge is exacerbated by the involvement of organised crime networks. Wildlife is also essential for tourism in South Africa. It creates opportunities and benefits for local communities living around protected areas as well as the broader economy. Stop Rhino Poaching Established in 2010 as a response to the sudden and steep escalation in rhino poaching across South Africa, StopRhinoPoaching.com has, over the last decade, emerged as an NGO that is widely respected and valued by the men and women at the frontline. Actively involved and with a national footprint for strategic funding of security initiatives and ranger support, StopRhinoPoaching.com is connected and in tune to the sentiment on the ground. We support significant rhino populations in selected reserves (national, provincial and private) as well as regional security and investigations activities within established security hubs where arrests are likely to be affected. Helping rhino reserves to enhance their efficiency and optimise their security capabilities – both proactively and reactively – ensures that rhino lives are saved. Support the Rhino Cause We’re all about keeping rhinos alive, which is why we’d like to extend our sincere appreciation for your interest in supporting the rhino cause. Rangers and reserve managers carry on their shoulders the responsibility of saving a species. They are the ones at the sharp end, who stand between a rhino and a poacher, and it’s their efforts that determine the fate of the rhinos on the reserves they protect. Rhino lives depend on them, and we depend on you. The Threat You will have heard that there is no ‘silver bullet’ to end rhino poaching and that it’s an incredibly complex battle. Never have truer words been spoken. Since the start of the poaching epidemic in 2008 South Africa has lost thousands of rhinos – a figure that, despite so much effort, remains far too high. Coupled with the increasing poaching figure comes the question – why after all this are we still losing more rhino than ever? Sadly, few people realise the challenges facing those on the frontlines. At this stage the poachers have the upper hand – they know when, they know how, and if need be they’ll just come back another day or hit a softer target. It literally is a case of one-by-one until there are none. Poachers are resourceful and use every possible element to their advantage. Reserve size, terrain, vegetation, weather (extreme heat, cold, thunderstorms,) road networks and access control are some of the elements that go into their planning. A small team, usually two or three men but it varies, carrying a weapon, some large calibre ammunition, a backpack, an axe and knives, a few old cell phones and the desire to make money can wreck deadly havoc in a reserve. Equipped with basic staples of water, bread and perhaps a few cans of tinned fish, poachers infiltrate for up to a few days surviving on their bush skills and the bare minimum. If they manage to avoid being detected by rangers – like tracks found or gun shots heard – they could manage to kill a few rhinos per trip. In smaller reserves where the risk of detection is high, poachers orchestrate shallow hit and run attacks and will often be back over the fence before rangers even get to the scene. Anti-poaching teams bear the full brunt of the poaching scourge, with rangers in targeted areas coming into contact with poachers on a daily or weekly basis. While rangers are governed by strict rules of engagement, poachers are armed (with weapons for their own personal defence – or the hunting rifle) and will not hesitate to shoot on sight. The community upliftment from poaching profits in some areas is evident, with poachers openly call themselves ‘professional hunters’ and poacher bosses becoming the untouchable “Robin Hoods” by creating “jobs” in their communities. In other areas through a westernised way of life, fast money and self-enrichment of big houses, fast cars, women and alcohol have attracted unsavoury elements into once peaceful, proudly traditional, poor but functioning communities. Contrary to popular belief, not all poachers are driven by poverty. Criminals involved in cash-in-transit heists, vehicle hijacking, ATM bombing, gunrunners, murder and other aggressive crimes have also become involved – significantly increasing the mortal threat to rangers and rhinos alike. There is no shortage of new recruits and poachers are quickly replaced. Excellent co-ordination by poaching bosses and co-operative alliances between various poaching groups empower them to be more effective at poaching, enabled by deeply entrenched corruption at every level. This includes betrayal at the heart of our reserves – insider involvement that enables the poaching groups. Be it a guard at a gate that gives access to poachers, a ranger on the poacher payroll or a member of the kitchen staff that hides a weapon under a bed, the lure of “easy money” – and lots of it – can quickly sway a moral compass. Money made from illicit gain will always outweigh that of a legitimate wage, and the corroding of our institutions from internal corruption is very difficult to pinpoint let alone prove. The multi-pronged, multi-disciplinary, multi-agency law enforcement strategy combined with an all-of-government and whole-of-society approach required to finding lasting solutions to an ever-evolving problem like rhino poaching is so complex that even now – so many years down the line – we have made some (but too little) progress. Ongoing, well-coordinated intelligence-led arrests aimed at poaching bosses and their local Vietnamese/Chinese buyers would go a long way to bringing the numbers down. Coupled with an expedited court process and strong sentences, our authorities could be sending out a strong message. Sadly, our failing systems, lack of political will and leadership, apathy and indifference, inter-agency politics, slow court processes and deeply embedded corruption are playing right into the hands of the poachers. It is here that our South African Police Services (SAPS) have yet to commit sufficient enforcement capacity. While the existing SAPS members working on cases – all unsung heroes – do their utmost to bring poachers to book, there are just far too few police members to deal with the existing case load let alone get on top of new cases. Daily challenges include lack of information sharing, trust issues and a high case load compounded by ongoing and relentless poaching activities – often with very little evidence left at the crime scene, which can be days to months old and at the mercy of the environment. Although there has always been great emphasis on Mozambique and the situation in the Kruger National Park, the damage being caused by entrenched local South African organised crime gangs is of grave concern. All these factors that make up the complex web of challenges that need to be tackled. While our focus is on the future of the rhino, the bigger question will ultimately be – what will it take to secure a future for our wildlife? SRP.com will continue to channel funding towards specific projects, putting as much as we can into areas containing larger rhino populations that are managed by DEDICATED and RESPONSIBLE conservation minded rhino owners/custodians. There are many groups doing their best in areas where they can make a difference. Some days are soul destroying, the sheer vastness and cruelty of what we are up against is overwhelming, but no matter how bad it gets we have to keep on trying. No matter what, all of you, please don’t give up. What is WWF doing? WWF has been involved in species conservation and addressing the threats to wildlife since the 1960s. More recently we work closely with rural communities who live near to major wildlife areas. Our influence in wildlife conservation policies assists in balancing environmental goals against social, political and economic needs. By empowering people who might otherwise be open to exploitation, we enable the community to benefit from – and value – wildlife, alive rather than dead. In all we do, we take a holistic approach towards ensuring that wildlife is valued by people and able to thrive within functioning well-managed landscapes. What can you do? When we take care of our wildlife, we safeguard our heritage for future generations. You can make a difference by helping us conserve South Africa’s iconic species. Stopping Elephant Ivory Demand Each year, at least 20,000 African elephants are illegally killed for their tusks. A decade-long resurgence in demand for elephant ivory, particularly in parts of Asia, has fueled this rampant poaching epidemic. The elephant ivory trade not only threatens the very survival of this iconic species and causes broader ecological consequences, but also endangers the lives and livelihoods of local people and undermines national and regional security. Promisingly, a historic opportunity emerged to stop the African elephant poaching crisis: governments inititated concerted action to address this wildlife crime. The United States implemented a near-total ban on elephant ivory trade in 2016, and the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, and other elephant ivory markets followed suit. Most significantly, China took the remarkable step of closing its legal domestic ivory market at the end of 2017. Other Asian countries with open elephant ivory trade are under substantial pressure to take action. WWF and its partners have successfully driven international action at the highest levels that, along with diplomatic and public pressure from all sides, contributed to the game-changing China ban. Now, we are working to ensure the ban is successful by eliminating remaining consumer demand for elephant ivory and black-market sales. A proliferation of trade and demand for illegal elephant ivory outside China could seriously undermine the effectiveness of China's ban. WWF is addressing the root of the problem by engaging directly with elephant ivory consumers and working with other governments to ensure the imminent closure of open elephant ivory markets, as well as working to understand the underlying motivations of elephant ivory buyers to develop strategies to influence them. Our goal is to create a new social norm that buying illegal elephant ivory products is socially unacceptable. There is an entirely separate and legal trade of walrus ivory, which is culturally and economically important to Indigenous communities in the Arctic. The sustainable use and sale of walrus ivory by Alaska Native peoples has not had the same negative impacts caused by the illegal trade of elephant ivory. Amplifying Efforts Through Corporate Engagement We are working with leading online retailers, social media platforms, tourism companies, and creative agencies. Strong partnerships are already in place with the travel and e-commerce sectors, with commitments to avoid promoting, handling, or selling elephant ivory. Changing Consumer Behavior Chinese consumers have typically been the driving demographic for elephant ivory sales globally since 2005. WWF supports market research including annual surveys of consumers to better understand consumer attitudes and desire for elephant ivory so that we can change social norms around elephant ivory and reduce demand. Through this research, WWF is able to identify the demographics of elephant ivory purchasers and consumers, understand their underlying motivations and develop effective strategies to influence them. One promising approach is using location-specific messages pushed out on popular social media platforms as likely consumers are moving around known elephant ivory markets in Asia in real-time. By connecting with them at potential purchase points like this, WWF is able to share messages known to demotivate elephant ivory buyers, such as flagging the deadly toll on elephants and the legal risks of trying to smuggle elephant ivory souvenirs from one country into another. At the same time, closing markets and promoting the law makes it harder to find elephant ivory and deters law-abiding citizens from engaging in illegal activity. Closing Elephant Ivory Markets China's elephant ivory ban is a historic milestone in the ongoing effort to save an iconic species. But even with China's markets closed, markets elsewhere remain open and continue to attract consumers. And as more and more Chinese travel internationally—before COVID-19 nearly 200 million Chinese tourists traveled abroad each year—incidents of elephant ivory smuggling were on the rise. This access to elephant ivory outside China could seriously undermine the effectiveness of China's 2017 elephant ivory ban unless governments address it. Closing the markets that sell elephant ivory and largely exist to serve Chinese nationals—those in Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, for example—will help slow elephant ivory trafficking. WWF is working directly with these countries to support the closing of their elephant ivory markets and leverage international policy and diplomacy channels. By tackling these markets now as part of a pan-Asian approach, WWF aims to leverage China's actions to ban the elephant ivory trade to prevent further displacement of the mainland China ivory trade to nearby countries. Countdown to the extinction of the rhino. The aim of all Counter Poaching Game Rangers Training is: Firstly, to ensure the territorial integrity of protected areas by a high standard of specialized training. Secondly, to prevent the poaching of all species especially endangered species. And lastly, to collect evidence which may assist the police when making the arrests and when perpetrators are prosecuted in a court of law. The responsiblity of the Counter Poaching Game Ranger is: To collect all evidence that may lead to the arrest of a poacher and is highly trained to deal with any situation. Evidence is collected in the form of photographs and video material, connecting the poacher to a specific crime scene or conservation area where poaching had taken place. Bushveld Training Adventures Bushveld Training Adventures, a nationally recognized academic institution in the field of nature studies, offers a comprehensive range of professional field guiding and environmentalist courses. Whether it is a career in field guiding in order to obtain the FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa) and national qualifications, or a wonderful learning experience, the opportunity to make great friends, are all great reasons to enrol in a BTA guide or environmentalist course. The courses are a fantastic experience. Not only do they comprise lectures with highly qualified instructors, but also field outings where the classroom is the open bush and textbooks turn into life animals, plants, rocks, clouds and the whole universe. Each one of these challenges you with questions: Who am I, how did I get here, why am I here, what threatens my existence? Each one of them becomes a testimony to the story of the evolutionary processes of our planet. The evenings by the campfire shared with kindred spirits are the memories that embroider the fabric of our lives… and the mornings hold the promise of a new adventure. Cheetah Experience Start your day off with the roar of a big cat, and end your day surrounded by likeminded people that share your love and passion for animals. Cheetah Experience is a registered non-profit endangered species breeding centre, originally based in Bloemfontein but in March 2021 we moved the facility to Bela Bela, Limpopo. We are home to a number of endangered and threatened species, including cheetahs, leopards, male non-breeding lions, servals, caracals, African wildcats, wolves, meerkats and a Siberian tiger. Our project takes in rescued animals from the local area, so we also have various animals from time to time, including some goats and chickens. Our Mission is to raise awareness of the vulnerability of South African species and other endangered species through educational experiences, as well as ethically breeding cheetahs in captivity and releasing them into a protected wild. Cheetah Breeding Project At Cheetah Experience, our animals come first, and everything we do is for our animals. Our current focus is to ensure that our Cheetah Breeding project aids in the conservation of the cheetah, by using the DNA samples taken from our cheetahs to maintain genetic diversity. We work along-side other ethical and responsible projects to help secure the cheetah's future survival. From a study in 2016, the global population of the cheetah is estimated at ∼7,100 individuals, and confined to 9% of their historical distributional range. Our vision is to release some animals into a protected yet self-sustaining natural habitat where they are still monitored by researchers and medical experts but live free. Understanding their needs, behaviour, and instincts plays a key role in saving animals from extinction. Tours & Volunteer Opportunities We offer visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come on an educational tour and learn about our animals, see them up close, take some amazing photos, and learn how you can join us in the fight to protect these precious species. We offer a wide range of Volunteer and Internship Programmes, which have seen over 1,000 hard-working, dedicated people from 33 countries come and be a special part of the Cheetah Experience Global Volunteer Family, and contribute to conservation in South Africa. Want to spend your Summer making a difference to wildlife conservation in South Africa? Then join us in one of our Volunteer or Internship Programmes at Cheetah Experience in Bela Bela! Being part of our Volunteer and Internship Programmes gives you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get hands-on experience taking care of our cheetahs and other endangered and threatened species, something we’re sure you’ll cherish for the rest of your life! You'll be working with a number of endangered and threatened species on a daily basis, including cheetahs, leopards, male non-breeding lions, servals, caracals, Bat Eared Foxes, African wildcats, wolves, meerkats and a Siberian tiger. Our project takes in rescued animals from the local area, so we also have various animals from time to time, including a goat and antelope. Since our Volunteer and Internship Programme started in 2011, Cheetah Experience has seen over 1,000 hard-working, dedicated people from 33 countries. Come and be a special part of the Cheetah Experience Global Volunteer Family and contribute to conservation in South Africa. The Cheetah Experience Volunteer and Internship Programmes are unique, where we give volunteers and interns a rare insight into animal care, and let you work alongside our family of experienced and knowledgeable staff and do the same daily work as they do. Cheetah Experience offers a number of Volunteer and Internship programmes that give you the freedom and flexibility to volunteer with us for as long as you like, from our ‘Volunteer for a Day’ program all the way up to extended Internship and Research projects! We offer Internships and Work Placements year round in a wide variety of courses and fields, and encourage undergraduates and students in their final year to come to Cheetah Experience to complete their coursework. During your internship, you will be supported and mentored by our experienced staff that have a background in your area of study, work alongside the team on a daily basis and get practical experience that you can apply to your coursework. Protecting Lions in wild places 17 November 2020 The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), Peace Parks Foundation, South African National Parks (SANParks) and the National Administration of Conservation Areas in Mozambique (ANAC), with funding from the UK Government, through the International Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, have embarked on an ambitious partnership to understand and protect Africa’s most iconic species, the African Lion, within the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA). Over the last decade, human-wildlife conflict, poisoning, and poaching related to lions have increased across this transboundary conservation area. This collaboration will leverage the expertise, institutional knowledge, and professional networks within each organisation to amplify conservation impact within this critical Lion landscape. The Great Limpopo TFCA is one of the ten remaining Lion strongholds in Africa. Protecting this transboundary Lion population requires a multi-pronged and multi-stakeholder approach. The goal of this project is to understand the threats and drivers of population declines and to increase protection for Lions in the GLTFCA. A key part of the project involves monitoring Lion prides across the landscape using GPS satellite collars. Analysis of movement data will help the EWT to determine which areas are most important to Lions across the landscape. This information will enable anti-poaching rangers from SANParks, ANAC, and Peace Parks to better protect the Lion prides under their care. The GLTFCA, which includes Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa, and Limpopo National Park (LNP) in Mozambique, is one of the ten remaining Lion strongholds in Africa. These strongholds occur in formally protected areas and contain a stable or increasing population of at least 500 Lions. Recently published evidence suggests that the GL TFCA stronghold may be under serious threat. Lions are killed in retaliation for livestock losses, out of fear for human life, and for the illegal wildlife trade in Lion body parts. The data suggest this offtake is unsustainable and has resulted in a severe decline in Lion numbers in LNP. Northern KNP is also feeling the impact of these threats from both Mozambique and the western boundary of Kruger. Over the last hundred years, Lions have disappeared from 95% of their historic range. Over 200,000 Lions once roamed across Africa’s wild places. Now, only an estimated 23,000-39,000 remain. Most Lions are now primarily confined to formally protected areas. Habitat conversion, competition for food, livestock predation, and fear for human life have driven this dramatic decline. While they are often hated and feared, Lions are somewhat paradoxically, viewed by many cultures as the quintessential symbol of courage and strength. Rather than protecting them, this reverence motivates people to kill them and use their parts to capture the power of the Lion and to cure various ailments. This new endeavour aims to identify, understand, and address the complex economic, social, and cultural drivers of Lion population declines across this landscape. Through partnerships with the dedicated and passionate people and organisations involved in this project, we will ensure that the roar of the mighty Lion is heard in Africa’s wild places for generations to come. BACK TO TOP

Southernstar-Africa School Projects Work With Us Looking to promote your brand or destination to an audience of well-traveled families? See if we might be a good fit. Who We Are Welcome to Full Suitcase! We are a South African family , discovering the world’s most amazing destinations one trip at a time. Through our travel stories and captivating images on our travel Website as well as a school project for children around the world, we inspire others to travel more, discover new places, take their kids along, and make the most of every single trip! We take our kids to the most incredible places in South Africa , and prove that pretty much any destination can be visited by families with kids of any age. Our audience appreciates and trusts travel tips based on our first-hand experience. We get daily feedback from our readers who tell us that our Website inspires them to visit new places and helps them with the practical side of planning the trip. Why Work With Us Our goal is to create win-win relationships! We offer multiple ways to reach a valuable audience of well-traveled people looking for travel inspiration and destination information. Our readers relate to our first-hand experiences, value our credibility, and book their trips based on our recommendations. If your destination is a good fit with our blog and travel style, we will be happy to showcase it with an engaging review, coupled with professional-quality photography, and lots of practical tips to help people make a similar trip of their own. We will publish high-quality timeless content that will continue to attract readers over a long period of time. In addition, we can provide social media coverage via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter- X, and Pinterest. Our Audience Our Website reaches a very large international audience of millions of readers each year. In addition, we have a strong presence on all major social media. Most of our readers come from the USA. The other half is from the UK, Canada, Europe, and Australia, but also India, Singapore, and pretty much all over the world. Interested to know more details? Contact us by email a.dezius@gmail.com and we can further discuss how we can work together! Our Website : riseingsouthernstar-africa ,has been visited from all over the World PAGE VIEWS ; 79;518 FLAG COUNTRY VISITED : 175 View More Discover the rich and diverse history of South Africa with Southernstar-Africa School Projects. Learn about the lives of influential figures such as Jan van Riebeeck, Paul Kruger, and Nelson Mandela. Our team is dedicated to sharing our knowledge and passion for South African history with students from around the world. At Southernstar-Africa, we believe that education is the key to understanding and appreciating our history. Our team consists of experienced educators and historians who are committed to making learning fun and engaging. Join us on a journey through time and discover the people who shaped South Africa's rich history. Featured Featured In Our Partners Welcome to our partners page! We are thrilled to have you here. At [company name], we believe in building strong partnerships that benefit both parties. We are always looking for new partners to join us and grow together. Explore our website to learn more about our partnership opportunities and how we can work together. Contact Get in Touch a.dezius@gmai.com Or fill out the form below First Name Email Last Name Phone Message Submit Thank you for contacting us! BACK TO TOP

Day of the Vow The Day of the Vow (Afrikaans : Geloftedag) is a religious public holiday in South Africa . It is an important day for Afrikaners , originating from the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838, before which about 400 Voortrekkers made a promise to God that if he rescued them out of the hands of the approximately 20,000 Zulu warriors they were facing, they would honour that day as a sabbath day in remembrance of what God did for them. Initially called Dingane's Day or Dingaan's Day (Afrikaans : Dingaansdag), 16 December was made an annual national holiday in 1910, before being renamed Day of the Vow in 1982. In 1994, after the end of Apartheid , it was officially replaced by the Day of Reconciliation , an annual holiday also on 16 December. However, many descendants still celebrate it as promised in the vow. The day of the Vow traces its origin as an annual religious holiday to The Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838. The besieged Voortrekkers took a public vow (or covenant) together before the battle, led by Sarel Cilliers . In return for God's help in obtaining victory, they promised to build a house and forever honour this day as a sabbath day of God. They vowed that they and their descendants would keep the day as a holy Sabbath. During the battle, a group of about 470 Voortrekkers defeated a force of about 20,000 Zulu. Three Voortrekkers were wounded, and some 3,000 Zulu warriors died in the battle. Two of the earlier names given to the day stem from this prayer. Officially known as the Day of the Vow, the commemoration was renamed from the Day of the Covenant in 1982. Afrikaners colloquially refer to it as Dingaansdag (Dingane 's Day), a reference to the Zulu ruler of the defeated attackers. Wording No verbatim record of the vow exists. The version often considered to be the original vow is in fact W.E.G. Louw's ca. 1962 translation into Afrikaans of G.B.A. Gerdener's reconstruction of the vow in his 1919 biography of Sarel Cilliers (Bailey 2003:25). The wording of the Vow is: Afrikaans : Hier staan ons voor die Heilige God van Hemel en aarde om ʼn gelofte aan Hom te doen, dat, as Hy ons sal beskerm en ons vyand in ons hand sal gee, ons die dag en datum elke jaar as ʼn dankdag soos ʼn Sabbat sal deurbring; en dat ons ʼn huis tot Sy eer sal oprig waar dit Hom behaag, en dat ons ook aan ons kinders sal sê dat hulle met ons daarin moet deel tot nagedagtenis ook vir die opkomende geslagte. Want die eer van Sy naam sal verheerlik word deur die roem en die eer van oorwinning aan Hom te gee. English: We stand here before the Holy God of heaven and earth, to make a vow to Him that, if He will protect us and give our enemy into our hand, we shall keep this day and date every year as a day of thanksgiving like a sabbath, and that we shall build a house to His honour wherever it should please Him, and that we will also tell our children that they should share in that with us in memory for future generations. For the honour of His name will be glorified by giving Him the fame and honour for the victory. History Plaque located approximately where the laager stood during the Battle of Blood River , with die Gelofte - the Vow - inscribed upon it The official version of the event is that a public vow was taken - The Covenant Vow on Sunday, 09th.Dec.1838 - It was at this Wasbank laager where Pretorius, Landman and Cilliers formulated "The Vow" and recorded by Jan Gerritze Bantjes (pages 54–55 of his journal - location of Wasbank, S28° 18' 38.82 E30° 8' 38.55). The original Bantjes words from the journal read as follows; "Sunday morning before service began, the Commander in Chief (Pretorius) asked those who would lead the service to come together and requested them to speak with the congregation so that they should be zealous in spirit, and in truth, pray to God for His help and assistance in the coming strike against the enemy, and tell them that Pretorius wanted to make a Vow towards the Almighty (if all agreed to this) that "if the Lord might give us victory, we hereby promise to found a house (church) as a memorial of his Great Name at a place (Pietermaritzburg) where it shall please Him", and that they also implore the help and assistance of God in accomplishing this vow and that they write down this Day of Victory in a book and disclose this event to our last posterities in order that this will forever be celebrated in the honour of God." This bound future descendants of the Afrikaner to commemorate the day as a religious holiday (sabbath) in the case of victory over the Zulus by promising to build a church in God's honour. By July 1839 nothing had yet been done at Pietermaritzburg regarding their pledge to build a church, and it was Jan Gerritze Bantjes himself who motivated everyone to keep that promise. In 1841 with capital accumulated by Bantjes at the Volksraad, the Church of the Vow at Pietermaritzburg was eventually built - the biggest donor being the widow, Mrs. H.J.van Niekerk in Sept.1839. As the original vow was never recorded in verbatim form, descriptions come only from the Bantjes Journal written of Jan Gerritze Bantjes with a dispatch written by Andries Pretorius to the Volksraad on 23 December 1838; and the recollections of Sarel Cilliers in 1871. A participant in the battle, Dewald Pretorius also wrote his recollections in 1862, interpreting the vow as including the building of churches and schools. Jan G. Bantjes (1817–1887), Clerk of the Volksraad and Pretorius' secretary-general, indicates that the initial promise was to build a House in return for victory. He notes that Pretorius called everyone together in his tent, (the senior officers) and asked them to pray for God's help. Bantjes writes in his journal that Pretorius told the assembly that he wanted to make a vow, "if everyone would agree". Bantjes does not say whether everyone did agree. Perhaps the fractious nature of the Boers dictated that the raiding party held their own prayers in the tents of various leading men . Pretorius is also quoted as wanting to have a book written to make known what God had done to even "our last descendants". Pretorius in his 1838 dispatch mentions a vow (Afrikaans : gelofte) in connection with the building of a church, but not that it would be binding for future generations. we here have decided among ourselves...to make known the day of our victory...among the whole of our generation, and that we want to devote it to God, and to celebrate [it] with thanksgiving, just as we...promised [beloofd] in public prayer — Andries Pretorius, Contrary to Pretorius, and in agreement with Bantjes, Cilliers in 1870 recalled a promise (Afrikaans : belofte), not a vow, to commemorate the day and to tell the story to future generations. Accordingly, they would remember: the day and date, every year as a commemoration and a day of thanksgiving, as though a Sabbath...and that we will also tell it to our children, that they should share in it with us, for the remembrance of our future generations — Sarel Cilliers, Cilliers writes that those who objected were given the option to leave. At least two persons declined to participate in the vow. Scholars disagree about whether the accompanying English settlers and servants complied . This seems to confirm that the promise was binding only on those present at the actual battle. Mackenzie (1997) claims that Cilliers may be recalling what he said to men who met in his tent. Up to the 1970s, the received version of events was seldom questioned, but since then scholars have questioned almost every aspect. They debate whether a vow was even taken and, if so, what its wording was. Some argue that the vow occurred on the day of the battle, others point to 7 or 9 December. Whether Andries Pretorius or Sarel Cilliers led the assembly has been debated; and even whether there was an assembly. The location at which the vow was taken has also produced diverging opinions, with some rejecting the Ncome River site . But despite some doubts, the Vow or Promise took place on the 9th Dec 1838 close to the Wasbank River as it states in Jan Bantjes 's journal and certainly not at the site of The Battle of Blood River, 16th Dec 1838. Commemorations Church of the Vow, Pietermaritzburg Disagreements exist about the extent to which the date was commemorated before the 1860s. Some historians maintained that little happened between 1838 and 1910.Historian S.P. Mackenzie argues that the day was not commemorated before the 1880s. Initial observations may have been limited to those associated with the battle at Ncome River and their descendants. While Sarel Cilliers upheld the day, Andries Pretorius did not (Ehlers 2003). In Natal Informal commemorations may have been held in the homes of former Voortrekkers in Pietermaritzburg in Natal. Voortrekker pastor Rev. Erasmus Smit [af ; nl ] announced the "7th annual" anniversary of the day in 1844 in De Natalier newspaper, for instance. Bailey mentions a meeting at the site of the battle in 1862 . In 1864, the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in Natal decreed that all its congregations should observe the date as a day of thanksgiving. The decision was spurred by the efforts of two Dutch clergymen working in Pietermaritsburg during the 1860s, D.P.M. Huet [af ] and F. Lion Cachet [af ; nl ]. Large meetings were held in the church in Pietermaritzburg in 1864 and 1865 ). In 1866, the first large scale meeting took place at the traditional battle site, led by Cachet. Zulus who gathered to watch proceedings assisted the participants in gathering stones for a commemorative cairn. In his speech Cachet called for the evangelisation of black heathen. He relayed a message received from the Zulu monarch Cetshwayo . In his reply to Cetshwayo, Cachet hoped for harmony between the Zulu and white Natalians. Trekker survivors recalled events, an institution which in the 1867 observation at the site included a Zulu . Huet was of the same opinion as Delward Pretorius. He declared at a church inauguration in Greytown on 16 December 1866 that its construction was also part of fulfilling the vow . In the Transvaal Die Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek declared 16 December a public holiday in 1865, to be commemorated by public religious services. However, until 1877, the general public there did not utilise the holiday as they did in Natal. Cricket matches and hunts were organised, some businesses remained open, and newspapers were sold. The name Dingane's Day appeared for the first time in the media, in an 1875 edition of De Volksstem. That newspaper wondered whether the lack of support for the holiday signalled a weakening sense of nationalism . After the Transvaal was annexed by the British in 1877, the new government refrained from state functions (like Supreme Court sittings) on the date . The desire by the Transvaal to retrieve its independence prompted the emergence of Afrikaner nationalism and the revival of 16 December in that territory. Transvaal burgers held meetings around the date to discuss responses to the annexation. In 1879 the first such a meeting convened at Wonderfontein on the West Rand. Burgers disregarded Sir G.J. Wolseley, the governor of Transvaal, who prohibited the meeting on 16 December. The following year they held a similar combination of discussions and the celebration of Dingane's Day at Paardekraal . Paul Kruger , president of the Transvaal Republic, believed that failure to observe the date led to the loss of independence and to the first Anglo-Boer war as a divine punishment. Before initiating hostilities with the British, a ceremony was held at Paardekraal on 16 December 1880 in which 5,000 burghers [citizens] piled a cairn of stones that symbolised past and future victories (over the Zulu and the British). After the success of its military campaign against the British, the Transvaal state organised a Dingane's Day festival every five years. At the first of these in 1881, an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people listened to speeches by Kruger and others (Gilliomee 1989). At the third such festival in 1891, Kruger emphasised the need for the festival to be religious in nature . In the Free State The Free State government in 1894 declared 16 December a holiday . National commemorations The Union state in 1910 officially declared Dingane's Day as a national public holiday. In 1938, D.F. Malan , leader of the National Party , reiterated at the site that its soil was "sacred." He said that the Blood River battle established "South Africa as a civilized Christian country" and "the responsible authority of the white race". Malan compared the battle to the urban labour situation in which whites had to prevail . In 1952, the ruling National Party passed the Public Holidays Act (Act 5 of 1952), in which section 2 declared the day to be a religious public holiday. Accordingly, certain activities were prohibited, such as organised sports contests, theatre shows, and so on (Ehlers 2003). Pegging a claim on this day was also forbidden under section 48(4)(a) of the Mining Rights (Act 20 of 1967; repealed by the Minerals Act (Act 50 of 1991).[1] The name was changed to the Day of the Vow in order to be less offensive, and to emphasise the vow rather than the Zulu antagonist (Ehlers 2003). In 1961, the African National Congress chose 16 December to initiate a series of sabotages, signalling its decision to embark on an armed struggle against the regime through its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe . In 1983, the South African government vetoed the decision by the acting government of Namibia to discontinue observing the holiday. In response, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance resigned its 41 seats in Namibia's 50-seat National Assembly. Act 5 of 1952 was repealed in 1994 by Act No. 36 of 1994, which changed the name of the public holiday to the Day of Reconciliation. Debates over the Holiday Scholars like historian Leonard Thompson have said that the events of the battle were woven into a new myth that justified racial oppression on the basis of racial superiority and divine providence. Accordingly, the victory over Dingaan was reinterpreted as a sign that God confirmed the rule of whites over black Africans, justifying the Boer project of acquiring land and eventually ascending to power in South Africa. In post-apartheid South Africa the holiday is often criticised as a racist holiday, which celebrates the success of Boer expansion over the black natives. By comparison with the large number of Afrikaners who participated in the annual celebrations of the Voortrekker victory, some did take exception. In 1971, for instance, Pro Veritate, the journal of the anti-apartheid organisation the Christian Institute of Southern Africa , devoted a special edition to the matter. Historian Anton Ehlers traces how political and economic factors changed the themes emphasised during celebrations of the Day of the Vow. During the 1940s and 1950s Afrikaner unity was emphasised over against black Africans. This theme acquired broader meaning in the 1960s and 1970s, when isolated "white" South Africa was positioned against the decolonisation of Africa . The economic and political crises of the 1970s and 1980s forced white Afrikaners to rethink the apartheid system. Afrikaner and other intellectuals began to critically evaluate the historical basis for the celebration. The need to include English and "moderate" black groups in reforms prompted a de-emphasis on "the ethnic exclusivity and divine mission of Afrikaners" (Ehlers 2003). December 16 and the Construction of Afrikaner Nationalism The date, December 16, holds a special significance in South African history. On this day in 1838, the Voortrekkers fought a battle for survival against Dingaan’s Zulu army, and were victorious. Later, the day was commemorated as part of the Afrikaner nationalist project. This article traces some of the main events that make up the history of the Afrikaner nationalist project and, indeed, the construction of the Afrikaners as a social group and a ‘race’, which led to the apartheid regime. The article briefly traces the key events that highlight the significance of December 16 as a political marker. (Consideration of these key events focus on their significance for the development of Afrikanerdom. For more detail on these key events see the articles dedicated to them on the SAHO site) Part 1 The Afrikaners: Birth of a people The emergence of an Afrikaner people, with their ‘own’ language, social and political traditions, culture, religious orientation, dietary habits and other marks of identity, was a process that was constructed by Afrikaner activists in reaction to British imperialism, on the one hand, and Black Africans living in southern Africa, on the other hand. These activists did not create something out of nothing, but rather took elements of South Africa’s history and forged a particular narrative that presented the Afrikaners as a group that was persecuted but heroic in resistance. The annexation of the Cape as a colony of the British sparked the need of the Dutch colonists to differentiate themselves from the English as a people, a volk, with particular interests that were not the same as those of the English and other groups. This process was accelerated by the imposition of laws that alienated the Dutch colonists from the political and cultural mainstream of the Cape Colony, especially when English was made the official language of the colony and the Dutch language was excluded from official, educational, church and other proceedings during the 19th century. The Slagtersnek Rebellion The Slagtersnek rebellion of 1815 brought home to the Dutch the new terms of citizenship that the British imposed on the colony. The British made every inhabitant of the Cape equal before the law, and imposed a new rule of law that put masters and their servants more or less on the same footing in the eyes of the law. So when Frederik Bezidenhout was reported to have mistreated his Khoikhoi labourers, he was summoned to a magistrate’s court in the Cape. He failed to appear and a warrant of arrest was issued. Bezuidenhout fled his farm and hid in a cave, but was discovered and shot for resisting arrest. His brother Hans Bezuidenhout, fuelled by a desire for revenge, gathered together a band to mount and uprising against the British authorities. They were confronted at Slagtersnek, and most of them surrendered, but Hans resisted arrest and was killed. Five of those arrested – Cornelis Faber (43), Stefanus Cornelis Botma (43), his brother Abraham Carel Botma (29), Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo (32) and Theunis de Klerk – were sentenced to death, while the remainder were set free or banished. The Abolition of Slavery But it was the abolition of slavery that sparked a unique event that would transform the former Dutch colonists into a new ‘volk’ – the Great Trek ). The British outlawed slavery in 1834. Without slaves, the burghers could not survive as farmers, and the Dutch Cape colonists experienced the British-imposed abolition as inimical to their way of life and their interests. About 6,000 of them embarked on what became known as the Great Trek, an exodus to areas north of the colony that would be beyond the rule of the British. The Great Trek and the murder of Piet Retief From 1836 parties of trekkers began leaving the Cape Colony with the worldly goods in ox-wagons, moving north beyond the frontiers of the colony. They moved in various directions: north towards what would become the Transvaal, (today Gauteng and Limpopo province); north-east towards Durban (today’s KwaZulu-Natal), and towards today’s Free State province. One of the leaders of the Voortrekkers, as they became known, was Piet Retief . He moved to Natal and tried to negotiate with Dingaan to secure a territory for the Boers to settle on. The wily Dingaan met with him and set as a condition the return of cattle and firearms stolen by Tlokwe chief Sekonyela . Retief fulfilled this condition and a date was set for a meeting to make final agreements. Meanwhile Dingaan had received reports that the Boers were streaming into his territory, and a letter Retief had sent him in 1837 contained an account of how the Boers had defeated Mzilikazi – an apparent threat that the Boers would wage war if their requirements were not met. At the meeting, on February 6 1838, Retief and his delegation of 100 men went to Umgungundlovu, where they were slaughtered. Dingaan mounted a campaign against the Boers that very day, and attacked a party in the Upper Tugela, as part of a series of attacks over the next few months. The Battle of Blood River The Boers felt that the entire Trek project would collapse. They mobilised a force of about 470 fighters and moved to a strategic point on the Buffalo River (also known as the Ncome River), where they formed a laager bounded on two sides by water, ready for an attack. Sarel Cilliers vowed that if God allowed the Boers to prevail, they would forever celebrate that day, December 16. The Zulus attacked but were defeated, with blood flowing into the Ncome River, which later became known as Blood River, and the conflict as the Battle of Blood River . A Political awakening After the Battle of Blood River, the Boers established colonies called Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State, where they governed themselves as republics. Natal proved to be a short-lived republic as it was soon annexed by the British. The development of the republics set Afrikanerdom at odds with the British more than any previous event. The culmination of the Great Trek, the republics developed as autonomous political units more or less outside the influence of British rule. But British imperial interests were threatened by the OFS and Transvaal as republics that could undermine the British foothold in the Cape. These developments could be seen as evidence of the coming into being of Afrikanerdom, and it would not be inaccurate to say that those who were burghers in the Cape, the Voortrekkers who had established republics in the north, now constituted a distinct, self conscious cultural and political entity. The Afrikaners had arrived, and they set about creating the basis for a cultural and political nationalism, focusing on issues of language and literature. In the Cape Colony, representative government was established in 1853, and the beginnings of party politics followed in the 1870s. By now, Afrikaners were agitating for recognition of their language, as it was not allowed in parliament, and was beginning to go into decline, with some burghers speaking English even in their homes. Two figures played the most significant role in this new struggle: SJ du Toit and JH ‘Onze Jan’ Hofmeyr. The First Language Movement Du Toit and a few fellow-travellers formed Die Genootskap vir Regte Afrikaners (the GRA, the Fellowship of True Afrikaners) in Paarl on 14 August 1875. This was the beginning of the First Language Movement of the Afrikaners, and the beginnings of a cultural nationalism that would eventually become a political nationalism. The GRA was dedicated to the recognition of Afrikaans as a language in Parliament, the civil service and schools. They launched a newspaper, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, first published on 15 January 1876, using a version of Afrikaans accessible to ordinary Afrikaners. Du Toit wrote a history of the Afrikaners, Die Geskiednis van ons Land in die Taal van ons Volk (The History of our Land in the Language of our Nation), published in 1877, which presented Afrikaners as oppressed throughout their history, and hailed those ‘martyred’ after the Slagter’s Nek rebellion. According to TRH Davenport: ‘It was romantic history of an exaggerated kind, in which the hero was the Afrikaner Boer. He was pictured, first of all, trying to build a colony, caught between the upper and nether millstones of the Dutch East India Company and the “wild nations”; and was seen to prevail over both because the Lord was on his side… they sought to arouse the group patriotism of the Afrikaner by a skilful use of melodrama, best seen in their account of the Slagters Nek executions in 1815.’ Du Toit then translated the Bible into Afrikaans, published Eerste Beginsels van die Afrikaans Taal (First Principles of the Afrikaans Language), a history of the Afrikaans language movement, an anthology of Afrikaans poetry, and picture books for children. The Afrikaner Bond Du Toit called for the establishment of an Afrikaner Bond, an organisation that would serve the interests of all those who saw themselves as Afrikaners. The call was heeded by Afrikaners especially after the British annexed the Transvaal in 1877, and after the Transvaalers found themselves at war with the British, a war that they swiftly won after the Battle of Majuba in 1881. The Bond became the first political party in South Africa, representing the interests of Afrikanerdom in the Cape Parliament, but also forging links and setting up branches in the OFS and Transvaal. In 1881, after the Boer victory in the first Anglo-Boer War, Paul Kruger , speaking at the state festival on December 16, said that God had given the Boers their victories at Majuba and Blood River. Increasingly, Afrikaners were commemorating December 16 as a founding myth. At the unveiling of the Paardekraal monument in 1891, Kruger warned that the Boers had to thankful to God for their victories. They would suffer if they failed to honour their covenant. In the Transvaal Paul Kruger maintained an anti-British policy that eventually led to the second Anglo-Boer War . The Anglo-Boer War When Britain went to war against the Boers in the second Anglo-Boer War, Afrikanerdom was not totally united against the British, who took steps to ensure the Cape Afrikaners did not join forces with their brethren in the republics, although a number of these did join the Boers in their struggle, either fighting or lending support. The Afrikaners lost the war, and suffered great hardships, with some 25,000 women and children dying in British concentration camps. They were forced to accept defeat in 1902. Union, 1910 After the war, Afrikaners were divided between those who decided that reconciliation with the British was the way forward, and the so-called bitter-einders, who had fought until the last and resisted a peace deal. Afrikaners increasingly referred to Dingaan’s Day as part of their mythology. Gustav Preller , the editor of Die Volkstem, published articles about Piet Retief in 1905/6. Historian F van Jaarsveld wrote that Preller saw the Great Trek as the birth of the Afrikaner nation. Plans for uniting the four colonies into a union of South Africa went ahead, and the Afrikaners entered into a new form of conflict: parliamentary politics. Political Developments 1910-1938 After union was established, Afrikaners sought to capture the state through political means, with Jan Smuts and Louis Botha’s South African Party winning the first election to national government. The SAP stood for reconciliation between English and Afrikaner, a position rejected by many Afrikaners, especially after South Africa entered the First World War on the side of the British. Increasingly, the Afrikaners began to develop their political mythology. The Slagtersnek Monument was unveiled in 1915, a hundred years after the original incident. Preller produced a film, The Voortrekkers, in 1916. The script was published in a book, together with articles celebrating Retief’s life. Preller referred to Retief as ‘faithful, valiant Retief, honest upright Afrikaner, and soul of the future Afrikaner nation’. In 1929 Prime Minister JBM Hertzog , gave a speech on Dingaan’s Day, in which he referred to the ‘significance of the Battle of Blood River’ and announced that ‘Dingaan's Day 1838 was decisive for the European race from Cape to Nyasa’. He said the ‘victory of those few trekkers on the Banks of Blood River achieved more than securing a fatherland for a few thousand expatriate farmers from the Cape’. The so-called poor-white problem that emerged in the 1920s saw the emergence of the ‘Second Great Trek’. Poorer Afrikaner farmers, increasingly driven off the land into the cities, began to constitute a class of white proletariat wit little or no skills with which to find jobs in an urban economy. Finding themselves in competition with Black workers, the state embarked on programmes to empower this class. The Second Language Movement A second Language Movement emerged in the 1930s, with writers now producing works of literature that far surpassed the earlier efforts of SJ du Toit and his followers. According to Hermann Giliomee: ‘One of the most remarkable features of the public debate between 1902 and 1934 was the public silence about the Anglo-Boer War.’ Giliomee adds that only nine books on the war were written in Afrikaans or Dutch between 1906 and 1931. And Die Burger editorialised that a veil had been thrown over the British concentration camps because Afrikaners were ‘ashamed of the way in which women and children of a brave nation had been treated’. But during the 1930s, Giliomee writes, ‘a new generation of Afrikaners sought to rediscover themselves through acknowledging both the heroism and the suffering of the war’. Having gained official recognition in 1925, Afrikaans now flowered as a language. Poets, novelists and historians began to contribute to a growing archive of literature. A new translation of the Bible was lauded by DF Malan as the greatest cultural event in the life of the Afrikaner people. Writers such as Uys Krige, Elisabeth Eybers and WEG Louw published their first volumes of poetry. The foremost Afrikaans writer, NP van Wyk Louw , produced a play, Die Dieper Reg (The Higher Justice), in which he presented the Voortrekkers as heroes who followed the ‘call of their blood’. Van Wyk Louw was part of the Dertigers, the Generation of the Thirties, which broke with the romantic traditions of their predecessors. He joined the Broederbond in 1934, joining fellow poet DJ Opperman. All the preceding developments serve as a brief background to the use of the December 16 date as a tool of political mobilisation. Part 2 The Political Use of December 16 Afrikaner nationalists claim that the Battle of Blood River saved the Great Trek; that it represented the birth of the Afrikaner nation; that the Voortrekkers' victory symbolized the triumph of Christianity over heathens; that all Afrikaners were irrevocably bound by the vow for all time; and that the battle itself must be regarded as a miracle in the sense that divine intervention gave the Voortrekkers their victory. The Boers’ vow to commemorate the day of their victory over Dingaan’s Zulu army was not observed in any significant way until the 1880s, and after 1838 the day arguably fell into disregard as the Boers focused on their everyday struggles. In 1864, Paul Kruger declared December 16 a public holiday in the Transvaal Republic. In 1880, the Boers remembered the covenant at a popular festival in Paardekraal, near Krugersdorp. In 1888 Kruger attended Dingaan’s Day celebrations on December 16 at the site of the Battle of Blood River, and proposed that a monument be built in honour of the Voortrekkers. In 1894, the OFS declared December 16 a public holiday. By 1908 December 16 became a South African national holiday. The Re-enactment of the Great Trek, 1938 In 1931 the Sentrale Volksmonumentekomitee (SVK) (Central People's Monuments Committee) was formed to build the Voortrekker monument . Construction began in July 1937. In 1938 the Afrikaanse Taal and Kultuurvereniging organised a re-enactment of the Great Trek. Beginning in the latter half of the year, nine ox-wagons travelled along two routes: from Cape Town to the site of the Battle of Blood River in northern Natal; and from Cape Town to Pretoria, where a foundation stone for a Voortrekker monument was laid on December 16. Moving through small towns and villages, the trekkers drew massive crowds, often dressed in clothing resembling that of the Voortrekkers. Wreaths were laid on graves of Afrikaner heroes, folk songs sung and people imitated the Voortrekkers’ eating habits, most notably by having barbecues – the famous South African braaivleis. On December 16, a crowd of over 100,000 attended the ceremony in Pretoria. Jan Smuts was also in attendance. In the Natal gathering, future prime minister DF Malan spoke of the poor-white problem, describing it as the greatest challenge to the survival of the Afrikaner people. He addressed Afrikaners, saying ‘you stand today in your own white laager at your own Blood River, seeing the dark masses gathering around your isolated white race’. Apartheid Ten years later, in 1948, the National Party came to power in South Africa, and instituted its apartheid programme. This was the culmination of the Afrikaner quest for political power. The event was soon followed by the completion of the Voortrekker Monument. On December 16 1949, the completed Voortrekker Monument was inaugurated, the event drawing the largest crowd the country had ever seen at an event until then. The monument was meant to 'engender pride in the nation of heroes which endured the hardships of the Great Trek’. The frieze on the interior of the monument is meant as a symbol of 'the Afrikaner's proprietary right to South Africa’. In his last major speech, Jan Smuts said that few nations could boast of such ‘a romantic history… and one of more griping human interest’. Interestingly, according to Giliomee, he warned: ‘Let us not be fanatical about our past and romanticise it.’ He also called for greater co-operation between Afrikaner and English white South Africans, and said that the greatest problem facing white South Africans, was ‘the problem of our native relations’, the ‘most difficult and final test of our civilisation’. Malan, by now prime minister, also spoke at the event, warning that global influences were undermining the spirit and ideals of the Voortrekkers. He said a ‘godless communism’ was threatening the achievements of the Afrikaners. According to Giliomee, Malan said that ‘there was a danger of blood mixing and disintegration of the white race. The only way of avoiding the spectre of a descent into “semi-barbarism” was a return to the Voortrekker spirit and a return to the volk, church and God.’ With apartheid becoming entrenched, the Afrikaners no longer needed mythmaking to acquire power, but rather to maintain power. BACK TO TOP