White Afrikaner Research Articles

One Country, One Sport, Endless Knowledge: The Anthropological Study of Sports in South Africa

Keywords: sport, Africa, reconciliation IntroductionThis paper describes some of the many ways that sport allows anthropologists to experience and to analyze African society. Throughout the decades of apartheid, sports served both to define and to defy White superiority. Sport continues to serve as one of the most accessible avenues for the conscious refashioning of African society. While focussing on soccer, the paper includes cricket and rugby, the other two sports that have been most important in reflecting and determining White identity, and in celebrating the nation. We aim to demonstrate both the many ways in which sport has reflected the most important issues of African history, and the ways in which the performance of sport changes that history.When men familiar with Africa find out that we study sports there, they invariably respond with some variation on You know, sport is a religion in Several scholars, too, have observed that South Africa is the most sports-mad country in the world (e.g., Farred, 1997; Nauright, 1997). Why (or if) this is unique to Africa is beyond the scope of the present paper, or whether this belief is the result or the cause of the way sports have been used to state and debate the most important issues in African society. White rule was celebrated through international sport, particularly through rugby, which has been conceptualized as the defining demonstration of White Afrikaner strength and determination. When African rugby teams won at the international level, their victory was quite consciously hailed as a justification of White rule: Countries that allow mixing of races can never field a strong enough team to beat an all-White team from a White-run country.Many fine anthropological ethnographies and analyses of sport have appeared in the last decade. Three areas of concern to anthropology in general have been brilliantly discussed as aspects of sporting practice in one or more countries: the generation of bodily meaning, the construction, maintenance, destruction and reconstruction of identity processes, and the celebration of groups and ideologies.Bodily practice has been analyzed among poor boxers in the U.S. by Wacquant (1995a, 1995b), who described their use of their bodies as a resource as an honourable way to achieve money and success, in contrast to criminal or semi-criminal activity. Archetti (e.g., 1996) studied the meanings given to different styles of play in Argentinian soccer, as Leite Lopes (1997) has done in Brazil, demonstrating the ways in which ideals thought to constitute less-valorized social classes can be read into and then derived from bodily performance. The role of the referee as director or conductor of action has been described by Dyck (2000) in his review of studies of body performance in sports.Perhaps more anthropologists have been concerned to describe identity and boundary generation, maintenance and redefinition in sport than any other area of recent interest in the discipline. Notable among these are studies of struggles in British soccer (there and elsewhere also called football) to define a particular team or style of play as characteristic of one race, social class, ethnicity, or even religion in contrast to others (e.g., Armstrong, 1998; Giulianotti and Armstrong, 1997). In Africa, conflict that centered on whether soccer should represent European or African values, traditional or modern practices, local or global discourse has been described by Stuart (1996), by Anderson (e.g., Anderson, Clarke and Perzigan, 2001), and by Farred (2000); Nauright (1997) has described the way in which rugby has been used to assert Afrikaner identity in Africa.The celebration of state or subcultural values, of hegemony and resistance, the generation and affirmation of alternative societies and relations through sport is the third area of concern to anthropologists of sport for which we will provide data from current practice in Africa. …

THE RISE AND FALL OF AFRIKANER ETHNIC POLITICAL MOBILISATION, 1943–1999

ABSTRACT The dominance of the National Party (NP) in South African white politics for nearly five decades represents a highly successful example of ethnic political mobilisation. This paper seeks to examine the changing course of mobilisation in the period 1948–1992. It considers the NP victory in 1948 and early consolidation; the peak of ethnic mobilisation between 1958 and 1974; and the NP as an inter-ethnic coalition in the face of growing divisions in Afrikanerdom between 1977 and 1992. With the ending of white minority rule Afrikaners quickly lost what remained of their political unity, and by 1999 constituted one of the most electorally fragmented population groups in South Africa. The paper examines the patterns of this fragmentation in historical context, and comments on the significance or otherwise of ethnicity in the voting of all ethnic groups in the ‘rainbow nation’ since the end of apartheid.

Visions of the Future during Political Transitions

white Afrikaners during the political transition in South Africa in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its sources rely on opinion surveys, election results, political party pronouncements, academic analyses, and personal observations in lectures, group discussions, and formal interviews throughout this period. The article seeks to explore what can be learned from the negotiated settlement of a seemingly intractable ethnoracial conflict for the unresolved strife in the Middle East. When and why did a privileged ruling group consent to negotiate itself out of power? What divisions occurred and how were internal cleavages handled? How was the historic compromise marketed to a skeptical constituency? What role did civil society and dissidents play in the change? In short, can the South African “miracle” be replicated in the Middle East? Many activists advocate similar antiapartheid strategies (divestment, boycott) against Israel and assume that strong pressure would produce similar outcomes. There is nothing wrong with such idealistic optimism, except that it may foster illusions. The underlying assumption that the South Africa model of conflict resolution readily lends itself to export ignores unique historical circumstances. It may actually retard necessary new solutions by clinging to visions or processes of negotiation that may not work in another context. Above all, in South Africa an entire regime had to be changed, while in Israel the occupation and the status of the territories is the main contentious issue. Therefore, a more nuanced understanding of differences and similarities may enhance new approaches.

What Democratisation Does to Minorities Displaced from Power: The Case of White Afrikaners in South Africa

One of the greatest obstacles to change in South Africa was the fear of what would happen to the former white masters, especially the Afrikaners, who had ruled since 1948, in the event of the independence of the country and the inevitable take-over of state power by the black majority. This article examines the nature of these fears and the attempts that were made to allay and address them in the context of the democratisation process that took place in the 1990s. It is argued that the decline in the counter-revolutionary mobilisation of the right wing, which represented the most vociferous and militant strand of Afrikaner reactions to the changing political order, and the corresponding ascendancy of moderate-to-conservative liberalism, suggests that more and more Afrikaners are finally adjusting to the transmutation from ‘masters’ to ‘minorities’.

The psychological bases of ideology and prejudice: Testing a dual process model.

The issue of personality and prejudice has been largely investigated in terms of authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. However, these seem more appropriately conceptualized as ideological attitudes than as personality dimensions. The authors describe a causal model linking dual dimensions of personality, social world view, ideological attitudes, and intergroup attitudes. Structural equation modeling with data from American and White Afrikaner students supported the model, suggesting that social conformity and belief in a dangerous world influence authoritarian attitudes, whereas toughmindedness and belief in a competitive jungle world influence social dominance attitudes, and these two ideological attitude dimensions influence intergroup attitudes. The model implies that dual motivational and cognitive processes, which may be activated by different kinds of situational and intergroup dynamics, may underlie 2 distinct dimensions of prejudice.

Tradurre e Tradire: The Treason and Translation of Breyten Breytenbach

This essay argues that Breyten Breytenbach's use of the English language to write his prison memoir True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist (1994[1984]) represented a kind of linguistic treason consistent with Breytenbach's legally defined treason against the apartheid state. While Breytenbach himself has been dismissive of the cultural productivity of his work, especially of the youthful rebelliousness of the work associated with the so-called Sestiger movement, the treason/translation of Confessions blazes a trail for a new politics of Afrikaans by insisting on the language's genuinely local,thoroughly hybrid nature. Well in advance of the birth of the new South Africa in 1994, Breytenbach undermined racialist notions of Afrikaans (whether as some sort of Herderian Sprachgeist of the white Afrikaner Volk or as the language of the white oppressor) and offered ways of conceiving Afrikaans as a defiantly impure language of local and national dissent (neither black nor white, neither traditionally African nor Europeanly modern) pitted against global and international systems of an anglophone world order.

Human Values and Social Identities among Samples of White and Black South Africans

We examined the value correlates of different social identities among two groups of South Africans, those identifying themselves as white Afrikaners or as black South Africans. Respondents indicated the importance of their membership of different groups and also completed indices of National strength and order, and International harmony and equality. Multiple regression analyses showed that the social identities associated with both values for self‐identified Afrikaners were mainly linked with ethnic language (Afrikaans) and religion. Among self‐identified black South Africans, however, the social identities were more encompassing, including the notion of global citizen and South African. The findings are discussed in the light of ongoing political and social change in South Africa and the nature of changing identities, as well as the role of cultural symbols in facilitating in‐group identification among white Afrikaners.

The New Politics of Afrikaans

The “new politics of Afrikaans” is primarily concerned with defending Afrikaans language and culture in the new South Africa. In contrast to Afrikaner nationalism, it seeks to ensure a vital and viable future for Afrikaans, which does not depend on white racial domination or Afrikaner political power. At the same time, it seeks to prevent Afrikaners from disowning their language or cultural identity, or abandoning the sphere of the political in the new South Africa. It seeks instead to defend cultural diversity and local forms of community against the homogenizing pressures of capitalist globalization. This article examines the evolution of moral, political and philosophical ideas and arguments in this process, and in particular their ambiguous relationship to capitalism in the new South Africa. It examines the logic of reconciliation under Mandela and Mbeki; the ways in which Afrikaner critics of apartheid conceived of the role of Afrikaners; how postmodernism has reconfigured the philosophy of history on which they relied; and the arguments of Breyten Breytenbach—perhaps the most celebrated figure in the new politics of Afrikaans. In conclusion, it puts forward a brief account of the class dynamics which are deciding the future of language and culture in the new South Africa.

Strewe na 'n "volkstaat": Die prekoloniale posisie van die Rehoboth-Basters in Namibië, 1868-1884

The people of mixed ancestry who came into being in the North Western Cape in the course of the eighteenth century and later known as the Rehoboth Basters, left the Cape Colony in 1868 and in 1870 settled at Rehoboth and environment, in the area later to be known as German South West Africa. Their pre-colonial settlement (1868-1884) was characterized by fruitless attempts to obtain the Rehoboth region as a permanent residential area and to maintain neutrality in the midst of the renewed Herero-Nama-Oorlam conflict. With the conclusion of the Baster-German Friendship and Protection Treaty of 15 September 1885, de jure recognition was at last granted to the ideal of a national state of the Rehoboth Basters, a settlement which, in terms of modern South African political jargon, may be called a "volkstaat" - this time not for white Afrikaners, but for their coloured kith and kin.

POLITICAL CHANGE AND SOCIAL ATTITUDES IN SOUTH AFRICA

This investigation sought to determine the correlates of attitudes towards the new ANC-dominated government in South Africa among two groups of White university students. To a large extent, the research replicates an earlier project conducted in 1986 which investigated the predictors of attitudes towards the ANC at a time when it was banned as were its leaders who were either imprisoned or in exile. Results indicate that conformity to group norms was of importance in the Afrikaans-speaking sample as was patriotism, authoritarian behavior and prejudiced attitudes. Conversely, attitudes in the English-speaking group seemed to be held less strongly and attitudes towards the ANC-led government appeared no longer to be related to such factors as prejudice, authoritarianism, patriotism or self-esteem. Results are understood in terms of long-standing sociopolitical differences between White English-speaking and Afrikaner groups in South Africa.

Science and society in the early career of H.F. Verwoerd

The early career of Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd has rarely received either scholarly or political attention. Yet the period between 1924, when he was awarded a PhD in Psychology at Stellenbosch, and 1936, when left academia to become editor of Die Transvaler, was critical in providing him with the organisational and political experience that later made him so successful as a National Party politician and administrator. Equally important, Verwoerd was neither a strident Afrikaner nationalist nor a doctrinaire white supremacist during these years. He played a central role in the campaign against white Afrikaner poverty in the 1930s and sought to encourage joint English‐Afrikaner co‐operation in this work. He was also instrumental in shaping the early South African social welfare movement, where he drew heavily on American experience and research. These activities, combined with his ambition and energy, gave him both the prominence and the platform for launching his political career after 1936.

Kan J A Heyns se Sosiale Etiek ons teologies toerus vir die toekoms?

Can J A Heyns’ Social Ethic equip us theologically for the future? Heyns’ socio-ethical model, which is based on a "cultivar" of the Calvinistic philosophy, provides ethical stability with its theocentric anchor. However, it shows shortcomings as to flexibility and relevancy because a dialectic between deductive and inductive ways of theologizing is lacking. The use of the notion "Volksverband" (national bond) as an ethical pillar in the first chapter cannot be derived from a New Testamentical centre but can rather be connected to the theology of creational orders. Although the chapter contains important ethical directives for internal dialogue amongst (white) Afrikaners, there is very little on the economic, semiotic, restitutional and ecological facets of modem group-forming tendencies.

Familicide from a clinical-community psychology perspective

In this article familicide and homicide-suicide acts in South Africa and elsewhere are discussed. Issues that are considered include the following: the definition of familicide, the incidence of cases, population groups involved, the role of suicide, the role of psychopathology, familial versus nonfamilial murderers, the influence of stress, male proprietariness in combination with an exaggerated sense of responsibility, age and gender, and sociopolitical influences. A n attempt is made to integrate the personal and societal factors of familicide from a clinical-community psychology perspective, relying specifically on the theories of Frantz Fanon and Hussein Bulhan. It is proposed that an understanding of the oppressor-oppressed relationship, as well as threats to that relationship, may shed light on the current high rate of familicide that occurs mostly among white Afrikaner, South African males, and their families.

The legacy of ideological control: the Afrikaner youth's manipulated political consciousness

Abstract The article explores the way in which the political consciousness of the white Afrikaner student youth has been limited by severe state ideological control, leaving them ill‐prepared for a non‐racial political future. Two strains of analysis are pursued. Firstly, the extent to which changes in political attitudes were manifested in a period of turmoil in black politics is investigated. Secondly, detailed analyses are done of perceptions and beliefs about the way in which black fellow South Africans are affected by policies of the partial South African state. An image of impeded consciousness of the realities of South African politics emerges. This consciousness is explained by the insular political world constructed by the state and its direct or hegemonically compliant agents.

Haplotypes identified by 10 DNA restriction fragment length polymorphisms at the human low density lipoprotein receptor gene locus.

Ten useful two allele restriction fragment length polymorphisms of the low density lipoprotein receptor gene were used for haplotype analysis in 45 unrelated familial hypercholesterolaemic (FH) patients, 60 normal controls, and 32 FH homozygotes, all of whom were white Afrikaners. Pedigree analysis in 27 informative heterozygous FH and 23 normal families has shown the segregation of at least 17 haplotypes in the normal population (111 chromosomes) compared to a predominant association of two of these haplotypes with the disease in the FH subjects. This association was further confirmed in 32 FH homozygotes, indicating at least two 'founder' members for the disease in the Afrikaner population. Recombination events were not detected in any of the families studied and we thus conclude that the haplotypes associated with FH function as specific markers for the disease and will allow presymptomatic diagnosis in affected families.

Separation for unity: The garment workers union and the South African clothing workers union 1928 to 1936

Up until its demise in December 1984, the Garment Workers’ Union (GWU)proclaimed that it had always been committed to the principle of non‐racialism. This paper examines the validity of this assertion for the period 1928 ‐1936 when the workforce in the clothing industry in the Transvaal mainly comprised of white Afrikaner women and African men. It is argued that the GWU did not give the African workers in the clothing industry full support. Moreover, it committed itself to a policy of keeping white and black workers separate in order to keep the GWU united.

The inescapable bond with a predetermined heritage: a phenomenon illustrated by representative characters from three Athol Fugard plays

This article has been gleaned from an MA dissertation on Fugard’s portrayal of the Afrikaner. In determining which characters in the English-dominated Fugard plays can safely be categorized as Afrikaners, one is confronted with the dilemma of the Coloured Afrikaner, who shares the language and culture of the Afrikaner, yet is excluded from any real sense of Afrikaner identity. In this article the White and Coloured Afrikaner characters in three Fugard plays are analysed and discussed in accordance with their perception of their bondage to their cultura. I try to illustrate how each character’s decisions and interpersonal relationships are, to a large extent, the result of the witting or unwitting adherence to a cultural identity. The characters discussed are: Morris, the Coloured brother in The Blood Knof; Frieda and Errol in Statements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act; and Piet, Gladys and Steve in A Lesson from Aloes. “Man is bound to space and time ... a fact that one should never overemphasize or underestimate.” - (J.H. Coetzee)

Black and white civil religion as ideology

The author points out that the term ideology has changed to a negative connotation following the initially positive connotation it had. The negative connotation has been reinforced following its association with Marxism. In this article it is pointed out that ideology has increasingly gained the nature of civil religion because soteriological issues have come to be settled in terms of some immanent frame of reference. The author looks at White(Afrikaner) civil religion in South Africa as well as at Black civil religion. The conclusion is inevitably drawn that in both Black and White civil religion in South Africa the fundamental message of the Gospel has been identified with the suffering, oppression or nationalistic aspirations of some or other specific group. The author concludes by saying that to the extent that Afrikaners have done this in the process of history their experience of history ought to be subjected to a critical test in the light of Scripture. To the extent that Blacks are tempted to harness the fundamental message of the Gospel to their own cultural and national aspirations, the same test has to be applied.

SOUTH AFRICAN REALITIES AND REALPOLITIK

South Africa is a country of major and powerful tribes, of many sub‐tribes, of one large non‐tribe, and of two articulate communities (the Asians and mixed‐race coloureds). Chief among the tribes in their history and their right to control tracts of South Africa are the white Afrikaner tribe led by Mr, Vorster himself and the black Zulus led by Chief Gatsha Buthelezi. Both dominate, but are feared and resented by, the rest of their respective racial communities. The two are, and have been for hundreds of years, each other's prime adversaries…. To advocate one man, one vote in a unitary state as the solution to such a patchwork of racial resentments and history frankly seems a nonsense….