The Voortrekker Monument on the outskirts of Pretoria. Pictures: Marizka Coetzer
AfriForum members and more than 40 other organisations gathered at the Voortrekker Monument to march and protest against the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act 32 of 2024 (Bela Act).
Ten thousand demonstrators came together where they were joined by Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen, Minister of Sports Gayton McKenzie and Minister of Correctional Services Dr Pieter Groenewald to march to Freedom Park and hand over a memorandum of demands and objections against the bill.
09:53 Before the march, singer Steve Hofmeyr took to the stage singing Sarie Marais.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said it’s the angriest the Afrikaans community has been since 1994. “Leave our kids alone,” he said. Kriel said the fact that 10,000 people showed up for the march demonstrates people’s sentiments towards the Bela Act.
10:30 Steenhuisen addressed the crowd saying there are 12 official languages in South Africa and they all need to be protected. “We must protect mother tongue education. You don’t have to be Afrikaans to stand up for Afrikaans.”
Groenewald followed Steenhuisen on stage saying, “You must be proud of who you are whether you are Zulu or Xhosa. I am a proud Afrikaner”.
11:13 Kriel, speaking to Solidarity, said it was a historical day. “This is the biggest march by the Afrikaans community since 1994. And there’s a reason for it. It’s because we are the angriest since ’94. Our children are targeted, our schools are targeted.
“Therefore, we fight for survival against the Bela Act. We will go to court if it’s necessary, but today we speak the language of the ANC. The language of protest. With more than 10,000 people here, we send out a very strong message to leave our children alone.”
11: 45 The march started at the Voortrekker Monument and ended at Freedom Park where the protestors will meet with the government to hand over a memorandum.
The crowd is now chanting: “Bela is boos, los ons kroos,” which loosely translates to: “Bela is evil. Leave our children alone.”
11:22 Freedom Front Plus MP, Wouter Wessels said, “Enough is enough. We will not let our rights be trampled upon. Our children have the right to mother tongue education.”
12:07 After receiving the memorandum, Steenhuisen said to the protestors that the DA heard them and “we listened and we will ensure that your voices are heard all the way to the Union buildings”.
12:15 “Afrikaans is also my home language. I love Afrikaans I am not shy about it. We will fight to the end. Afrikaans is not going anywhere,” McKenzie said. “When they said there won’t be a march here at Freedom Park, I said ‘no, no, that doesn’t play on my f***ing TV’. Then I wrote a letter.”
12:19 “I’m sure we can all agree on the importance of mother tongue language to ensure quality education,” Groenewald said under loud applause from the crowd. “That is common sense, though I understand that common sense is not so common in today’s politics anymore. I will convey the message. We have stopped fighting for a better past, now we are fighting for a better future.
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