The rise and fall of the Volkstaat dream

The idea of a Volkstaat has diminished over time, even among the conservative Afrikaners.

“The idea of a nation-state can be traced back the republics. There were several republics, and there was not only the Free State and Transvaal and ZAR, there was also Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet, which is the Northern Cape,” said political science professor Dirk Kotzé yesterday.

“It was to move away from the British government’s control.”

Volkstaat rose in 1990 as alternative to not be under ANC

He said the nation-state idea is a phenomenon that arose in 1990 and it was an alternative so that they would not be under the ANC.

“The logic is very much the same as the old republic and that is also where the Freedom Front was formed by a group of generals who suffered until FF and later Louis Luyt’s party joined and became FF Plus,” he said.

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Kotzé said during the general election in 1994, the Volkstaat idea was probably at its strongest and the election was considered a referendum on the Volkstaat.

“The agreement was then that all votes for FF Plus would be registered right through the country in favour of the Volkstaat. The irony is that the most votes that the FF Plus got in 1994 was 13 in Gauteng,” he added.

Kotzé said AfriForum did not speak of a Volkstaat in their US meeting, adding it probably came from the Trump administration.

AfriForum didn’t speak of a Volkstaat in US meeting

He said what was happening in Washington was opportunism and the continuation of Donald Trump’s idea of a refugee ship.

Political analyst Piet Croucamp said the idea of Volkstaat was still very much alive, which is why AfriForum has an emphasis on Afrikaners and particular whites.

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