ATKV to preserve cultural heritage
FERNDALE – The ATKV has recently made its position clear of identifying and nurturing cultural practices in South Africa.
The Afrikaanse Taal-en Kultuur Vereniging (ATKV) has made its intentions clear to continue in preserving South Africa’s Afrikaans cultural heritage and identity.
The ATKV, which has its head office in Ferndale, was establish in 1930 as a cultural organisation where people could take pride and share in their Afrikaans cultural heritage. Currently, the organisation has a total of 70 000 main members with 30 cultural projects per year, which have generated approximately
55 000 entries.
Managing director of the ATKV Japie Gouws has pointed out that the best tools to promote and preserve national-building and reconciliation is through the usage of cultural practices and language usage among the citizens of South Africa.
Gouws continued to point out that the current vandalism and desecration of cultural monuments and statues is not contributing in the least to maintaining or strengthening cultural relationships. “Over 20 million people of the Afrikaans home-language community – coupled with other South Africans – use Afrikaans every day. We should also consider that over 60 per cent of the Afrikaans users are of coloured, black, and Asian descent,” he said.
The ATKV believes that now the time has come for the Afrikaans community to come together and decide how the legacy of their leaders and cultural practices will be utilised, acknowledged, and preserved. “This kind of initiative has to be done in a creative and inclusive fashion where prominent and, especially untapped, heritage can be recognised and preserved… ATKV is in the perfect position to facilitate this initiative and growth.We are not just responsible for the preservation of Afrikaans but also the preservation of all cultural practices in South Africa,” he said.
