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- A Stuijt
- Retired South African medical journalist, ex-Sunday Times of Johannesburg.
SA crime victims terrified of police
14:22 | 
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A Stuijt |
Some 645,000 people killed in criminal violence under ANC-hegemony since 1994
14 December 2009 - Analysing the past 14 years in South Africa, some very grim statistics emerge. Two of the worst ones leap out at once: namely the fact that since 1994, at least 640,000 people have already died in criminal violence since the black-majority government gained hegemony since 1994. And under black-majority rule, the HIV-AIDS epidemic has also spread like wildfire, fanning out from South Africa through all of Africa south of the Sahara.
350,000 young people year die of co-infection AIDS-TB
The Human Rights Commission wrote that more than 6,3-million people in SA now are infected with the HI-virus which leads to deadly AIDS -- and its young people of reproductive age are dying of AIDS and co-infection with XDR-TB: the companion disease extremely drug-resistant Tuberculosis -- at a rate of about 350,000 every year. Undertakers are doing a brisk trade and cemeteries are bursting at the seams.There are over 100 funeral homes in Soweto alone. report
And the one main cause behind these horrific AIDS-deaths is the culture of rape which permeates all of South African life – and always has done. Before 1994, AIDS was rarely reported among heterosexual black communities. Fifteen years later, some 6-million mostly black people are already dying of it, and many thousands of new infections are notified each month among the child-bearing-age population.
Rape – SA child-bearing age group widely infected with HIV-AIDS due to ‘culture of rape’
Researchers warn that the main reason is rape: more than 25% of all the females of South Africa, even from early babyhood onward, can expect to be raped at least once before their child-bearing years are over.
- The latest reports warn that in fact, most of the child-bearing age population of South Africa is now being infected at a rapid rate with HIV-AIDS because of the rape epidemic.
Immediately after apartheid ended in 1994, the country’s violent crime rate also jumped dramatically when the ANC-government replaced most of the previous (white) police force with inexperienced, new black recruits from the townships.
The pre-1994 statistics rose from 5,100 murders/homicides as year to an average of 43,000 murders+homicides: i.e. at least 645,000 people were killed in criminal violence under current ANC-hegemony over the past 15 years. The latest SAPS statistics
Before 1994: 5,100 annual murders/homicides a year:
By comparison: before ANC-hegemony in 1994, according to the SA Human Rights Council statistics, South Africa averaged 5,100 annual murders/homicides combined from purely criminal activities.
- Polical violence: Added to this criminal death toll also are the 21,000 people who died in political violence between 1948 and 1994. These deaths also include the SA Defence Force actions outside the South African borders, such as the 600 deaths of ANC-fighters and their Cuban/Russian advisors at Kassinga in Angola during the SA border war in 1978 and SA Police raids on exile-camps in Swaziland and elsewhere.
“Black on black’ violence caused most murders:
Of the criminality-related deaths before 1994, the vast majority, 92%, have been primarily due to black Africans killing black Africans -- a total of 8,580 (92%) of the 9,325 violent deaths during the period June 1990 to July 1993 were for instance, caused by mineworkers killing each other in turf wars or drunken rows at male hostels and by political power battles between the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party and the Xhosa-dominated African National congress supporters. During this time, the combined security forces – the SA police and the defence force -- caused a total of 518 deaths (5.6%).
Crime victims terrified of police:
Increasingly, South African crime victims are also terrified of allowing any police members into their homes to investigate crime scenes – because the police forces are now criminalising very rapidly and the public can no longer trust them, the Transvaal Agricultural Union, which represents the country’s few remaining commercial farmers, is also warning. This also greatly interferes in maintaining correct crime-statistics.
Hundreds of thousands of trauma victims each year…
According to the SA Police Service’s crime statistics, there are many hundreds of thousands of trauma victims in SA each year – but the exact facts are difficult to find, the Trauma Society says. They now maintain their own database of all these treated trauma injuries, how they were dealt with, the recovery rate of trauma patients, and the effect South Africa’s violent crime epidemic has on families and the country’s socio-economic conditions. The society pointed out that SA Police Service’s crime statistics are wholly inadequate to even begin to get a grip on how to help the country’s hundreds of thousands of trauma victims .
The South African violent crime rate has become so horrendous that it’s become impossible to exaggerate them – most journalists have to tone them down before publication in mainstream news media. For the 2007 ‘official’ statistics per category, access the police website: http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2008/crime_stats_2008.htm For the 2008 official statistics: http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2009/categories.htm
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Trauma Society Wall of Remembrance of killed trauma victims:
Initiated by the Trauma Society of South Africa, the Wall of Remembrance listed details of individuals who have died or suffered trauma from violent crime since 2000. Alas, the Wall is no longer maintained – new cases are not added any longer.
They have also set up a Trauma Registry to collect data relating to the type and management of trauma patients being seen in any medical institution.Their spokesman said that such Internationally Trauma Registries are common practice, and would be considered mandatory for any Trauma Centre in normal societies – and such registries receive the full report of the policing services of such countries. This is not the case in South Africa.“South Africa is unique in terms of the quantity and severity of trauma seen. It is high time that we were able to analyse, present and compare our data in a scientific manner.’
Kevin Southgate, a member of the National Leadership Council of the CDA, and spokesman on Safety and Security, says the party welcomes the initiative and will give its full support.
True crime statistics are a mystery:
"Sadly," said Southgate; "this project comes about as a result of the failure of government to provide proper statistics with regard to crime without realising the full implications of their lack of disclosure and inadequate reporting methods." According to Dr Elmin Steyn of the Society the true number of deaths due to crime and violence in South Africa remains a mystery.
"With the Wall of Remembrance we aim not only to create a memorial to the individuals who have lost their lives, but also to build up a database of information on numbers, places and circumstances of death to provide a bulk of evidence to continue the struggle towards a safer society." she said.
Mr Southgate claimed that credible national statistics are impossible to find, not only because of the lack of a standardised compulsory national trauma data collection system. There is a very strong reluctance among government leaders to make public the available data: "The government's failure in this regard, makes it impossible for other organisations such as TSSA to function properly and effectively," he said.
"The trauma and implications of violent crime have a compounding effect whereby, families are left without breadwinners, many left permanently disfigured or incapacitated and many man-hours lost to the economy." The project is being piloted at various hospitals and is also available at the Health24 website on http://www.health24.com/tools/remembrance/remembrance.asp
Mr Southgate said he also felt that such a Wall of Remembrance would be important for emotional healing of families and friends as they largely felt ignored by government and received no compassion or understanding for their loss. "
Ridiculous statements by ANC members, (click on video), telling those who have experienced violent crime and voice their concerns, ‘to leave the country’, do not assist in this emotional healing process," he said. "Denying our statistics on violent crime is simply a means of avoiding responsibility."
"The CDA will be launching an awareness campaign across the country requesting the public to participate," he said. "Only when we have an extensive database of trauma deaths, can we holistically prepare awareness and prevention strategies at multiple levels in our country."
http://www.cda.org.za/press-nov.html#nov2
South African public terrified of ‘criminal’ police
The Transvaal Agricultural Union, TLU commenting on the recent statement by the Minister of Safety and Security that 'the SA Police Service are battling with corrupt elements in its own ranks', said this was acknowledgement of the reality which everyone in South Africa now faced every day. Everywhere, reports are streaming in of policemen abusing crime victims when they arrive to investigate crimes; of uniformed, armed police officers forming robbery gangs; and of local police officers refusing to response to urgent calls from families while they are under attack by criminal gangs inside their own homes.
Victims of crime are increasingly terrified of letting any uniformed police into their homes to investigate crimes -- fearing that they will be mugged, robbed, raped and murdered instead, the farmers’ cooperative warns. They were, they said, ‘deeply worried' about the minister's admission that the country's own policing system was rapidly becoming part of problem which was creating the now totally out of control crime-epidemic.
"Whenever farmers are attacked, or any member of the public becomes a crime victim, they should be able to place their trust in the integrity of the local police they are forced to deal with. The Minister now has confirmed that many members of the SAPD cannot be trusted - so how can members of the public be expected to trust any of them?”
Firearm licensing carried out by ‘criminal’ cops:
The TLU says that of even greater concern is the admission by the Minister that even members of the police are involved in the firearm relicensing application process. By law, these corrupt police officers may enter any law abiding citizen’s homes (without any search warrant) under the pretext to inspect the legally required firearm-safes they must keep their registered firearms in.”
"In this process they also of course gain access to sensitive security information, which could and undoubtedly is being passed on to criminal gangs. Can the public be blamed for not being too willing to welcome members of the SAPD into their homes?"
380,000 rapes in South Africa each year – even of the smallest infants
One of the main reasons why HIV-AIDS is at such a high level in South Africa, with some 6-million people now infected with the human-immune-deficiency virus which leads to deadly AIDS, is rape.
One in every four South African females of all races and ages, even the smallest babies, will experience rape at least once; 380,000 cases of rapes are REPORTED annually in South Africa. The reported rape cases in South Africa are the highest in the world.
Gang rape is a youth cult in black townships
Gang rape -- jackrolling -- has even become a youth-cult in South Africa: see video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0faQ-xo_Ao
Young in the sprawling township of Soweto near Johannesburg have just one aim: to impregnate every woman under age 26 in the township. Rape is also a form of initiation among the men: new inmates in male prisons are inevitably raped upon arrival by all members of any given cell although most lead heterosexual lifestyles outside of prison. The sexual abuse of children is also common in townships.
And all these horrors occur without any kind of lubrication and of course without condoms - and the friction causes mucosal tearing and bleeding.
- Dr. S. Armstrong, a leading South African researcher warns in a recent medical report published by the National Institutes of Health in the USA, that 'such conditions of unprotected, unlubricated sex (rape) with multiple partners are one important reason why HIV is so rapidly transmitted in South Africa.'
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12286457
Women in SA not allowed to use condoms, contraceptives:
And researchers K. Wood and R. Jewkes also report on studies among pregnant adolescents in Cape Town that there is 'widespread male coercion and violence within these sexual relationships. The pregnant teens reported 'assault as a regular feature of their relationships.'
- "In South Africa, power relations between men and women are commonly manifested as and imposed through sexual violence and assault. Men use physical assault to force sexual contact, beating their female partners if they refuse to have sex, or if they are found to be using contraceptives.'
Women often experience abuse such as gang rape - yet health officials in SA 'refuse to acknowledge sexual encounters such as these as rape'.
Researcher L. de K Ackermann from the department of sociology at the University of the Free State (ackermal@hum.uovs.ac.za) also writes: “it is evident that social factors such as the high rate of rape... and their inability to insist on condom usage, make South African women unable to negotiate the timing of sex and its conditions.They are powerless to protect themselves against HIV-infection.'
Ackermann also slammed the current HIV-prevention campaigns, which don't take into account the fact that females, from a very early age onward, have no control whatsoever over their own sexual lives, warning:
- "The rampant spread of this disease can only be stemmed if the subordinate sexual position of woman is acknowledged and addressed,' Ackermann warned. email Ackermal@hum.uovs.ac.za
“The degree to which women are able to control various aspects of their sexual lives is clearly a critical question for health promotion and the prevention of AIDS.
“It is evident that social factors such as the high rate of rape, the unfavourable economic position of women, and the inability to insist on condom usage make South African women unable to negotiate the timing of sex and the conditions under which it occurs.
“They are…powerless to protect themselves against HIV infection. Prevention campaigns often do not take into account the reality of their daily lives and the difficulties they have to gain control over their own sexual lives. The rampant spread of this disease can only be stemmed if the subordinate position of women is acknowledged and addressed.”
"It is these (male-dominated) power relations which determine women's ability or inability to protect themselves against sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy, and unwelcome sexual acts.'
- Video of ANC minister’s parliamentary statement telling whinging crime victims to ‘get out of the country”: youtube.com/watch?v=7ZQC9pGG1HU
PoliceThatWeWant.pdf
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Farmer Gerhard Venter’s hostage-takers shot dead by SAPS
Two headshots – two hostage-takers fall down dead
On this picture by Volksblad photographer Emile Hendricks, one of the two hostage-takers of Free State farmer Gerhard Venter can be seen after he had just been shot dead with one headshot by SAPS marksmen. The farmer was rescued from his 20-hour hostage ordeal by two armed farm-attackers when shottists of the Police specialist-marksmen team, flown in from Durban, shot dead both gunmen simultaneously with one well-aimed shot to their heads as one opened the door to step out of the vehicle – probably to urinate.
Earl Coetzee of Volksblad reports
Blood spattered from him from both sides and glass-shards hit him as the police marksmen shot him with perfect shots to the head.
And then Gerhard Venter, a farmer of the Petrusburg district in the South-Western Free State, climbed unharmed from his Toyota Hilux bakkie, where he’d been held captive for about 20 hours by the two hostage-takers.
Paramedics declared both hostage-takers dead within minutes after the shots were fired. A small bullet-hole was visible in the bakkie’s windscreen – and a sticker indicated where the bullet had exited from the suspect’s head.
Coetzee writes that Venter spent the long hours as a captive of the farm-attackers trying to convince the men not to shoot him – and he also had to convince his farmer-friends who were gathered at the scene, not to attempt to help him.
“During the first part of the drama I just had to try and get the guys (hostage-takers) calmed down. They were terribly nervous and just wanted to shoot me. They said if anything looked out of place, they would shoot me. When a bakkie drove too close, they just wanted to shoot me.’ During the hijacking, the farmer’s bakkie was followed by a contingent of farmers from his district – where Venter heads the farm-security assocation.
He had to phone them repeatedly, urging them to keep their vehicles well away from his. “I tried to stay calm because I knew that was the only way I would get out of this alive, and carried out each order of the two men,’ he said.
He also was greatly heartened when the SAPS task force arrived from Durban, because he knew they were specifically trained to deal with hostage-situations like this.
By 3am the attackers agreed to break off the hostage-drama – however by 5am they had changed their minds again, demanded that the SAPS clear away the road-blockade and open up the road. “They wanted me to drive with them to Bloemfontein, get cash from the bank, fill up the bakkie with petrol and then they would release me…’ By 6am, it became clear that the men would not hand themselves over to the SAPS. “The police negotiators and myself did everything we could to try and convince them, but without success.’ Venter said one of the men tried to get out of the vehicle at around 7am – ‘probably to urinate’, Mr Venter told the news media afterwards. Two shots rang out and both of the men fell down dead on either side of the farmer.
Venter said he and his wife Karen were taken to the Bloemfontein medi-clinic for trauma counselling. And their little girl Elizné (9), was terribly happy to get her dad back. “Last night I was terribly heart-sore and very scared. Now I feel happy and very safe again, ‘ said Mr Venter.
Earlier reports that Mr Venter had been slightly injured were not confirmed by this Volksblad report. Mr Venter was ambushed the evening before while in his bakkie enroute to help another farmer. Mr Venter and his nephew Gerdus Venter were travelling on the Abrahamskraal road, 20km outside Bloemfontein, wrote journalists Karen Ebersohn and Earl Coetzee, to go and help out injured farmer Flip Kotzé of the farm Uitvlug, who had been injured in a farm attack and his revolver and cellphone robbed.
Picture by Volksblad, Bloemfontein: the farmer’s bakkie with the SAPS marksman’s bullet-hole
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2009/12/police-shottists-kill-2-hostage-takers_15.html
Attacker phoned Vereeniging eye-gouge victim
“The man, full of hatred, started scratching in my eyes with his long, thick, white ugly nails.” – Dr Marius Pretorius
2009-12-16 Vereeniging - A member of a gang of robbers who tried to gouge out the eyes of a world renowned eye specialist, now wants to snitch on his buddies because he didn't get his share of the loot, reports Sonja van Buul in Beeld newspaper. Three armed black men had viciously attacked Dr Marius Pretorius, 70, and his wife, Lien, 68, in their Vereeniging flat in the town centre and robbed them of money from a walk-in safe, a watch and a wallet.
Dr Pretorius's eyes were severely damaged during the attack. At this stage it's unclear whether his sight will recover fully, but he is expected to be discharged from hospital on Thursday. On Tuesday afternoon he was still in the Emfuleni Medi Clinic in Vanderbijlpark when the gang member phoned his consulting rooms.
"Can you believe it? This man, who had apparently driven the getaway car, now wants to negotiate with the police since he's been cheated by the other robbers," said Hannelie Warren, the couple's daughter, on Tuesday.
Shortly after the man's call, the Vereeniging police and the Pretoriuses's son, Dr Rinus Pretorius - an anaesthesiologist from York in England, who'd earlier flown to South Africa to support his parents - stood by the phone, waiting in anticipation for the man to phone back.
“The man, full of hatred, started scratching in my eyes with his long, thick, white ugly nails…’
Pretorius was overpowered with a firearm and threatened with death at the front door of their home on December 9. One of the robbers whispered to him that he was going to scratch out his eyes.
"Then the man, full of hatred, brutally started scratching in my eyes with his long, thick, white ugly nails," he said on Tuesday.
"And this while the thug was sitting on my back, nonchalantly smoking a cigarette."
Pretorius feels it's mere coincidence that the man wanted to damage his eyes specifically. "I think he just didn't want me to recognise him afterward."
His wife was in their bedroom, combing her hair, when she was overpowered by the other robbers. "They choked her badly, trampled on her hip and then got the key to our safe. She's severely traumatised and is receiving counselling," said Pretorius. The robbers apparently fled when a telephone started ringing and they heard voices on the floor below the flat. The couple sought help while blood streamed from the eye specialist's eyes.
According to Pretorius, the ripped-off muscle in his right eye is "hanging by a thread" and will presumably only be able to be reattached during an operation in about four weeks' time, after the tissue has recovered and the bleeding has subsided. "I have inner-eye infection in my left eye and my vision is extremely poor, but I hope and pray that I'll recover," he said.
- Pretorius is a founding member and served for 21 years as president of the International Intraocular Society. He stepped down as president in 2003, but is still an active committee member http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/c882fb3790064e8384ee8edc0b51933d/16-12-2009-08-31/Brutal_attacker_phones_victim
Dr Pretorius had just repaired a crime-victim’s eyes when a robber tried to gouge them out with a pool-cue…
The Pretoria News reported earlier that only weeks before the attack, he had treated someone whose eyes had been damaged in a house robbery. His daughter said: “A robber had apparently tried to gouge the patient's eye with a pool cue. He had operated (on the patient) and was so chuffed because he was able to get to all the muscles," explained Warren.
Pretorius is in the Emfuleni Medi-Clinic and was operated on last week, when his eyelids were repaired. But doctors will only know next month if his sight will be restored. An MRI scan was preformed on Pretorius on Saturday and Warren said that one of the detached muscles could be seen. This has given the family hope that his eyes might be saved.
'Severely traumatised'
Warren told Beeld newspaper that her parents were severely traumatised and receiving counselling.
sources:
http://www.pretorianews.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=vn20091215043949443C450654
Labels: eye-surgeon, eyes gouged by attackers Vereeniging, Pretorius Marius
Afrikaners lobby for traditional authority in Namibia
Afrikaners want traditional authority in Namibia - by Catherine Sasman
Dec 16 2009 -- NEW ERA, Namibia. Leaders of Namibia’s the Monitor Action Group (MAG), Kosie Pretorius and Jurie Viljoen, met President Hifikepunye Pohamba last week to once again advocate for the establishment of an Afrikaner traditional authority. There were 133,324 speakers of Afrikaans in Namibia, forming 9.5% of the total national population, according to the 1991 census. Afrikaners are mostly found in Windhoek and in the Southern provinces.[24]
New Era ‘s journalist Catherine Sasman spoke to Kosie Pretorius to find out more.
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When meeting with President Hifikepunye Pohamba last week, you said MAG and the Swapo Party have one thing in common: That both parties lost one seat in Parliament. Of course, MAG lost its only seat. What is the future of the party?
I said it as a joke. I am now looking at the figures; as a politician I know where you can play with statistics. I have not proven it yet, but I think from the parties that were in Parliament, MAG has done the best, but we have lost one seat.
Where, do you think, did you lose this seat?
Our voters have become uninvolved. That is what I told His Excellency. We are not trying to play the blame game to say it is as a result of the Swapo Party. I think it is our own people who did not go to vote. I told him [the President] that we accept it as is. We don’t have that kind of contact with our people anymore to make them appreciate the importance of it. But if we still want to play a role, we need a platform.
You addressed President Pohamba about a traditional authority for Afrikaners.
“If I can go back in history a bit, with the outcome of the election results of the 435 elections in 1989, I suffered from political shell-shock. Not only because of the results – that one could expect – but in terms of the internal problems of the Action for Christian National (ACN), of which the National Party was part. The extent of the internal problems is not at issue here. That is a story on its own. But after a court case we decided to alternate the leadership of the three parties in the ACN. I held a position for two of the five years. But we soon realised that we would never win an election again. We then decided to disband the National Party and closed its books. We also decided to avoid conflict politics and in future to focus on the politics of persuasion. The Suidwester also died out, which meant that apart from the platform in Parliament, there was no other left for us. In 1994, we then decided to enter the election on our own. We [MAG] got registered, we recruited new members and we participated in that election without any organiser, without any mouthpiece, and without any meeting. But we won a seat. It was the same in 1999. That was actually our worst performance because I was very sick at the time, so things did not go too well. I think our best performance was in 2004, in the same manner; we did not change a thing.
Perhaps it is important here to mention that when the National Party closed its books, I disbanded all branches, and pulled all the money centrally. We survived on its interests. I have never asked anyone a single cent to support MAG over the last 20 years until today. What we did have were membership fees and donations. But I have never gone to any business or gone overseas, but we survived over the years. That is why every win was a miracle. The good Lord has now decided that we should go another route, and everything is actually falling into fold. But let me go back again.
I initially intended to study theology, but politics captured me; my father was also in the political house. My thesis for my master’s degree – and this was written before the 1959 protests at the Old Location – was the political development of South West Africa with special reference to the influence of population groups. I had an immense interest in what the future role of population groups was going to be in the future SWA.
In June 1989, I realised that my ideas were doomed. We had a new playing field, and we needed to figure out how we were going to play. I then read news articles that Swapo was going to give traditional authorities the opportunity to participate in the government.
I phoned the Swapo office to get hold of their manifesto because I wanted to see the original text. I was put through to Hidipo Hamutenya, who said I was welcome to pick it up the next day. At seven the next morning, I received a call from the late Anton Lubowski who invited me for tea at the directorate.
I had the tea with various Swapo leaders – including Hage Geingob, Theo-Ben Gurirab, Hamutenya, and Lubowski. I received the manifesto in which they put their signatures. They wanted to know why I was interested in the document, and I told them I was interested to see what they had to say about traditional authorities.
I also told them that they should speak with the leaders of the various population groups. I do not agree with the concept of “one man, one vote”. Perhaps only when it comes to communities, but it should not be applied universally.
One of them jokingly asked who the traditional leaders of the Afrikaners are. Anton Lubowski answered and said the leaders are elected; there is no succession. We left it at that.
And then we adopted the constitution. I found myself alone. I really did not make any major contribution, except when it came to principles. But I did propose that one half should be elected on the basis of “one man, one vote”, while the other half of the National Assembly be elected on the basis of group representation, where communities would vote in their own leaders. I proposed a formula for this. Nothing came of this.
In 1992, traditional authorities were adopted. I then asked Dr Libertina Amathila – then the Minister of Regional and Local Authorities – what would happen with the whites, Basters and brown people. She got up, hesitated for a moment, and responded that when the Swapo Government adopts legislation, it does so for everyone. But the definition does not refer to groups, it refers to communities.
I fought very hard to have the original proposals identify “community”. But they did not want to. Interestingly, eight years later, they accepted it; it is written in the law today. It describes who and what a member of a community constitutes.
I then realised that I have to operate within this legislative framework. When I mentioned a traditional authority for Afrikaners in Parliament for the first time, I was told that I would have to have communal land. Minister Nickey Iyambo – as Minister of Regional and Local Authorities – also said we should apply for communal land, but that was that.
We participated in the 1994 elections because we realised that we did not have representation on the traditional council that advises the President. We realised that our advice would dissipate. The only other platform was that of Parliament.
But all my efforts came to naught. We are now completely blocked. Now we don’t even have the opportunity to make contact with other leaders. So we feel the time is ripe to re-think the notion of a traditional authority for Afrikaners.
What arguments were made against a traditional authority for the Afrikaners?
- The only issue was communal land. Not all traditional authorities have inherited chiefs. Some just got it, and the law makes provision for the election of chiefs.
“Why don’t you just buy four farms to call your own?” said Pres. Pohamba…
When we raised this matter with President Pohamba at an earlier opportunity, he asked: “Now why don’t you just buy four farms to call your own?” I told him that would mean that the land is commercial. We would have to buy with our own money, to give to Government which in turn would then apportion us communal land. We asked him to help in the same manner the Tswanas and San people were assisted.
Something that is important to mention here is that 20 years after traditional authorities gained recognition, there are still no legal boundaries of traditional areas.
- That is why there are fights among the Kavangos and Oshiwambos over a small town. They cannot go to court, because there are no laws dealing with this. This is a major shortcoming and should be looked at. I am just mentioning it. It is not just us who are standing on the wrong side.
This isn’t about race – it’s about cultural groups:
I also told President Pohamba that traditional authorities should not be for ‘whites’, ‘blacks’ or ‘brown; people. It is about cultural groups. That is why we are saying a traditional authority for Afrikaners. We do not exclude the Germans, but they have to do their own thing.
- The Afrikaners, Basters and brown people form a language community; this is a common ground. But according to the definition, we all have to stand on our own. You can have an overarching entity, but everyone must stand on his own.
To go back again, in 1989 we invested the funds of the defunct Suidwester (newspaper). Those funds were never used for political purposes, but for cultural purposes.
We used the interest on the investments to sponsor schools that belonged to the Christian Afrikaans Education Association. We subsidised N$2 million over 16 years of the existence of these schools. I never used that money for MAG. We continued to exist because we had a seat in Parliament. We received N$250 000 per year.
We then decided to use the funds to build an archive. After we drew up the plans and asked for quotations, our shares fell by 30 percent. That was a hard knock, but we did not stop with the project. We have completed the ground floor. We hope to have completed the building by March next year, although it may take another couple of years before it will be operational because we just simply do not have money. But now we have a place where people can send their documents to. This is a place where their documents can be protected.
Is it only for Afrikaners?
- Anyone can do it. We as Afrikaners are prepared to learn from others, and vice versa. But the focus will be on the Afrikaners.
We have a self-help trust, so we never asked anyone anything. But the rug was pulled from under our feet; we have lost our seat. We cannot continue on our own. We don’t have a platform where our leaders can make contact with others.
We cannot advise the President; we cannot sit at meetings, and we cannot learn from other cultural groups, and they cannot learn from us. I think President Pohamba understood the idea. I don’t think anything will happen overnight, but we will continue with the self-help trust, and we will continue to lobby for a traditional authority. It will open the door for the Basters and brown people if we can get it.
Everyone is entitled to have a central place they can call their traditional area, if we are all treated equally. It is about Article 10 of the constitution.
For years millions upon millions of dollars have been pumped into other traditional authorities, while the three communities – the Afrikaners, Basters and brown people – stand on the outside. This is not right. This is a task the Swapo Party government should consider within the next five years. Personally, we would welcome this greatly; every cent counts to make the archive operational.
What is the feeling among Afrikaners?
- Those who support us are behind us. We have their support, but we don’t have Afrikaners who are financially strong. What people don’t understand is that the Afrikaners are farming communities and they usually have debt. The people have the spirit, but they don’t have the money.
People could argue that MAG has lost its seat because there is not enough support for the idea of a traditional authority for the Afrikaners.
- I would not say that. One of the biggest disappointments while I was in Parliament is that I could not convince Government to do a census on the basis of ethnicity. They [Government] go according to language groups.
There are more black and brown Afrikaans speakers than there are white Afrikaners. So, it is not clear how many there are. We did not lose votes. I still believe we can prove that we still represent Afrikaners. Our core is still there. Those who did vote, voted for the RDP [Rally for Democracy and Progress] because they thought this party is strong enough to break the Swapo Party’s two-thirds majority. But our core is still very healthy – healthy enough to continue with a traditional authority, which does not take big numbers. I don’t think any of the 49 that exist are based on big numbers. All these groups had to do was to prove they exist and have communal land.I think we have a strong case.
What issue do you have with the ‘one man, one vote’ concept?
Christians believe that the origin of all authority is God. One is thus accountable to God, even for your right to vote. Hence, in a cultural milieu, you cannot have others who vote on your behalf. The strongest group will always dominate – always.
In earlier days, there was a saying that went: “one man, one vote, once” as a result of coups. It is now not because of coups anymore, but as a result of democracy.
With “one man, one vote” is your future secured for always. No one else stands a chance. That is why I say “one man, one vote” should take place within the realm of a community; they should choose their leaders who will engage with others. I was always of the opinion “one man, one vote” means the end of democracy.
Would this not lead to a form of federalism, a form of apartheid?
- I would not say that. One cannot get out of this overnight, but things are developing in that direction, I would say. Decentralisation points to that direction. The only thing that does not happen under decentralisation is that there are no powers given to regions. They are merely given functions. In reality, at regional level there are merely officials; there are no political decision makers.
What will MAG do for the next five years?
- We still have to decide what we will do. Personally, I think the focus will be on cultural aspects, the issue of traditional authorities … Can we play a role there? Will we be accepted as equals with other authorities? That will be our focus. “ http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=8833
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History of the Afrikaners in Namibia:
Wikipedia writes: “Afrikaners or Boer are White Afrikaans speakers who have been established in Southern Africa since the 17th century. They are mainly of northwestern European descent (mostly Dutch, German and French ancestry), but their native tongue is Afrikaans, a close relative of Dutch. The Afrikaner people were established out of the diverse peoples who first settled under the Dutch East India Company.
British South Africans generally were and are considered a separate ethnic group from the Afrikaners, and their first language was English. The semi-nomadic Afrikaans-speakers who developed on the Cape frontier were called Boers. They have also often been considered a separate entity from the Afrikaners.[8]
With the onset of the First World War, the Union of South Africa was asked by the Allied forces to attack the German territory of South West Africa, resulting in the South-West Africa Campaign. Armed forces under the leadership of General Louis Botha defeated the German forces, who were unable to put up much resistance to the overwhelming South African forces.
Afrikaner women and children in British concentration camps.
Many Afrikaners, who had little love or respect for Britain, objected to the use of the “children from the concentration camps” to attack the Afrikaner-friendly Germans, resulting in the Maritz Rebellion of 1914, which was quickly quelled by the government forces.
Some Afrikaners subsequently moved to South West Africa, which was administered by South Africa, until its independence in 1990, after which the country was named Namibia.
There were 133,324 speakers of Afrikaans in Namibia, forming 9.5% of the total national population, according to the 1991 census. Afrikaners are mostly found in Windhoek and in the Southern provinces.[24]
Large migration of skilled white persons from South Africa:
Since 1994 there has been significant emigration of skilled White persons from South Africa. There are thus currently large Boer and English South African communities in the UK and other developed nations. Since 1994, more than one million South Africans have emigrated blaming violent and racially motivated crime as the main reason.[21] See human capital flight in South Africa for details.
The "Vryheidsvlag" (Freedom Flag) erstwhile called the Rebellevlag (Rebels Flag) believed to be used by some Cape Rebels during the second Anglo-Boer War.[22]
Afrikaners join the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) awarded the Afrikaner people membership during its IX General Assembly on 16 – 17 May 2008 in Brussels, Belgium. The UNPO is a democratic, international organization. Its members are indigenous peoples, occupied nations, minorities and independent states or territories which lack representation internationally.
UNPO is dedicated to the five principles enshrined in its Covenant:
- The equal right to self-determination;
- Adherence to the internationally accepted human rights standards as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments;
- Adherence to the principles of democratic pluralism and rejection of totalitarianism and religious intolerance;
- Promotion of non-violence and the rejection of terrorism as an instrument of policy; and
- Protection of the natural environment.
This successful application for membership represents a formal acknowledgment by an international organisation of the fact the Afrikaner people have since 1994 become a stateless nation. The Freedom Front leader, dr. Pieter Mulder accepted membership of UNPO on behalf of the Afrikaner people.[23]
- However not all Afrikaners feel this way. Some see South Africa as their fatherland, and that the democratically elected government appropriately represents them internationally.[citation needed] Some Afrikaners feel the ANC does not value their welfare and that their rights and liberties as described above are always second subject to those of the previously disadvantaged. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaner