Steve Hofmeyr arrives to speak at an Afrikaner gathering at the Paul Kruger statue in Church Square, 8 April 2015, in Pretoria, after the statue was vandalised. White Afrikaners gathered to protest against the vandalism and the possible removal of other statues around the country. File picture: Michel Bega
The group of about 500 white people marched to Church Square to demand land and continued respect for Paul Kruger’s statue.
A group of Afrikaners marched to Tshwane this weekend for a “fair share” of the land they say has belonged to the “Boer people” for decades and even centuries.
While addressing the protesters in Afrikaans at Church Square, in Tshwane, National Conservative Party (NCP) chief whip Schalk van der Merwe said a “vast majority” of white people were tired of EFF leader Julius Malema and crime in the country.
“We are tired of Malema, tired of crime and tired of the killing of white people, and most importantly we want our land back,” said Van der Merwe. His party appears not to have a website and it’s unclear why he is a “chief whip” since they are not (yet) represented in parliament.
The NCP was formed on 16 April this year, reportedly by disgruntled members who left right-wing party Front National after differing views regarding activism for Afrikaner self-determination. People who had been members of the Conservative Party in the 1980s joined the party. Steve Hofmeyr, an Afrikaans singer and activist, was the main guest speaker at the founding congress. The party was registered with the Independent Electoral Commission on 27 May.
Afrikaner self-determination is understood to be the core policy of the party.
Said Van der Merwe on Saturday, at the same event addressed by Hofmeyr and attended by about 500 people, many of them holding up flags of the old South Africa and the Transvaal Republic: “We also want our fair share of this country that belonged to the Boer people for decades and hundreds of years that we have been here. We’ve always wanted peace, but a vast majority of white people out there feel that Malema is pushing us in a direction we did not want to be in.
“We as Afrikaners demand that our cultural heritage be respected and that the Paul Kruger statue stay at Church Square, where it has been since 1954.
However, another Afrikaner, Stefan van der Westhuizen viewed the protest differenly. Van der Westhuizen was photographed holding up his own poster, saying: “Farm murders and township murders are equal!”
Stefan van der Westhuizen in response to the protesters.
He also took to Facebook to explain why he went to the square to protest.
“Early this morning, we headed down to Pretoria CBD to go and remind Steve and Die Volk that all murders are the same, and that one is not more important than the others.
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“When Steve started speaking, I thought that I would first listen, because maybe I was wrong, and maybe he was not going to single out the murders on farms, but sadly … he did, and I had to object.
“This was of course after he made some references to me being a EFF member (which I am not, I just support their socialist views) and calling Julius Malema & Co Werfbobbejane.
“So Steve & Die Volk, please let this be a reminder for you that white South Africans, are not by default part of your narrow minded click.
“We do recognize that all crime are equal, both black and white are suffering.
“We do not agree with you calling the EFF Leaders and members werfbobbejane, we do not agree that whites are somehow more special than the other inhabitants of South Africa.”