What’s left to be proud of for the boeremannekies?
‘This is my country too, this is where I belong!’

Being Afrikaans in the new South Africa can be quite a struggle. Especially for the younger generations. They carry the baggage of their forefathers on the shoulders, and the sometimes get the blame of everything that happened in the Apartheid era. And what’s actually left to be proud of for these guys? Come2capetown.com spoke with three young Afrikaners in Cape Town.

Johan Rheeder (21), journalist:
“When Apartheid ended, I was only 11 years old. So obviously I was too small to understand it all. But I remember that a teacher told us things were going to change from then on. Our flag changed, the anthem changed. But the next year we only got one black girl in our school, so it wasn’t a big deal. Still not all the kids in school took it that well. I think they were threatened by her or something. Off course it was weird for me as well, I mean, before that I didn’t have any contact with black people. But it wasn’t a problem for me. Nowadays it can sometimes be quite a struggle for my generation. We have a lot a baggage to carry with us, and it’s all placed on our shoulders like we had anything to do with what happened during Apartheid. Although we have quite a bad history, I am proud of my culture. It’s a fact that the first ones to fight against the colonialists where the Afrikaners. And off course I’m proud of rugby and all that, but I’ve also got pride for the way Afrikaners are contributing to technology. But I'm leaving the country. I’m going to London at the end of the year. The fact that it’s difficult for me to get a job here played a big part in that decision, but I also want to do something different for a change. “

Ewald van der Westhuizen (25), electronic engineer:
“I grew up in Mossel Bay and was in High School when Apartheid ended. My parents are pretty conservative, so they were a little bit nervous when the other cultures came to my school, but I had no problems with it. I actually think it’s very good that different cultures come together. The current situation isn’t yet at the stage where we want it to be, but we’re getting there. At the moment most of my friends are still Afrikaners; maybe a quarter of them are English, but no blacks. Well, my boss is black and so are most of my colleagues, but that’s about it. It’s difficult for me to say whether I’m proud of my Afrikaans culture. For sure I think we have a beautiful language, it’s nice to hear English-speaking South Africans swear in Afrikaans. And the language also gives me the feeling that I have a relation to Europe, or something. That’s a benefit, but other than that we don’t really have a culture or history to hold on to. Too much has happened to actually be proud of. Yeah, the South African braaiculture, but otherwise we just take it as it comes.“

Pieter van Oudtshoorn (36), regional manager iVolve Cape Town
“Off course I was a bit worried when the Apartheid era came to an end. Don’t get me wrong, I always thought of it as a stupid system, but when it ended I did have a bit of fear. I’m a white Afrikaner businessman, what would happen to me? Could I continue doing my business? Leaving the country was never an option though. I was born and raised here; my roots are in South Africa. You can argue about the merits that Jan van Riebeeck and the boys had a to come to the Cape in 1652, but that was 350 years ago. You can’t discuss our right to be here. We are here! And I’m not planning to leave. I’ve travelled through Europe, and I must say it’s nice, but this is where I belong. It’s the weaker ones that left this country. Why would you be scared of the blacks? That’s just stupid. The true Afrikaans culture doesn’t exist in Cape Town anymore though. I am proud to be an Afrikaner, but not of our history. The Afrikaners did establish this country, and set the foundation of it. From that platform on we build this country. The black empowerment that you see in business today is just something we have to do. It’s a fact that some blacks lack certain skills and trainings, but that’s the inheritance of the Apartheid regime. Sometimes you’re forced to hire someone who isn’t skilled for the job, but we just have to live with that. If you don’t implicate them in the system, you never solve the problem.”