JAN BOSMAN: SA, an Afrikaner perspective in 2025

Emotions have been running high since US President Donald Trump granted refugee status to Afrikaners.

Some might consider accepting this offer, but in my opinion most Afrikaners in SA are inextricably part and parcel of SA. Last year, many Afrikaner organisations signed an Afrikaner Declaration, which renewed our commitment to SA.

The opening paragraph of the declaration stated clearly: “We want to engage and work with other communities in SA in a spirit of mutual recognition and respect, to find solutions to the multiple crises that are threatening our common future. We also want to make a contribution to the socioeconomic development of Africa.”    

The 2024 election showed the disconnect and distrust within politics in SA. Voter turnout was just 58.64%, meaning about 11.5-million registered voters did not cast their ballots. This distrust is on many levels, including moral, economic, political and social.

A trust deficit exists between citizens and politicians, citizens and government, and citizens and the state and state bodies and agencies. Yes, Afrikaners also have distrust because of many hollow undertakings and failed commitments.

A reset in trust is necessary, and a good place to start is to establish how the deficit came about. There have been policy failures and lack of implementation on many levels in SA. There is a sense that the centre is not holding. We are governed by radical elements and political factions in the ANC and government. 

State-owned entities are failing dismally and structural reforms are not working. Local governments are not functioning. Justice is not seen to be done — we need only to refer to the Zondo state capture commission and its corruption report.

In many conversations over the proposed “national dialogue” the idea of ​​the need to reset SA is starting to take hold. “Reset” can mean re-establish, correct, restore or reposition, a restart or fresh start. The fact is that the status quo in SA does not offer us a solution, and continuing on the same trajectory will not get us anywhere. 

What do we want as South Africans, and what do we require for a future for our children? A reset of the broken society. Most South Africans want:

• The promotion of constitutional values and actions.
• Safer communities.
• A functioning government with real service delivery. 
• A free and competitive economy that has the ability to lift individuals out of poverty and improve living standards.
• A society that values personal responsibility and rewards initiative.
• To belong to an SA that provides social solutions for minorities and communities. This is true for many different communities, not only Afrikaners. 
  

We keep many people busy discussing all SA’s problems in a “national dialogue”, but it will be another futile exercise, just like the 2012 National Development Plan (NDP).

Prof Jeremi Suri of the history department at the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs wrote in 2011 about the politics of the US: “Politics is a form of warfare. In its best moments it encourages creative competition to innovate and improve. In its worst moments it produces pathologies of self-destruction. The belligerents fight in ways that undermine the very things they are fighting for.” 

How apt is this description of the current state of affairs in SA? Since our new democracy started in 1994, we have had some good moments. Black and white embraced the new, democratic SA when it became a reality on April 27 1994. This SA was based on the following points of departure:

• A society based on democratic values, social justice and basic human rights. 
• A foundation of a democratic and open society in which government is founded on the will of the people and every citizen is protected equally by the law.
• The quality of all citizens’ lives is enhanced and every person’s potential is developed.
• A united and democratic country that can take its place as a sovereign state in the community of nations.
• A nonracist society in which you are not judged by the colour of your skin.

Yet we have also witnessed many bad moments, which prevented us from becoming the envisaged united SA nation and set us off on a path of self-destruction. When exactly this downward trend began cannot be defined or determined. It could have been the handling of Covid-19, state capture, the scale of corruption, the July 2021 unrest, or the underlying and dangerous ideology of the national democratic revolution.

Perhaps it was a combination of them all. We have become a divided nation with an ever-widening gap between those who want to protect our constitutional democracy and the values it espouses, and those who want to destroy it through outdated ideologies.

Reconciliation has come and gone. The 1994 Nelson Mandela dream of reconciliation and nation building, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Rainbow Nation, have been undone. Our miracle of 1994 has been ruined with crude public statements, absent and sometime defective and immoral leadership, political opportunism and expediency.

The miracle of 1994 has been replaced by general disillusionment in 2025. Every day citizens attempt to survive economically and socially. Amid all of this the government of national unity (GNU), political parties and civil society are at each other’s throats and continue to drive wedges between South Africans of all backgrounds and races.

It has been proven repeatedly in international society that when people become cynical and disillusioned with their political system they become removed from the existing order. If this is allowed to simmer for too long, widespread and intense mistrust can eventually turn into a backlash against the political order.

Trust between a government and its citizenry is extremely difficult to restore. This is not new or original. The NDP of 2012 emphasised the interconnectedness of economic growth and social cohesion. It envisions an SA in which “opportunity is not determined by race or birthright; where citizens accept that they have both rights and responsibilities.” The NDP underscores that to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality there should be accelerated economic growth that benefits all South Africans.    

A robust and inclusive economy has the potential to generate employment, alleviate poverty and elevate historically marginalised communities. This requires strategies that encourage investment, entrepreneurship and skill enhancement, and ensures opportunities are available to everyone. Simultaneously, social cohesion, underpinned by trust and national solidarity, is crucial for sustainable development.   

Current policy has not changed the lives of many South Africans. Instead, it has brought greater poverty, increased inequality, more unemployment and the marginalisation of many communities. Hence the need for a reset. SA can be so much more — we can relive the SA dream — but we can only achieve this with a clear and common vision, sincere partnerships between government and civil society, and above all with commitment and devotion by politicians and political parties. Anything else will not steer us away from the path of self-destruction.

It is time for all South Africans to decide what role they will play to co-operate constructively in promoting the SA we would dearly like to have, not the destructive one that has been forced on us in the past decade or two. The GNU can start the reset if there is a sincere and honest will to do so. Rehashing old policies will continue to fail spectacularly.   

Many Afrikaners have committed to working towards the future of a successful SA. We believe there are more things that unite the country’s communities than divide us. Even if we do not always share the same views, we share core interests in our need for a functioning country for all, and a society in which everyone has the opportunity to build a better future. 

• Bosman is chief secretary of the Afrikanerbond.