A statue of Paul Kruger at Pretoria's Church Square — PICTURE: MIKE HUTCHINGS In a post-apartheid context, is a democratic Afrikaner identity possible? Are there other traditions apart from apartheid that can be drawn on in Afrikaner culture that can advance democracy and social justice? These questions are particularly relevant in South Africa, given that in recent years there has been a heightened contestation over Afrikaner identify, driven by a hardening of whiteness.When the National Party came to power in 1948 politician JG Strijdom, the apartheid prime minister between 1954 and 1958 who was nicknamed the “Lion of the North”, demanded “eendersdenkendheid”. The Afrikaansword means a condition of thinking the same. It is a collective term as it necessarily requires more than one person to abide by it.The directive of eendersdenkendheid was founded in apartheid. Opposition to apartheid was as treasonous as refusing to defend your country during a war, hardliner Strijdom told his ...
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