No culture can be considered without what it had built  

Article for Rapport newspaper by Flip Buys, Chairperson of the Solidarity Movement

 Let’s build living spaces for Afrikaans, because buildings provide security, writes Flip Buys 

The greatness of a culture is usually measured by the greatness of what it has built.

It is for this reason that, to this day, humanity still stands in awe of the pyramids the ancient Egyptians had built some 4 600 years ago. The pyramids are still regarded as miracles, and archaeologists have been speculating for years about how the Egyptians had managed to accomplish it. There is consensus, though, that the construction of the pyramids was only possible as a result of sophisticated engineering, architecture, mathematics, science, astronomy and logistics.

Moreover, construction work of that magnitude required advanced forms of political organisation, economic development, management, organisation, scholarship and training.

Today’s archaeologists say that the ancient Egyptians had built the pyramids. However, in reality it was the pyramids that time had indeed at the same developed the Egyptians as a highly developed civilisation. What is meant by this is that the centuries-long construction work of the pyramids and other infrastructure a developed society needed, had also shaped the Egyptians’ culture.

As Winston Churchill said: “Initially, we shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us”.

After all, construction work of the magnitude of the pyramids requires an advanced culture, capable of undertaking major collaborative projects, mustering the resources for it, planning and organising them efficiently, putting together the workforce for the projects, and it requires the leadership and expertise to carry out the work successfully.

Of course, the same also applies to all the advanced ancient civilisations that rose in China, Persia, Greece and India. The Romans’ roads, bridges, aqueducts, theatres and cities made Roman life possible and conveyed and spread their culture widely. This laid the foundation of modern Western Europe. No culture can be conceived without what it has built because a cultural community lives in, by and through its institutions and the buildings that accommodate it.

It also underpins our history. For example, Pres. Paul Kruger was not only a state builder but also a city builder. He played a major role in the development of Pretoria from a dusty little town to a capital city. In this regard, think about the Ou Raadsaal (Old Council Hall), the Palace of Justice, museums, hospitals, schools and the forts built around Pretoria. In reality, buildings constitute a nation’s cultural infrastructure. They “build” culture insofar as the “Raadsaal” was the centre of the constitutional Republic, whereas the Palace of Justice was the centre of the judicial authority, while schools were the places where knowledge and culture have been imparted to the next generation.

In later years, Afrikaners constructed buildings all over the country which in turn developed their (the Afrikaners’) culture. In this regard think of the buildings constructed for educational, economic, cultural, medical, military and other purposes.

As a young student the university anthem of the then Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (informally known as die Pukke) sounded rather old-fashioned and sad to me: “Gebore uit die nag van smaad, sien ons jou staan as wonderdaad …” (Loosely translated: Emerging from a night of humiliation, we see you stand as a miracle deed …) Like most of the other students I took the modern campus where we studied during the late eighties for granted. Little did I know that if you yourself got something for free, it did not mean that it came about without costs, as other people had paid dearly for it. Later on, I realised just what a miracle the university really was, and what great sacrifice it cost for it to rise from the ground before and after the Anglo-Boer War.

In 1897 Pres. Paul Kruger himself left £100 – a huge sum of money at the time– for student bursaries. The first rector, Prof. Jan Lion-Cachet, was arrested by the British and his son was shot and killed in the war. However, the Potchefstroom University’s story is not the exception. The history of universities such as the University of Stellenbosch, Unisa, the University of Pretoria (popularly known as Tuks), the University of the Orange Free State (Kovsies) and the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) tell similar stories of thinking big and beginning small. Most of them were established by churches and communities without the availability of major government funding.

The Kenyan scholar Ali Mazrui aptly said the community must first raise the university before the university can help raise the community. The connection between community and university has also been affirmed by Gen. Jan Smuts when he expressed the wish in 1910 that the University of Pretoria would become for the then Transvaal what Oxford was for England.

Afrikaans, an Afrikaans life and the transfer of a language and a culture are impossible without educational institutions that can accommodate that language and culture. The question is why schools, colleges and universities are of such importance for language and cultural communities.

Albert Einstein provided the best reply in this regard. He said that the magnificent things a generation learns at school and university are the collective effort of many generations. All this is put in their hands as their inheritance in order that they may receive it, add to it, and one day pass it on to their children.

The purpose of cultural infrastructure is not to isolate a group or to exclude others, but rather the opposite. It already creates the space to live together with other people, almost like a house that is built so that a family can live together with their neighbours in a residential area. A house consists of various rooms, each with its own purpose. The same applies to a cultural household – there are spaces for education, training, language, social care and the preservation of heritage. This is the reason why the Solidarity Movement has been systematically building an entire cultural ecosystem over the past decade or so.

If the conditions are created for Afrikaners and the Afrikaans community to live here sustainably, we will be able to make a lasting contribution to the well-being of the country and all its people.

Buildings are important because “place” provides safety and “spaces” provide freedom.

The challenge is to build this cultural infrastructure without the help of the state. This is the reason why the Solidarity Movement established a property company called Kanton a few years ago. The most famous project Kanton has successfully undertaken is the construction of the Sol-Tech campus and residences in Centurion. Kanton’s aim is to establish a partnership between culture and capital by obtaining investments from the private sector to build spaces for Afrikaans.

Investors earn monetary return while also getting a cultural dividend in the form of a university. At the same time planning is already underway for the establishment of an independent schools’ network. We believe that an Afrikaans university is vital for the survival of Afrikaans.

Second, mother tongue instruction remains the best medium for education and training, while also equipping students to be fully competent in English workplaces. This is best proven by the fact that top Afrikaans people who had studied at single-medium Afrikaans universities nowadays hold prestigious positions abroad.

After years of well-conceived work and planning, Akademia and Kanton are launching the Builders of the Future Campaign with the aim of offering people and institutions with the capital means an opportunity to invest in Akademia’s planned new campus in Pretoria East. The wider public will also get an opportunity to make investments at a later stage.

The British scholar Roger Scruton said that a society can only survive if each generation lives for the next generation. Kanton is building for the next generation and wants to give the current generation the opportunity to build together with us.

The idea is not to build monuments for our ancestors but to build living institutions for the new generation. Now is the time for creative innovation, based on proven values.

Flip Buys is the chairman of the Solidarity Movement
Flip Buys is the chairman of the Solidarity Movement

Relevant article: Akademia and Kanton announced monumental campus development

Akademia and Kanton announced monumental campus development

On the 1st of August, the real estate development company Kanton launched the new campus development project of Akademia in Pretoria as part of the Toekomsbouer (future builder) campaign. This campus project is the largest development project in the history of the Afrikaans language and culture communities and represents a major historical turning point to ensure the sustainability of higher education in Afrikaans. Akademia has been using interim infrastructure solutions since 2012. The full-time campus model started in 2021 and expanded so that there now are two campuses, four residences, two day houses as well as the administrative head office – currently situated at various sites in Centurion. The new comprehensive residential campus in the east of Pretoria will offer the institution the opportunity to consolidate its growth over the past decade and to give its future campus students a fixed address where they can experience an active and exciting student life. “The new campus is the realisation of a big dream. This requires the strength of an aligned community that can achieve the seemingly impossible through unity and cooperation,” Marthinus Visser, managing director of Akademia, said. “In light of this, the Toekomsbouer campaign is a call on the community to become part of an incredible opportunity – something the Afrikaans language and culture communities have not experienced for quite some time. It offers an opportunity where hope and a legacy will be physically established.”

Project scope

The development will be located in Pretoria, eight kilometres from Solomon Mahlangu Drive on the Boschkop Road in the east of Pretoria. The new campus offers Akademia the opportunity to make available a complete and extensive academic programme offering across all its faculties that will meet the comprehensive demand of prospective students. This campus will also cater for 5 000 full-time undergraduate students and nearly 1 500 postgraduate students. Four men’s and four women’s residences will accommodate 1 500 students on campus. “Phase one of the project will amount to approximately R1,8 billion and will be completed on 1 January 2028, while the total development cost will be more than R3 billion. The second phase involves the completion of the academic campus and residences, followed by the sports facilities, chapel and auditorium,” Henk Schalekamp, managing director of Kanton, explained. “We are going to build a giant monument for Afrikaans higher education. These include office blocks, lecture halls, laboratories, an auditorium, dedicated research halls, a cafeteria, restaurants, coffee shops, a student centre, library, residences, staff accommodation and world-class sports facilities for rugby, cricket, netball, tennis, athletics, hockey, swimming, including indoor sports,” Schalekamp added. “There is also an experimental farm planned for the Faculties Natural Sciences and Agriculture.”  
Marthinus Visser (left) and Henk Schalekamp (right)
Marthinus Visser (left) and Henk Schalekamp (right)

Project partners and financing

Kanton serves as a vehicle for financing the development of the new Akademia campus. Kanton was born from an innovative new approach for supporting Afrikaans cultural institutions. “Our business model is based on a partnership between culture and capital that promotes the objectives of community institutions by providing access to the necessary living spaces, but also as a full-fledged real estate investment company to offer both a financial and cultural return to its investors,” Schalekamp explained. “Kanton’s success is confirmed by the Sol-Tech Campus, which was delivered on time and within budget. By developing projects such as a residence for Sol-Tech and now a campus for Akademia, Kanton proves its ability to grow and manage portfolios profitably. This while external investors will also be offered the opportunity to be part of this unique opportunity,” Schalekamp said. To ensure that the structure and investment platform supports the goals of Kanton, the planning and structuring of the company was done in collaboration with Pallidus. The latter specialises in independent corporate financial advice, investment banking and investment management to enable the growth and expansion of Kanton in the various phases. The funding model has the characteristics of normal real estate and infrastructure models and is used to provide investment opportunities. Kanton will initially approach institutions and wealthy individuals to get involved through an investment. When a critical amount of funds is raised for the project to continue, an opportunity will be offered to the community to get involved through smaller investments. For now, to everyone together who are excited about the project, the call is simple: Dream together by becoming a future builder (toekomsbouer) and follow the progress of this great project at www.toekomsbouer.co.za. Further information for individual investments will be made available to campaign participants shortly.  

Media inquiries:

media@kanton.co.za

More about Akademia

Akademia is a Christian, classical and independent higher education institution from and for Afrikaans language and culture communities. Akademia strives to be an academic home where the mind and heart are shaped with a view to a free future. Students have a choice between an after-hours distance learning over a nationwide network of centres or via e-learning and full-time studies at two interim campuses in Centurion. The after-hour distance model is ideal for students who want to work or pursue other interests while studying. Since 2021, the full-time campus model has offered a safe home for Fonties (Akademia students) who attend class during the day and participate in a vibrant student life. Click here for more information about Akademia.  
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Geskiedenisfonds

ʼn Fonds wat help om die Afrikanergeskiedenis te bevorder.

FAK

Die Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge (FAK) is reeds in 1929 gestig. Vandag is die FAK steeds dié organisasie wat jou toelaat om kreatief te wees in jou taal en kultuur. Die FAK is ’n toekomsgerigte kultuurorganisasie wat ’n tuiste vir die Afrikaanse taal en kultuur bied en die trotse Afrikanergeskiedenis positief bevorder.

Solidariteit Helpende Hand

Solidariteit Helpende Hand fokus op maatskaplike welstand en dié organisasie se groter visie is om oplossings vir die hantering van Afrikanerarmoede te vind.

Solidariteit Helpende Hand se roeping is om armoede deur middel van gemeenskapsontwikkeling op te los. Solidariteit Helpende Hand glo dat mense ʼn verantwoordelikheid teenoor mekaar en teenoor die gemeenskap het.

Solidariteit Helpende Hand is geskoei op die idees van die Afrikaner-Helpmekaarbeweging van 1949 met ʼn besondere fokus op “help”, “saam” en “ons.”

Forum Sekuriteit

Forum Sekuriteit is in die lewe geroep om toonaangewende, dinamiese en doeltreffende privaat sekuriteitsdienste in

Suid-Afrika te voorsien en op dié wyse veiligheid in gemeenskappe te verhoog.

AfriForumTV

AfriForumTV is ʼn digitale platform wat aanlyn en gratis is en visuele inhoud aan lede en nielede bied. Intekenaars kan verskeie kanale in die gemak van hul eie huis op hul televisiestel, rekenaar of selfoon verken deur van die AfriForumTV-app gebruik te maak. AfriForumTV is nóg ʼn kommunikasiestrategie om die publiek bewus te maak van AfriForum se nuus en gebeure, maar ook om vermaak deur films en fiksie- en realiteitsreekse te bied. Hierdie inhoud gaan verskaf word deur AfriForumTV self, instellings binne die Solidariteit Beweging en eksterne inhoudverskaffers.

AfriForum Uitgewers

AfriForum Uitgewers (voorheen bekend as Kraal Uitgewers) is die trotse uitgewershuis van die Solidariteit Beweging en is die tuiste van Afrikaanse niefiksie-, Afrikanergeskiedenis- én prima Afrikaanse produkte. Dié uitgewer het onlangs sy fokus verskuif en gaan voortaan slegs interne publikasies van die Solidariteit Beweging publiseer.

AfriForum Jeug

AfriForum Jeug is die amptelike jeugafdeling van AfriForum, die burgerregte-inisiatief wat deel van die Solidariteit Beweging vorm. AfriForum Jeug berus op Christelike beginsels en ons doel is om selfstandigheid onder jong Afrikaners te bevorder en die realiteite in Suid-Afrika te beïnvloed deur veldtogte aan te pak en aktief vir jongmense se burgerregte standpunt in te neem.

De Goede Hoop-koshuis

De Goede Hoop is ʼn moderne, privaat Afrikaanse studentekoshuis met hoë standaarde. Dit is in Pretoria geleë.

De Goede Hoop bied ʼn tuiste vir dinamiese studente met Christelike waardes en ʼn passie vir Afrikaans; ʼn tuiste waar jy as jongmens in gesonde studentetradisies kan deel en jou studentwees met selfvertroue in Afrikaans kan uitleef.

Studiefondssentrum

DIE HELPENDE HAND STUDIETRUST (HHST) is ʼn inisiatief van Solidariteit Helpende Hand en is ʼn geregistreerde openbare weldaadsorganisasie wat behoeftige Afrikaanse studente se studie moontlik maak deur middel van rentevrye studielenings.

Die HHST administreer tans meer as 200 onafhanklike studiefondse namens verskeie donateurs en het reeds meer as 6 300 behoeftige studente se studie moontlik gemaak met ʼn totaal van R238 miljoen se studiehulp wat verleen is.

S-leer

Solidariteit se sentrum vir voortgesette leer is ʼn opleidingsinstelling wat voortgesette professionele ontwikkeling vir professionele persone aanbied. S-leer het ten doel om werkendes met die bereiking van hul loopbaandoelwitte by te staan deur die aanbieding van seminare, kortkursusse, gespreksgeleenthede en e-leer waarin relevante temas aangebied en bespreek word.

Solidariteit Jeug

Solidariteit Jeug berei jongmense voor vir die arbeidsmark, staan op vir hul belange en skakel hulle in by die Netwerk van Werk. Solidariteit Jeug is ʼn instrument om jongmense te help met loopbaankeuses en is ʼn tuiskomplek vir jongmense.

Solidariteit Regsfonds

ʼn Fonds om die onregmatige toepassing van regstellende aksie teen te staan.

Solidariteit Boufonds

ʼn Fonds wat spesifiek ten doel het om Solidariteit se opleidingsinstellings te bou.

Solidariteit Finansiële Dienste (SFD)

SFD is ʼn gemagtigde finansiëledienstemaatskappy wat deel is van die Solidariteit Beweging. Die instelling se visie is om die toekomstige finansiële welstand, finansiële sekerheid en volhoubaarheid van Afrikaanse individue en ondernemings te bevorder. SFD doen dit deur middel van mededingende finansiële dienste en produkte, in Afrikaans en met uitnemende diens vir ʼn groter doel aan te bied.

Ons Sentrum

Die Gemeenskapstrukture-afdeling bestaan tans uit twee mediese ondersteuningsprojekte en drie gemeenskapsentrums, naamlik Ons Plek in die Strand, Derdepoort en Volksrust. Die drie gemeenskapsentrums is gestig om veilige kleuter- en/of naskoolversorging in die onderskeie gemeenskappe beskikbaar te stel. Tans akkommodeer die gemeenskapsentrums altesaam 158 kinders in die onderskeie naskoolsentrums, terwyl Ons Plek in die Strand 9 kleuters en Ons Plek in Volksrust 16 kleuters in die kleuterskool het.

Skoleondersteuningsentrum (SOS)

Die Solidariteit Skoleondersteuningsentrum (SOS) se visie is om die toekoms van Christelike, Afrikaanse onderwys te (help) verseker deur gehalte onderrig wat reeds bestaan in stand te (help) hou, én waar nodig nuut te (help) bou.

Die SOS se doel is om elke skool in ons land waar onderrig in Afrikaans aangebied word, by te staan om in die toekoms steeds onderrig van wêreldgehalte te bly bied en wat tred hou met die nuutste navorsing en internasionale beste praktyke.

Sol-Tech

Sol-Tech is ʼn geakkrediteerde, privaat beroepsopleidingskollege wat op Christelike waardes gefundeer is en Afrikaans as onderrigmedium gebruik.

Sol-Tech fokus op beroepsopleiding wat tot die verwerwing van nasionaal erkende, bruikbare kwalifikasies lei. Sol-Tech het dus ten doel om jongmense se toekomsdrome met betrekking tot loopbaanontwikkeling deur doelspesifieke opleiding te verwesenlik.

Akademia

Akademia is ’n Christelike hoëronderwysinstelling wat op ’n oop, onbevange en kritiese wyse ’n leidinggewende rol binne die hedendaagse universiteitswese speel.

Akademia streef daarna om ʼn akademiese tuiste te bied waar sowel die denke as die hart gevorm word met die oog op ʼn betekenisvolle en vrye toekoms.

AfriForum Publishers

AfriForum Uitgewers (previously known as Kraal Uitgewers) is the proud publishing house of the Solidarity Movement and is the home of Afrikaans non-fiction, products related to the Afrikaner’s history, as well as other prime Afrikaans products. The publisher recently shifted its focus and will only publish internal publications of the Solidarity Movement from now on.

Maroela Media

Maroela Media is ʼn Afrikaanse internetkuierplek waar jy alles kan lees oor dit wat in jou wêreld saak maak – of jy nou in Suid-Afrika bly of iewers anders woon en deel van die Afrikaanse Maroela-gemeenskap wil wees. Maroela Media se Christelike karakter vorm die kern van sy redaksionele beleid.

Kanton Beleggingsmaatskappy

Kanton is ʼn beleggingsmaatskappy vir eiendom wat deur die Solidariteit Beweging gestig is. Die eiendomme van die Solidariteit Beweging dien as basis van die portefeulje wat verder deur ontwikkeling uitgebrei sal word.

Kanton is ʼn vennootskap tussen kultuur en kapitaal en fokus daarop om volhoubare eiendomsoplossings aan instellings in die Afrikaanse gemeenskap teen ʼn goeie opbrengs te voorsien sodat hulle hul doelwitte kan bereik.

Wolkskool

Wolkskool is ʼn produk van die Skoleondersteuningsentrum (SOS), ʼn niewinsgewende organisasie met ʼn span onderwyskundiges wat ten doel het om gehalte- Afrikaanse onderrig te help verseker. Wolkskool bied ʼn platform waar leerders 24-uur toegang tot video-lesse, vraestelle, werkkaarte met memorandums en aanlyn assessering kan kry.

Ajani

Ajani is ‘n privaat geregistreerde maatskappy wat dienste aan ambagstudente ten opsigte van plasing by werkgewers bied.

Ajani is a registered private company that offers placement opportunities to artisan students in particular.

Begrond Instituut

Die Begrond Instituut is ʼn Christelike navorsingsinstituut wat die Afrikaanse taal en kultuur gemeenskap bystaan om Bybelse antwoorde op belangrike lewensvrae te kry.

Sakeliga

ʼn Onafhanklike sake-organisasie

Pretoria FM en Klankkoerant

ʼn Gemeenskapsgebaseerde radiostasie en nuusdiens

Saai

ʼn Familieboer-landbounetwerk wat hom daarvoor beywer om na die belange van familieboere om te sien deur hul regte te beskerm en te bevorder.

Ons Winkel

Ons Winkels is Solidariteit Helpende Hand se skenkingswinkels. Daar is bykans 120 winkels landwyd waar lede van die publiek skenkings van tweedehandse goedere – meubels, kombuisware, linne en klere – kan maak. Die winkels ontvang die skenkings en verkoop goeie kwaliteit items teen bekostigbare pryse aan die publiek.

AfriForum

AfriForum is ʼn burgerregte-organisasie wat Afrikaners, Afrikaanssprekende mense en ander minderheidsgroepe in Suid-Afrika mobiliseer en hul regte beskerm.

AfriForum is ʼn nieregeringsorganisasie wat as ʼn niewinsgewende onderneming geregistreer is met die doel om minderhede se regte te beskerm. Terwyl die organisasie volgens die internasionaal erkende beginsel van minderheidsbeskerming funksioneer, fokus AfriForum spesifiek op die regte van Afrikaners as ʼn gemeenskap wat aan die suidpunt van die vasteland woon. Lidmaatskap is nie eksklusief nie en enige persoon wat hom of haar met die inhoud van die organisasies se Burgerregte-manifes vereenselwig, kan by AfriForum aansluit.