Solidarity Movement Archives - Solidariteit Beweging

The Solidarity Movement wants to play a positive role in South Africa

Posted on June 11, 2026October 16, 2026 by René van der Vyver

South Africa is approaching the fiftieth anniversary of the 1976 Soweto uprising. The rallying cry of black youth in 1976 was: “We do not want to be taught in Afrikaans.” Fifty years later, a new cry has emerged: “You may not be taught in Afrikaans.” The 1976 slogan was a cry for freedom. The slogan of 2026 is its opposite: an attempt to deny Afrikaans speakers the freedom to receive education in their mother tongue.

For Afrikaners, this is nothing new. More than two centuries ago, on 19 July 1822, Lord Charles Somerset, Governor of the Cape, issued a directive declaring English the sole language of instruction in the Colony’s schools. The purpose was clear: to consolidate British dominance.

Concentration camps

A century later, during the Anglo-Boer War, the British established English-medium schools inside concentration camps as part of an effort to anglicise Afrikaner children. The British Director of Education, E.B. Sargant, made the objective explicit: “English must be the only language throughout South Africa.” Following the British victory, the new Governor, Lord Alfred Milner, triumphantly declared: “I have saved the British position in South Africa and have knocked the bottom out of the great Afrikaner nation for ever and ever, Amen.”

Almost a century later, the constitutional settlement of 1994 guaranteed mother-tongue education, including at university level. Afrikaans speakers believed that the lessons of 1822, 1902 and 1976 had finally been learned. They believed that everyone’s freedom to use and develop their language and culture through institutions such as schools and universities was secure. Afrikaans, at last, had been decolonised.

English

Yet the position of non-English languages has deteriorated sharply since 1994. All historically Afrikaans universities and hundreds of Afrikaans schools have, over time, been compelled to anglicise.

The BELA amendments of 2024 grant state officials the final authority over schools’ language and admission policies. This caused significant concern among Afrikaans-speaking communities because ANC politicians, acting as modern-day Lord Somersets, made it clear that they intended to use the legislation to force Afrikaans schools to change their language policies.

Broken agreements

The tensions created by these legislative amendments and political statements led to negotiations between the government and Afrikaans interest groups, resulting in two separate settlements. Those settlements were effectively abandoned almost immediately after the President proceeded with the implementation of the BELA Amendment Act. Shortly thereafter, the ANC government also reneged on an agreement concerning affirmative action that had been reached with Solidarity and facilitated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), by introducing new racial quotas. During the same period, the President signed legislation enabling expropriation without compensation. To add insult to injury, South Africa’s highest courts ruled that the slogan “Kill the Boer” does not constitute hate speech and is therefore permissible.

These repeated breaches of formal agreements have created a profound breakdown of trust. The Solidarity Movement, which includes AfriForum, views this as a breach of the 1994 settlement itself.

The Afrikaner Declaration

In an effort to repair this growing trust deficit, Afrikaner organisations representing approximately two million people issued an Afrikaner Declaration, extending a hand of cooperation to our fellow South Africans. The declaration made three things clear: that Afrikaners see South Africa as their future; that we wish to work alongside others; and that we seek to create the conditions necessary to protect our language and culture so that Afrikaners are not alienated from their homeland, but are able to build, remain, and contribute to making South Africa a better country for all. The government did not respond.

The ANC versus South Africa

Following President Trump’s election in the United States, Solidarity used its access in Washington to argue that ordinary South Africans should not suffer the consequences of tensions between governments. We love this country, even if we do not support the ANC. We have stated unequivocally that we do not regard the situation in South Africa as a genocide, nor do we view ourselves as refugees. We do, however, believe that the ANC has breached the 1994 settlement, and that the United States has a role to play in supporting reconciliation in South Africa, just as it did before 1994.

Rights, not grievances

Du Preez’s claim that Afrikaners, or the work of the Solidarity Movement, are driven by grievance politics is simply unfounded. We are defending our language and culture and asserting our constitutional rights and freedoms. This is not nationalism; it is cultural self-preservation. The more than 600 000 members of our Movement support our work because we offer practical solutions to challenges, including mother-tongue education, training, safety, and many other pressing concerns.

The Solidarity Movement is a proud South African, Afrikaner and African organisation. We are building the cultural ecosystem necessary to ensure that Afrikaners can continue to live, build and thrive in South Africa with confidence. In doing so, we seek to make a lasting contribution to the wellbeing of this country and all its people.

By Flip Buys, chairperson of the Solidarity Movement.

Why affirmative action still divides South Africans — and why many whites oppose it

Posted on February 10, 2026October 14, 2026 by René van der Vyver

Why does affirmative action remain such a significant problem for many whites?

What reasonable person could be opposed to redress for past injustices or efforts to promote equality? Can there truly still be people who resist the advancement of blacks, or who oppose the creation of greater opportunities for blacks in occupational groups where they are poorly represented?

Are there still people who do not recognise that black empowerment and development are essential for the country? What inspired Solidarity to display banners during last year’s G20 Summit with the statement that South Africa is the most race-regulated country in the world?

These and other questions trouble those who feel some whites complain unfairly, are selfishly focused on their own problems and show little willingness to address the country’s real crises.

Poverty or inequality?

For example, consider the levels of unemployment and poverty in the country, which — although increasing rapidly among whites — remain overwhelmingly a “black” crisis.

The question, then, is why it still appears that many whites who are merely “selfishly” guarding their own privileges are, in fact, camouflaged racists who show little concern for the fate of their fellow citizens, and seek only to entrench their prosperity behind high walls, security fences and privatisation.

If this is the future, then there is none; there is no hope for white or black, poor or rich, in South Africa.

The question is whether the government’s emphasis after 1994 should not have been on the solution of poverty rather than on the redistribution of existing jobs and wealth. After all, economic growth is the fastest equaliser and the most effective, proven solution to poverty. As American economist Thomas Sowell puts it: “What do the poor most need? They need to stop being poor. And how can that be done on a mass scale, except by an economy that creates vastly more wealth? Yet the political left has long had a remarkable lack of interest in how wealth is created. As far as they are concerned, wealth exists somehow, and the only interesting question is how to redistribute it.”

Affirmative action

But let us return to the question posed at the beginning. Why are Solidarity and so many whites negative about affirmative action? The short answer is that the outcomes after three decades have shown that the South African model of affirmative action does not work — it is counterproductive and harmful to the country and all its people.

No-one is opposed to righting what is wrong, nor is there resistance to equality or to measures aimed at achieving greater equality. The problem therefore does not lie with genuine redress, equal opportunities or the increased representation of blacks in certain job levels.

Affirmative action has been widely used around the world to protect minorities and help ensure their rightful share of the economic pie. It is normally a temporary mechanism in a free economy to achieve true equality by eliminating direct and indirect factors that hinder equality. Society can then move forward freely and equally, without state interference and characterised by true diversity.

What began more than three decades ago as an affirmative measure has resulted in a comprehensive racial distribution that is incompatible with a constitutional democracy, a functioning state and a growing economy capable of providing for all its people.

The challenge for South Africa was to apply a model developed to protect minorities, to advance majorities. Over time though, a growing gap emerged between beautiful constitutional theory and the harsh realities.

What the constitution allows has in practice hardened into a permanent state ideology that has become a higher authority than the constitution itself. Moreover, these measures no longer meet international legal requirements for timeliness, proportionality and appropriateness.

As a result, they provide ammunition for business leaders like Elon Musk to discredit South Africa on the international stage by saying there are more racial laws now than during apartheid.

The positions of the opponents of laws based on race are the following:

They consider such laws to be unconstitutional, since article 1 of the constitution states that South Africa is a nonracial state.
They argue that the laws do not comply with international law, which requires remedial measures to be temporary, proportionate and nuanced. International standards place greater emphasis on education and people’s socioeconomic status than on race. That is why the International Labour Organisation (ILO) considered Solidarity’s formal complaint and facilitated a mediation process between Solidarity and the government, which culminated in an agreement in 2024. This agreement was ratified by a court order and published in the Government Gazette, only to be breached again by the government with new racial regulations less than a year later.
This is unworkable, as the numerical ratios in the country make it impossible for laws targeting about 7% of the population to benefit the remaining 93%. There is a clear distinction between a system that protects minorities in a growing economy and one that seeks to uplift majorities in a shrinking labour market.
This constitutes an injustice against young whites under the age of 18, who comprise only 4.6% of the population. They are blamed for events that occurred before they were born, while the ANC does not take responsibility for its current actions. It also creates false expectations among the nearly 96% of young blacks that the measures directed at the 4.6% young whites will benefit them.
It is unfair, as the new dispensation was supposed to rest on a higher moral foundation than the crude racial measures of apartheid.
It harms whites without significantly benefiting blacks. If all whites were immediately removed from the labour force, black unemployment would drop by only 2.6 percentage points. The primary problem for whites is not unemployment, but underemployment (being employed in positions below their qualifications) due to the racial laws.
This is economically harmful for the country, as the World Bank and numerous other institutions have pointed out. It plays a significant role in the country’s long-standing economic stagnation. BEE compliance costs the country 2%-4% of GDP annually, equivalent to R145bn-R290bn.
It contributes significantly to the weakening and decay of numerous state institutions, as the emphasis in appointments falls more on race than on merit, while South Africa urgently needs a culture of excellence. In this way, it harms the poor through poor service delivery, which has become the “new normal” in many towns.
As a result, the most qualified people often do not get the job, since employment is driven by output-based targets rather than input-based principles.
The pursuit of equal outcomes leads to restrictions on the freedom of people and companies.
It has unintended consequences, such as enabling the system of tenderpreneurship and fostering a sense of entitlement.
It operates in the name of promoting diversity and uniformity, since all job levels are required to reflect the demographics.
It drives many job creators, high-level skills and high-net taxpayers out of the country. It has also torn so many families apart, with relatives living on different continents and children growing up without their parents or grandparents.
This is unnecessary, as given the population composition of South Africa a merit-based system would still result in the vast majority of appointments being blacks.
It leads to demographic dominance of minorities due to the imposition of the population composition on all institutions. In a country with South Africa’s varied geographical and demographic realities, not every institution can be fully representative. Therefore, the aspiration should be that institutions collectively reflect the population as a whole. Policies such as cadre deployment and “African hegemony” are aimed more at achieving dominance than at genuine correction.
It encourages a “demographic democracy”, as the ANC seeks to secure voters’ loyalty by emphasising race and racial favouritism.
That affirmative action in the workplace and BEE regulations apply to businesses means minorities’ lives and life chances in all areas are regulated by race.
The legislation obstructs the exercise of other constitutional rights, such as article 22, which guarantees freedom of choice of occupation and profession.
The South African model of affirmative action is an example of the unintended consequences that arise when a system takes on a life of its own, hardens into a state ideology, and extends far beyond the understandable correction of past injustices.
The most effective measure to promote redress and inclusive development remains economic growth, supported by input-driven programmes such as training, rather than output-driven targets that have in practice solidified into a comprehensive quota system. Such an input-driven approach provides the fastest and most natural way to achieve racial representation, without the unaffordable unintended consequences of the current system.

South Africa has the highest unemployment rate in the world, according to various sources. It is therefore urgently necessary to stimulate economic growth, create more jobs and reduce inequalities. Yet the outcomes after three decades indicate that the current model is no longer effective and that it is necessary to return to the drawing board, rather than trying to defend an unworkable and unjustifiable system.

The current redress model has not remedied the consequences of decades of apartheid, but worsened it — except for the benefit of a largely politically connected elite. At the same time it has become such a comprehensive set of racial measures that many whites feel wronged and even oppressed, as their lives are regulated by race.

After all, affirmative action is intended as a shield to help people, not as a sword to harm or dominate others.

By Flip Buys, chairperson of the Solidarity Movement.

The ANC must stop its ongoing disinformation now

Posted on March 28, 2025March 28, 2025 by BeweegAdministrator

The ongoing false allegations that Solidarity and AfriForum are spreading misinformation abroad are nothing but disinformation and an attempt to make us the scapegoat for the ANC’s mistakes.

The time has come for the ANC to accept responsibility for the diplomatic crisis with the US the country has been plunged into due to the party’s reckless policies, and the ANC must stop blaming Solidarity and AfriForum for it.

Should the US kick South Africa out of the AGOA agreement, the blame must be laid squarely at the door of the Ramaphosa government. Solidarity and AfriForum’s attempts over many years, and by using authoritative research to convince the US to retain South Africa as an AGOA beneficiary are being sabotaged time and again by the ANC’s own policies and actions.

Genocide and sanctions

We want to make it clear that we have never made allegations of a “genocide” of white people in South Africa. We have not called for sanctions against South Africa. We have not requested that any funds to South Africa be cut off by the US. We have explicitly asked that South Africa not be kicked out of AGOA because it would cost thousands of South Africans their jobs. As patriotic South-Africans, we have called on the US not to punish the people of South Africa when the Trump administration is angry with the ANC.

We are positive South African patriots who love the country and its people, even if we do not agree with the ANC’s policies and actions. Although we warned about the dangers of the Expropriation Act, we have not presented allegations to the US government that large-scale expropriation without compensation is taking place in South Africa.

Last year, the Solidarity Movement was part of a group of approximately two million Afrikaners who supported a declaration in which we emphasised our loyalty to the country and its people, at the same time making suggestions about the conditions Afrikaners need to remain in the country in order to make a lasting contribution towards South Africa. The ANC ignored these constructive suggestions.

South African solutions

We reject the ANC’s hypocritical statements that we should solve our problems internally in South Africa rather than to complain about them abroad. The ANC has clearly demonstrated with the BELA negotiations that they are not prepared to respect the constitutional provision for Afrikaans education Their refusal to find solutions in good faith to fundamental issues that profoundly affect our language and culture leaves us with no choice but to internationalise our cause.

We do not ask anyone’s permission to defend our fundamental human rights and legitimate interests because the ANC has proven time and again that these rights and interests cannot be entrusted to them.

We will continue to do so in a factual and balanced manner so as not to cause harm to the country, unlike the ANC that continues to mismanage the country, continues to allow corruption to flourish and continues to further exacerbate unemployment in the country.

Ten historical reasons to stay in South Africa

Posted on March 25, 2025 by BeweegAdministrator

Flip Buys

Source: Maroela Media

United States President Donald Trump caused a stir this month with his executive order, which among other things, allows Afrikaners who are prejudiced by racial laws or expropriation without compensation to seek refuge in America.

The fact that the ANC is throwing everything but the kitchen sink in its attempt to govern alone instead of through a government of national unity has now completely alienated the new government in Washington. This is why the Solidarity Movement will now accept the hand of friendship extended by the Americans and offer practical suggestions on how Afrikaners can be helped to live sustainably in Africa, so that we can make a lasting contribution to the well-being of the country and all its people.

We cannot allow a corrupt, incompetent and racist government to drive us out of the country. That is not who we are. We are determined, in the words of Afrikaans writer and scholar NP van Wyk Louw, to carry the treasure of our language and culture safely through the crowd. After all, we did not cross the oceans, survive through centuries, venture into the unknown, stand up to great powers on the battlefield and produce world-class achievements because we are made of jelly.

Here are 10 historical reasons why we will stay and why we will do things ourselves.

We became Afrikaners in Africa

The first Buys in South Africa was a German soldier who sailed from Amsterdam on the Risdam in 1714 to work for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Like most other Afrikaner families, the Buys family has therefore been in Africa for more than three centuries. We did not come to Africa as Afrikaners. We became Afrikaners here, long before the birth of South Africa as a country. Our language and culture are indigenous to Africa, and nowhere else. We named ourselves, our language and many of our institutions after Africa.

Afrikaners are a self-defined cultural community – a people – and not simply a language group or a racial grouping. Through Afrikaans, we also have a linguistic bond with coloured South Africans, as Afrikaans is one language with many cultures. We come from a Christian Western tradition, and most of us trust in God’s promises of hope for the future.

We are Westerners in and from Africa

NP van Wyk Louw put it strikingly: “In every generation, the task is to keep both our heritages – European and African – close to the heart; to be in Africa, knowing that we are from the old West; to be Western, without disregarding a single difference from Africa” (author’s own translation).

Van Wyk Louw also spoke so beautifully about Afrikaans: “Afrikaans can remain vital only as long as it remains the carrier of our full destiny, of our knowledge-to-both-sides; as long as it continues to think concretely and abstractly; as long as Europe and Africa live in it; Africa indeed, yet also always Europe.”

He saw Afrikaans as the language that connects Western Europe and Africa: “It forms a bridge between the great bright West and the magical Africa, and what great things can arise from their union – this is perhaps what lies ahead for Afrikaans to be discovered.”

The People’s Poet Totius expressed it just as beautifully: “A fine mystical bond of union connects Orange, the Netherlands and Africa throughout everything. No matter how far the waves wash us, the deep heart will always feel – we are secretly one.”

Rather barefoot over the mountains …

After the British had annexed Natal and the Boer Republic of Vryheid in 1843, the Voortrekkers moved again. In the famous words of Johanna Smit to the British representative: “We would rather walk barefoot over the Drakensberg than suffer under British rule any longer.”

The pursuit of freedom as the driving force behind the Great Trek was articulated by Great Trek leaders such as Andries Pretorius, who stated that they left their birthplace not in revolt but in pursuit of freedom. The Dutch thinker Bob Goudzwaard, after studying the history of the Afrikaners, argued that their story was a struggle for survival more than for domination. I find it inconceivable that the sacrifices of our ancestors would be in vain if we were to turn our back on our history.

Collaboration with other communities

It is true that there were many battles and conflicts with indigenous black tribes. However, this is not the full story; there were also numerous peace agreements and instances of collaboration with black groups.

A good description of this is found in the Voortrekker leader Hendrik Potgieter’s report of 3 December 1838 sent to the Governor of the Cape after the Great Trek: “First, we encountered Captain Danser and concluded a peace treaty with him; secondly, King Maroka, with whom we also concluded a peace treaty; thirdly, Captain Pieter Davieds, with whom we likewise concluded a peace treaty; fourthly, King Sikonyela, with whom we also concluded a peace treaty; fifthly Captain Makwana, with whom we also concluded a peace treaty” (a free translation of the original Dutch text).

Churchill on Boer fighters

The most striking description of the Boer fighters was given by the famous statesman Winston Churchill, who came to fight against us as a journalist.

What men they were, these Boers! I thought of them as I had seen them in the morning riding forward through the rain – thousands of independent riflemen, thinking for themselves, possessed of beautiful weapons, led with skill, living as they rode without commissariat or transport or ammunition column, moving like the wind, and supported by iron constitutions and a stern, hard Old Testament God who should surely smite the Amalekites hip and thigh.

Defeated and dejected

The British scorched earth policy and the concentration camps were devastating. My one grandfather and one grandmother were child survivors of the camps, while my other great-grandfather was imprisoned, and his house was arsoned after he had smuggled horses for the Free State Boers as a colonial subject. Prof. David Welsh described the condition of Afrikaners after the Anglo-Boer War as follows:

After 1902 the Afrikaners of the defeated Trekker republics displayed many of the symptoms of a conquered people: impoverished, defeated, despairing, low in morale, and with a powerfully internalised inferiority complex. They were facing the possible obliteration of their identity by the overwhelming power of their conqueror’s institutions and culture.

The recovery after the war was extremely difficult, and historian Dan O’Meara could have been describing my mineworker grandfather when he outlined their struggle until 1948:

The structure of South African capitalism offered few opportunities to those whose home language was Afrikaans. Its language was English, and Afrikaans-speakers were powerfully discriminated against. Promotion and advancement required both proficiency in a foreign language – that of a conqueror – and virtual total acceptance of the structure and values dominant in the economy.

A fiery Cold War

The Cold War was raging in South Africa, with the ANC squarely in the Communist camp. This put the South African Defence Force in direct conflict with the former Soviet Union and Red China that had armed and supported the liberation movements in Southern Africa.

The Cold War froze whatever political manoeuvring space there had been, and the South African Defence Force and South African Police were tasked with preventing a violent revolutionary takeover until the collapse of the Eastern Bloc made negotiations possible. Western powers, particularly the immense pressure from the USA on the NP government, played a major role in the eventual constitutional settlement.

Africa after independence

Understandably, Afrikaners were also very sceptical about the prospects of a successful democracy in South Africa, given the outcomes that Western models had led to in Africa. Martin Meredith sums it up aptly in his book The Fortunes of Africa:

The succession of coups in Africa swept on so rapidly that many episodes passed by in little more than a blur. In the first two decades of independence, there were some forty successful coups and countless attempted coups. Not once was there an occasion when an African government was peacefully voted out of office.

A movement founded

The origins of the Solidarity Movement can be traced back to the 1998 congress of the then Mine Workers’ Union, where the trade union’s national council accepted my proposal to transform the MWU into a modern self-help movement.

The reason for this was twofold: we did not believe that the ANC could successfully govern the country, and we believed that they would create a new racial dispensation that would effectively turn Afrikaners into second-class citizens.

The aim of the Movement was to build the cultural infrastructure that Afrikaners would need to remain sustainably free, safe and prosperous in southern Africa. In so doing, Afrikaners would at the same time be able to make a lasting contribution to the well-being of the country and all its people. Our assumption at the time – that we would initially be denounced as radicals but would gradually gain more support as the outcomes of ANC policy became visible – has been realised in practice.

In the 1990s, the country had to change to prevent a terrible end. The task of our movement now is to help prevent an endless horror.

Foreign support

For years after 1994, it was impossible to gain support for Afrikaners’ legitimate aspirations for cultural autonomy because the ANC had taken the moral high ground, and the consequences of their policies were not yet clear to the outside world.

The ANC’s rotten track record of governance, leading to widespread state failure, along with the ongoing centralisation of power and the accompanying curtailment of freedoms, gave new meaning to Prof. Welsh’s warning about a “tyranny of the majority”.

Welsh stated:

Simple majority rule … can easily – and commonly does – degenerate into a “tyranny of the majority” when elections assume the form of a racial census. Undeniably, majorities have rights, but so do minorities. If […] majorities use their power to steamroller minorities, denying them influence even in decisions that affect their vital interests, the quality of democracy will deteriorate.

Moreover, the comparative evidence from divided societies does not offer much support for the view that the salience of ethnic or racial identities will eventually give way to voting alignments that are shaped more by, say, class, interests or ideology. Democratic constitutional forms have been maintained, but a single-party dominant system become entrenched.

US anger over SA’s foreign policy could cost thousands their jobs

Posted on February 27, 2025 by BeweegAdministrator

There is growing anger in the US government over South Africa’s foreign policy. This is going to cost South Africa dearly, and tens of thousands of people who will lose their jobs will pay the price for the government’s reckless policies.

This is the reaction of the Solidarity Movement, of which AfriForum and Solidarity are part, after discussions yesterday with senior members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House of Representatives and the Senate in the USA. This follows discussions held earlier in the week with senior members of the Trump administration in the White House.

Flip Buys, chairperson of the Solidarity Movement, says that over the years, the ANC government has alienated the world’s largest economy which could have an enormous impact on South Africa.

“It seems that the South African government does not realise the seriousness of the situation. They are looking for scapegoats, believing that the current situation is just a diplomatic misunderstanding. In reality, this is a diplomatic crisis, but the ANC insists that they will not be bullied.
“The levels of frustration in the USA are so high that a bill is being considered to review the bilateral relations between the USA and South Africa,” says Buys.

This draft bill was already approved by the House of Representatives in 2024 but not taken up by the Senate. Given the rapidly changing relationship between South Africa and the US, members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs are currently considering re-submitting the law to the House of Representatives.

Since Republicans now also control the Senate, the law will have a better chance of acceptance. Given the critical stance that the White House and members of the Trump administration have taken towards South Africa, the climate for new legislation on the US relationship with South Africa is even better now.

This bill details South Africa’s historic ties with the terrorist group Hamas, and with countries such as China, Iran and Russia, and argues that South Africa has abandoned its policy of neutrality.
Furthermore, the bill also addresses South Africa’s flawed domestic policy, the government’s inability to govern the country and its laxity towards corruption.

A comprehensive review of the bilateral relations between the USA and South Africa is proposed in the bill.
If this bill is passed, it would be solely the fault of the government, and specifically the ANC. This situation has been building up over many years and the recent passing of the Expropriation Act was merely the trigger.

This bill could have disastrous consequences for South Africa’s participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) – a law offering tariff relief to African countries.
Currently, AGOA and trade with the USA create jobs for approximately 500 000 South Africans.

The Solidarity Movement has proposed that, instead of punishing ordinary South Africans, the focus should rather be on sanctions against corrupt individuals and pressure on ANC leaders.

“The South African government is conspicuous by its absence in the USA. Its diplomatic abilities seem to have collapsed.
The Solidarity Movement cannot and does not want to act on behalf of the government, but we believe our call for intensified political pressure to bring about policy change is for the benefit of all South Africans,” says Buys.

Furthermore, the Solidarity Movement has requested members of the Senate and the House of Representatives to recommend to the American President that South Africa remain a member of AGOA.
However, there is also a request to sustain the political pressure on Sout Africa to bring about a policy change.

See the draft bill here.

Diplomatic differences between the USA and SA run deeper than a ‘misunderstanding’

Posted on February 25, 2025February 26, 2025 by BeweegAdministrator

A delegation of the Solidarity Movement, AfriForum and Solidarity today met with senior representatives of the Trump administration at the White House in Washington DC.

This delegation is currently meeting with senior government officials in the USA, and will, among other things ask that pressure be intensified on ANC leaders for policy change rather than suspending South Africa’s participation in AGOA.

The Solidarity Movement’s delegation to the White House was led by the chairperson of the Solidarity Movement Flip Buys, and included Kallie Kriel, AfriForum chief executive, Dr Dirk Hermann, Solidarity chief executive and Jaco Kleynhans, head of international liaison at the Solidarity Movement.

According to Flip Buys, chairperson of the Solidarity Movement, the South African government’s lack of urgency to restore diplomatic relations with the USA is creating a growing crisis for South Africa.
Buys pointed out that the jobs of more than half a million workers with about 2 million dependents depend directly on South Africa’s participation in AGOA, and for this reason the Solidarity Movement feels so strongly that the US should not kick the country out of AGOA in September.

A research report on the importance of AGOA for ordinary South Africans was handed to senior government officials in Washington. The Movement also requested that humanitarian aid to South Africa, such as the PEPFAR programme not be stopped as this could harm vulnerable people in South Africa.

For this reason, we urge the US not to punish South Africa as a country if it has diplomatic differences with the SA government but to rather pressure ANC leaders to right what is wrong. We cannot allow it that ordinary South Africans suffer even more as a result of the mistakes of the ANC.

The Solidarity Movement’s task to act on behalf of ordinary South Africans is greatly impeded by the South African government’s persistent view that the diplomatic dispute is simply due to misunderstandings, and that they do not plan any policy changes despite the multiple crises the ANC-led government policies have landed the country in.

Our feedback from senior US government leaders is that the diplomatic disputes with South Africa have profound causes and are far more profound than being just a communication gap or “disinformation” as the SA government is claiming it to be.

The delegation of the Solidarity Movement also expressed its serious concerns about the consequences of the new Expropriation Act, racial laws, calls for violence against Afrikaners and attacks on Afrikaans schools such as the passing of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (BELA).

The delegation also pointed out that they recognise and respect South Africa’s sovereignty, but that the government cannot hide behind it when the human rights of a minority group are being disregarded or threatened by laws such as the BELA education legislation, the discriminatory racial dispensation or the Expropriation Act.

It is necessary that these matters be raised abroad because the government has shown by the BELA talks, its continued refusal to amend racial laws, and the signing of the Expropriation Act without consulting its GNU partners that they have shut the door to talks in good faith in South Africa.

The memorandum that was handed to the Trump administration is attached hereto.

Akademia: A torchbearer for the Afrikaans university system

Posted on February 11, 2025February 11, 2025 by BeweegAdministrator

Successful and resilient language and cultural communities are characterized by healthy, stable and flourishing education and career training. As far as the Afrikaans language and cultural communities are concerned, Akademia proudly carries the torch for the Afrikaans university system. As independent higher education institution from the Christian and classical university tradition, this institution unequivocally celebrates its calling as mother language study home and vocationally-driven there is being worked toward a free future.

Akademia: A hopeful alternative for Afrikaans speakers

Prof. Danie Goosen, academic head at Akademia, says that the institution represents a hopeful alternative for Afrikaans speakers within the South African university system. This vocation-driven right of existence is of great importance in a time where Afrikaans as primary language of instruction at public universities are dwindling or simply discarded. As community institution Akademia’s mission is to serve the academic ideals of a specific language and cultural community and to provide an academic home where both the mind and heart are shaped. According to Marthinus Visser, managing director of the institution, Akademia strives to offer more than world-class training. The institution is also associated to the classical role of the university system – to bring students to an intellectual, emotional and philosophical maturity. “Akademia continuously works in faith, hope and love to be of service to the community in this manner. In this way we establish a renewed Afrikaans university system,” Visser explains.

From a humble beginning to a significant role player.

Since 2012 the institution offers various study options to students and developed quickly to a preferred Afrikaans study home. Except for five dynamic faculties, students also has the opportunity tot study via the full-time campus model or the after-hours distance model. The former is presented at the institution’s campusses in Centurion, and soon also in the Paarl, whilst the second option equips students from all over the country to complete their studies via the network of centres or the e-learning option. The latter also offers Afrikaans speakers from outside of South Africa the opportunity to study in their mother language. Akademia’s international footprint include countries such as Australia, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, the United Emirates and the United States of America.

Thirteen years of growth

This year the institution looks back on thirteen years of presenting classes and according to Visser there will be purposefully be built on the positive momentum that was unlocked in the preceding years. According to Visser, this momentum gives more power to the institution’s mission statement as community institution. “Akademia has, over the course of its existence, already taken several major and significant steps, and meticulous work has been done to achieve goals in various areas. Whether it was the expansion of our academic programme offerings, the establishment of new student life traditions, geographical expansion opportunities, or the growth of staff and student numbers, the standard has been set high, and the foundation has been laid for an even greater impact,” Visser explains. From the registration of Akademia as an independent higher education institution on 3 January 2012 and with student numbers of 42 students over five programmes the institution has grown to about 3 800 students, five faculties and 23 programmes.

Further expansion of the Afrikaans university system

Visser emphasises that Akademia is thankful to celebrate the growth of the past thirteen years, but that the institution is once again experiencing a renewed sense of vocational drive regarding its responsibility toward the future. “Akademia is now established and the time for deepening, broadening, and expansion has arrived. With our values as compass and our vision as the destination, we are dedicated to fulfilling this important task,” says Visser. From 2026, the institution will enjoy a campus presence in the Paarl in the Western Cape. This geographical expansion will not only expand Akademia’s existing footprint in the region, but will also strengthen its commitment to the community. Akademia’s campus dream, namely to establish a world-class residential campus in Pretoria where 5 000 full-time undergraduate students and about 1 500 postgraduate will be at home, is currently in its developmental phase. The target date for this project, in partnership with the estate development company Kanton, is set for January 2028. The Futurebuilder (Toekomsbouer) project offers members of the Afrikaans language and cultural communities the opportunity to not just dream of the future together, but to actively build together by way of donations, investments and testamentary bequests in order to make the campus dream come true. Please send an email to skenking@akademia.ac.za and one of the Akademia fund managers will be in contact with you to arrange a visit and to discuss the nature of your donation, contribution or legacy.

A world-class campus the making. The achitect representation offers an outline of how the new Akademia campus will look.

The Futurebuilder campaign was launched to realise Akademia’s dream of a world-class residential campus in Pretoria in order to ensure the continued existence of the Afrikaans university system.

Reaction towards mr. Trump’s executive order

Posted on February 10, 2025 by BeweegAdministrator

We took note of Mr Trump’s Executive Order with regard to South-Africa in general and Afrikaners in particular.

His Order and the other statements of senior American officials place the spotlight on contentious issues in South Africa, like our foreign policy and the situation of Afrikaners as an indigenous cultural community. We welcome the concern of important Americans about our situation but believe the solution must be found in South Africa.

We reaffirm our firm commitment to the country and its people, although we differ with the ANC about the direction of the country, the many race laws that make us second class citizens, their treatment of the Afrikaans community with the Bela act, laws like the Expropriation act, and the blatant threats made by certain politicians towards Afrikaners.

However, we want to put on record the following:

•   We did not accuse the government of large-scale race-based land grabs, or distribute false information in this regard;
•   We did not and will not ask for sanctions against South-Africa, or that funds for vulnerable people be cut off by the US government;
•   We explicitly asked senior US officials not to kick South-Africa out of the Agoa act, because of the suffering it will cause to farmers and their workers, and the livelihoods of workers in the motor and chemical industries;
•   The Order of Mr Trump is the result of reckless policies of the ANC leadership that alienate a superpower, and not a so-called disinformation campaign from our side;
•   It is furthermore a product of years of diplomatic neglect by South African diplomats in our engagements with the US at many different forums and on a wide range of issues
•   We were not aware that Mr. Trump would issue this order
•   We believe that it is not in the interests of South Africa if there is a deterioration in the relationship with the world’s largest economy and a big trade partner and donor of our country.

In the light of the latest developments, we will urgently request a meeting with President Ramaphosa, to address the differences between us and to find solutions to that. Secondly, I will also lead a delegation to the United States for discussions with White House representatives later the month, in order for us to put the situation in SA in context.

The G20 summit has brought international attention to South Africa, and this will continue throughout the year. If the ANC, as leading party in the Government of National Unity and thus the chair of the G20 summit, wants to be a global player, its international and domestic policies must align accordingly.

This includes ensuring that the ANC does not violate the constitutional settlement by attempting to downscale Afrikaans schools and mother-tongue education through legislation, or the racial dispensation that are incompatible with a constitutional democracy, a functioning state and a growing economy that can provide jobs for everyone.

The Solidarity Movement, including Solidarity and AfriForum, represents approximately 600,000 Afrikaner families and 2 million individuals.

Our message to Presidents Ramaphosa and Trump is that we want to solve our problems within South Africa but we also appreciate diplomatic pressure from important roleplayers like the US. We are willing to engage in honest discussions with both parties about the state of the country and our community, and we commit to conveying facts correctly and responsibly, as we have always done.

The U.S. should empower South Africans, including the civil society, private sector and political parties to engage with each other and international roleplayers with a simple focus of being a country that gives space to all its people, respects minority rights and is loyal to its international commitments on issues such as the opposition to racial discrimination and the improvement of human rights and dialogue.

The Solidarity Movement remains committed to dialogue and is open to cooperation. We welcome the political pressure that the U.S. is placing on the ANC but will take a stand against the withdrawal of aid. We support South Africa’s continued participation in AGOA.

Ordinary South Africans should not bear the cost of diplomatic disputes and the ANC’s reckless policies. The withdrawal of aid could have severe social consequences and lead to increased unemployment. However, any aid must be carefully evaluated and must also address the priorities of the Afrikaner community.

The solution is that international assistance to South Africa should continue, while Afrikaners receive practical support in their pursuit of cultural autonomy. We want to establish the conditions for Afrikaners to stay in South-Africa, in order for us to make a sustainable contribution towards the country and all its people. We did not come to Africa as Afrikaners. Centuries ago, our ancestors came here from various countries in Europe, but became Afrikaners here, long before the birth of South Africa as a country. Our language and culture are indigenous to Africa. We named ourselves, our language and many of our institutions after Africa. Afrikaners are a self-defined cultural community – a people – and not simply a language group or a racial grouping.

We emphasise that through Afrikaans we also have a bond through our common language with the majority of coloured (“bruin”) South Africans, as well as with a significant number of people from other South African communities. We respect these other Afrikaans cultural communities and will cooperate and have been cooperating with them in all appropriate issues.

Afrikaners are committed to South Africa and the continent. We may disagree with the ANC, but we love our country. As in any community, there are individuals who wish to emigrate, but repatriation of Afrikaners as refugees is not a solution for us.

We want to build a future in South Africa and have minimum living conditions that we will set and work towards.
If the international community helps us create an environment where Afrikaners can sustainably remain in South Africa, we can make a lasting contribution to the well-being of the country and all its people.

Our loyalty to the country is as steadfast as our legitimate pursuit of cultural freedom and the abolition of racial discrimination against us.
This commitment to our country and cultural freedom is outlined in the Afrikaner Declaration, which was signed and introduced last year along with community leaders.

The Solidarity Movement, specifically Solidarity and AfriForum, will immediately begin developing proposals to resolve disputes over expropriation and race-based policies. Further information will be announced soon.

Flip Buys, chairperson of the Solidarity Movement

Solidarity Movement to have discussions with Trump Administration

Posted on February 5, 2025February 5, 2025 by BeweegAdministrator

The Solidarity Movement announced that it would engage in talks with the US government about Pres. Trump’s statements made in the US media on Sunday evening about South Africa. At the same time, the Movement will engage with the South African government and will continue to exercise pressure locally to address policies that are harmful to the country.

On Sunday evening Trump announced that funding to projects in South Africa would be stopped immediately. Last year, the US government funded projects in South Africa worth more than 400 million dollars, especially to combat HIV/AIDS. South African universities also received funding from the US government. Clearly, Trump is aware of Pres. Ramaphosa’s signing of the Expropriation Act and this, combined with the South African government’s continued international legal battle against Israel, were probably the catalysts leading to Trump’s interventions. Advisors in the White House are also currently encouraging Trump to take a stand on minority rights in South Africa. This comes in the wake of, among other things, reports on the extent of racial discrimination against minorities in South Africa, the extent of farm attacks and murders over the past three decades and the signing of the BELA Act. Trump has been fully briefed on this by his Africa advisors over the past few days.

The Solidarity Movement is one of the largest civil movements in South Africa and represents around two million South Africans and a network of civil society institutions, including Solidarity and AfriForum. During the past few years, the Movement has been in contact with various US politicians to ensure that South Africa’s relations with USA do not run aground.

“The Solidarity Movement will ask the Trump Administration to exercise pressure on the ANC’s policies, but not to punish ordinary South Africans through measures causing greater unemployment or harming the vulnerable. “We do not like the ANC, but we love the country,” Flip Buys, chairperson of the Solidarity Movement, said. At the same time more foreign pressure on the ANC is essential because the constitutional settlement is currently being violated, and the ANC continues to govern on its own while a government of national unity (GNU) is indeed in power.The US has a major responsibility to ensure that constitutional promises such as property rights, mother tongue schools and universities and the abolition of racial discrimination are fulfilled because those promises were instrumental in the constitutional settlement of the 1990’s.

The Solidarity Movement plans a series of diplomatic actions that will include discussions with local diplomats and visits to Washington. The Solidarity Movement will soon release more information about the planned campaign.

“We will have discussions on issues such as expropriation, education, healthcare, race laws and AGOA. The outcome we are looking for is pressure to effect a change of policy, but not financial type of sanctions against the country. Kicking South Africa out of AGOA, for example, will lead to the loss of thousands of jobs. The result will be greater poverty and a breeding ground for more radical policy,” Buys said. Meanwhile, the Solidarity Movement continues to exert pressure locally. According to Buys, institutions such as Solidarity and AfriForum are continuing legal action against the new Expropriation Act, National Health Insurance, BELA and the country’s racial dispensation. “We are also planning to have talks with the ANC on its reckless international policy which could have devastating consequences for ordinary South Africans,” Buys said.

Solidarity, AfriForum and SCS initiate legal action against BELA Act

Posted on January 16, 2025 by BeweegAdministrator

Solidarity, AfriForum and the Solidarity Support Centre for Schools (SCS) started legal action against the promulgation of the BELA Act.

According to these organisations, President Cyril Ramaphosa acted irrationally and contrary to various agreements as well as a recommendation by the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, by promulgating the BELA Act in its entirety. Gwarube recommended that the implementation of the language and admission clauses in the Act be postponed due to the absence of appropriate norms and standards.

According to these organisations, the minister also acted irrationally by having co-signed the promulgation notice contrary to her own recommendations to Ramaphosa of barely two weeks earlier that this Act should not be promulgated in its entirety. The Minister also made recommendations to Ramaphosa that would have afforded protection to, among other things, mother tongue education and Afrikaans schools.

Solidarity, AfriForum and the SCS, all part of the Solidarity Movement, already issued legal letters to Ramaphosa and Gwarube respectively, pointing out that the signing of the promulgation notice is irrational.

In terms of the legal letters, the Minister and the President have ten days to resolve the dispute. If there is no solution, the parties have no other choice but to go to court.

According to AfriForum Chief Executive Kallie Kriel, the promulgation of the BELA Act in its entirety is an act of aggression by the government against Afrikaans schools and children. “The promulgation is an indication that the ANC is turning the government of national unity into a government of national disunity that seeks to simply coopt parties like the DA and FF+ to help the ANC in implementing its policy,” Kriel added.

Solidarity Chief Executive Dr Dirk Hermann indicated that his organisation was unpleasantly surprised to see that the BELA Act was promulgated in its entirety, without any of the conditions as recommended by the Minister to the President. According to him, the promulgation is a dishonourable breach of the agreement the government signed with Solidarity at Nedlac. “The Constitution and case law confirm that the minister’s recommendation, as the person responsible for the implementation of the Act, carries weight. The promulgation of a law is not the sole task of the President. The purpose of the Minister’s recommendations is to postpone the implementation of the Act so that the necessary steps can be taken to implement the legislation effectively,” Hermann said.

According to Leon Fourie, chief executive of the SCS, the President provided no reasons why he had simply ignored the Minister’s recommendations and agreements that had been reached. “It therefore appears that the President’s irrational promulgation of the BELA Act in its entirety succumbed to political pressure from the anti-Afrikaans elements in the ANC,” Fourie said.

Werner Human, the Solidarity Movement’s Head of Operations, indicated that, apart from the legal action being taken against the BELA Act’s promulgation notice, the institutions belonging to the Solidarity Movement will also focus on helping to ensure that the norms and standards and the regulations on the language and admission policies of schools, which must now be drafted by the Minister of Basic Education, contain provisions that will attempt to help prevent abuse of power by education officials and the targeting of Afrikaans schools. “The institutions of the Solidarity Movement also reserve the right to take legal action against the unconstitutionality of the BELA Act itself as well upon completion of the legal action against the promulgation notice,” Human added.