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*http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093155401

'''Volkstaat''' (in [[Afrikaans]] ''People's state'') is a state which some [[Afrikaner]]s are attempting to create. This may be due to the perceived persecutions against them in the post-[[1994]] [[South Africa]], although the idea of a Volkstaat has been around since the end of [[apartheid]] in the early [[1990s]].

*http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Ahmedabad/Gonu_brings_rain_relief_fear/articleshow/2098340.cms

==Afrikaner reasons for wanting a Volkstaat==

A number of factors have contributed to a feeling of estrangement experienced by some Afrikaners in South Africa; from their perspective these are:

===Crime===

The expectation which many Afrikaners had in 1994 that crime—especially violent crime—would decrease has not materialised. Consistently high levels of violent crime (and the media coverage of it) have resulted in a significant increase in the public’s feelings of insecurity.

Among rural Afrikaners the violent attacks on farmers and their families have contributed significantly to a hardening of attitudes. Between 1998 and 2001 there were some 3 500 recorded farm attacks in South Africa. The attacks have resulted in the murder of 541 farmers, their families or their workers. On average more than two farm attack related murders are committed every week.

Conservative Afrikaners largely interpret farm attacks as a racially inspired campaign to force them off their farms. In mid-2001 the Freedom Front appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Commission to place pressure on the South African government to do something about the murder of Afrikaans farmers, which “had taken on the shape of an ethnic massacre” Freedom Front leader, [[Pieter Mulder]], claimed that most farm attacks seemed orchestrated, and that the motive for the attacks was not only criminal. Mulder further claimed that “a definite anti-Afrikaner climate had taken root in South Africa. People accused of murdering Afrikaners were often applauded by supporters during court appearances”.

===Culture and heritage===

In 2002 a number of towns and cities with historic Afrikaans names dating back to Voortrekker times—such as [[Polokwane|Pietersburg]] and [[Potgietersrus]]—had their names changed, often in the face of popular opposition to the change. In the same year the government decided that state departments had to choose a single language for inter- and intra-departmental communication, effectively compelling public servants to communicate using [[English language|English]] with one another.

Of the 31 universities in South Africa, five were historically Afrikaans ([[Free State University|Free State]],

[[Potchefstroom University|Potchefstroom]], [[University of Pretoria|Pretoria]], [[Rand Afrikaans University]] and [[Stellenbosch University|Stellenbosch]]). In mid [[2002]] the national Minister of Education, [[Kader Asmal]], announced that Afrikaans medium universities must implement parallel teaching in English, despite a proposal by a government appointed commission that two Afrikaans universities should be retained to further Afrikaans as an academic language. According to the government’s language policy for higher education “the notion of Afrikaans universities runs counter to the end goal of a transformed higher education system".

===Unemployment===

White (of whom the majority is Afrikaners) unemployment is low by South African standards: 10% in 2001, compared to a national average of 37%. White unemployment has, however, experienced the greatest proportional increase between 1995 and 2001: 197% compared to a national average of 27%. In 2001 some 228,000 economically active whites were unemployed.

==Afrikaner reaction==

Emigration of citizens, including Afrikaners, from South Africa is at an all time high. [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[Great Britain]] and the [[United States]] are favourite destinations. This drain of mostly highly qualified and skilled people is making a large impact on the both South Africa in general and Afrikaner communities in particular.

Just after midnight on 30 October 2002 eight bomb blasts rocked Soweto, South Africa’s largest black township. Seven of the blasts destroyed commuter railway lines running through the township, inconveniencing more than 200,000 commuters. The eighth blast occurred at a mosque forcing parts of the building to collapse. A hitherto unknown organisation, Die [[Boeremag]] (Boer force/power), claimed responsibility for the bombings. During the aftermath of the bombings, all the suspected or alledged participants of the bombing campaign were arrested due to expert work by the South African Police Service.

However, a section of the Afrikaner community feel that the best way to safeguard their culture is through self determination and obtaining minority rights peacefully, and they hope to have an Afrikaner homeland at some stage in the future, without having to resort to violence. They point out that minority rights are a "hot topic" in current international politics and point to the [[Palestinian]]s, the [[Flemish]] in [[Belgium]], the [[French Language|French]]-speaking people of [[Quebec]] in [[Canada]], the [[Kurd]]s in [[Iraq]], the [[Tamil]]s of [[Sri Lanka]] and the [[Basque]]s in [[Spain]] as examples.

==Volkstaat possibilities==

The following are deciding factors for the formation of a Volkstaat:

===South African Legislation===

Section 235 of the South African Constitution allows for the right to self determination of any community, who shares a common culture and language, within a territorial entity within the Republic, or in any other way, as described by national legislation.

This section of the constitution was one of the negotiated settlements during the handing over of political power in 1994 by Afrikaners. The main Afrikaner-based political party, the [[Freedom Front]], was instrumental in including this section in the constitution.

===Establishing a Volkstaat===

One Volkstaat attempt is the small town of [[Orania]]. The land on which Orania is built is privately owned, and Afrikaners have been encouraged by promoters of the volkstaat concept to move to Orania, although only a small number has responded. Another attempt is the settlement of Kleinfontein outside [[Pretoria]] (in the [[Tshwane]] metropolitan area).

==Obstacles==

A number of obstacles threaten the Volkstaat ideal held by some Afrikaners:

===Afrikaner disarray===

The decision of where the best ___location for a Volkstaat would be, is still contentious. Some Afrikaners argue that the most feasible ___location would be the arid and undeveloped [[Northern Cape]] where Orania is situated, as there is no other competition for land in this area. Other Afrikaners, however, wish to establish the Volkstaat around Pretoria, as this area is already highly economically active and a great deal of Afrikaner cultural heritage is situated in this city where President [[Paul Kruger]] made his last stand against the British during the [[Second Boer War]].

However, the majority of Afrikaners still hope that the New South Africa as envisioned by [[Nelson Mandela]], [[FW de Klerk]], [[Desmond Tutu]] and [[Beyers Naude]] will come to pass, i.e. a South Africa with racial reconcilliation and equal rights. The support that a Volkstaat needs is therefore still largely lacking among Afrikaners, but may grow if the perceived situation persists.

===South African Government===

The current South African government ([[African National Congress]]) is distrustful of Afrikaner motives for a Volkstaat, due to the South African history of the previous century, when the racially driven [[Apartheid]] policy caused much resentment under black Africans towards Whites. The government wishes to protect the territorial integrity of the country because the ''status quo'' serves the ANC power base, as it enables the government to mobilise all South Africa's resources to drive it's much needed redistribution programmes.

The government contemplated ending Orania’s potential for Afrikaner self determination, by incorporating it into the neighbouring black African controlled municipality of [[Hopetown]]. The Oranians were able to defend their claim to self determination, by obtaining a High Court order to protect their current status for the time being, based on Section 235 of the constitution.

The government argues that it is not attacking the Afrikaner culture and heretige, but merely not giving it the high priority that it enjoyed under the Apartheid regime.

===Other political parties===

The [[Democratic Alliance]], South Africa's current major opposition party, opposes the idea of an Afrikaner Volkstaat, primarily for two reasons:

* A significant amount of its voters and supporters are Afrikaners and to lose their vote, if Afrikaners were to retreat from South Africa into a Volkstaat, would be a serious set back for the party's aspirations to rule South Africa.

* The cesession of an Afrikaner Volkstaat would perceivably do much harm to South Africa's developing economy if this would cause foreign investment to stall.

===Shortage of resources===

Settling an undeveloped land, providing basic services and founding businessess that can provide employment requires great capital investment. The Afrikaners in favour of a Volkstaat have only limited resources available, and Afrikaners still supply substantially to the South African tax base.

Obtaining the resources and entrepreneurs to develop the Volkstaat thus remain significant obstacles to the establishment of a Volkstaat.

==Source==

*[http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/Monographs/No81/Content.html South African Institute for Security Studies; Monagraph 81 'VOLK' FAITH AND FATHERLAND]

== See also ==

*[[Afrikaner]]

*[[Boer]]

*[[Natalia Republic]]

*[[Orange Free State]]

*[[South African Republic]]

*[[Afrikaans]]

*[[Self determination]]

*[[Apartheid]]

*[[South Africa]]

*[[Orania]]

==External links==

*[http://majorityrights.com/index.php/weblog/comments/1053/ MajorityRights: The Boer genocide], [[26 June]] [[2005]]

*[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=VWPBD0WZERADXQFIQMGSM5WAVCBQWJVC?xml=/news/2005/07/03/wsafr03.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/07/03/ixportal.html Telegraph: Murders foreshadow South African land war] [[3 July]] [[2005]]

*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/4630665.stm BBC: South Africa's bloody battle for land] [[4 July]] [[2005]]

*[http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=250558&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/# Mail&Guardian: Govt hits out at 'anti-land-reform' farmers] [[10 September]] [[2005]]

*[http://www.stopboergenocide.com A website aimed at supporting the Boers against the genocide currently going on in South Africa]

*[http://www.freedomfront.co.za Freedom Front Political Party]

*[http://www.orania.co.za Orania website]

*[http://www.kleinfontein.net Kleinfontein website]

*[http://www.iss.co.za Institute for Security Studies]