144-424: AfriForum is a South African non-governmental organisation which mainly focuses on the interests of Afrikaners , a subgroup of the country's white population . AfriForum has been described as a " white nationalist , alt-right , and Afrikaner nationalist group", though this description is rejected by the organisation's leadership, who refer to themselves as a civil rights group. Established in 2006 to encourage
288-603: A Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 . Until 1994, they dominated South Africa 's politics as well as the country's commercial agricultural sector. Afrikaans , a language primarily descended from Dutch , is the mother tongue of Afrikaners and most Cape Coloureds . According to the South African National Census of 2022 , 10.6% of South Africans claimed to speak Afrikaans as
432-679: A 2017 case against the Minister of Sports and Recreation, and the Olympic Committee, opposing racial quotas in sport after it was discovered that the racial quotas were being applied in the national netball team selection process. AfriForum's youth wing is called AfriForum Jeug . It operates as a student organisation with branches at South African universities. AfriForum Jeug focuses on education issues, including mother tongue education, political interference in student affairs, and affirmative action at universities. A core objective of AfriForum Jeug
576-573: A basis for the evolution of Afrikaner identity and consciousness. In the twentieth century, Afrikaner nationalism took the form of political parties and closed societies, such as the Broederbond . In 1914, the National Party was founded to promote Afrikaner interests. It gained power by winning South Africa's 1948 general elections . The party was noted for implementing a harsh policy of racial segregation ( apartheid ) and declaring South Africa
720-664: A census of his non-indigenous subjects. White vrijburgers - now outnumbered by slaves brought from West Africa , Mozambique , Madagascar and the Dutch East Indies - only totaled about 6,000. Following the defeat and collapse of the Dutch Republic during Joseph Souham 's Flanders Campaign , William V, Prince of Orange , escaped to the United Kingdom and appealed to the British to occupy his colonial possessions until he
864-431: A certain amount of latitude in describing the confrontation" due to strong emotions elicited by the issue. In August 2016 eight students affiliated with AfriForum youth wing were suspended from Stellenbosch University Student Representative Council (SRC) elections after allegations of campaign irregularities. The three plaintiffs also considered some of AfriForum's election posters to be controversial. AfriForum applied to
1008-681: A citizen or member of society in good standing". A key legal victory for this view came in 1952 when group libel law was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in Beauharnais v. Illinois . However, the group libel approach lost ground due to a rise in support for individual rights within civil rights movements during the 60s. Critiques of group defamation laws are not limited to defenders of individual rights. Some legal theorists, such as critical race theorist Richard Delgado, support legal limits on hate speech, but claim that defamation
1152-553: A class of former VOC employees, vrijlieden , also known as vrijburgers (free citizens, who stayed in Dutch territories overseas after serving their contracts. The vrijburgers were to be of Dutch birth (although exceptions were made for some Germans), married, "of good character", and had to undertake to spend at least twenty years in Southern Africa. In March 1657, when the first vrijburgers started receiving their farms,
1296-463: A critic of hate speech theory, has argued that it "assumes bad faith on the part of people regardless of their stated intentions" and that it "obliterates the ethical responsibility of the individual". Rebecca Ruth Gould , a professor of Islamic and Comparative Literature at the University of Birmingham , argues that laws against hate speech constitute viewpoint discrimination (which is prohibited by
1440-669: A deeply conservative impulse". In June 2012, the African National Congress Youth League stated that AfriForum is "the defender of white privilege", after AfriForum lodged charges of hate speech with the police and the Equality Court against ANCYL deputy president for statements relating to land held by white farmers. In a column in July 2012, University of Cape Town Professor Pierre de Vos criticised Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande 's "blistering attack against
1584-632: A first language at home, making it the third most widely spoken home language in the country. The arrival of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama at Calicut , India, in 1498 opened a gateway of free access to Asia from Western Europe around the Cape of Good Hope . This access necessitated the founding and safeguarding of trade stations along the African and Asian coasts. The Portuguese landed in Mossel Bay in 1498, explored Table Bay two years later, and by 1510 had started raiding inland. Shortly afterwards,
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#17328525981911728-579: A group; neither is particularly objectionable, but "Afrikaner" has been considered a more appropriate term. By the late nineteenth century, the term was in common usage in both the Boer republics and the Cape Colony . At one time, burghers denoted Cape Dutch : those settlers who were influential in the administration, able to participate in urban affairs, and did so regularly. Boers often refer to settled ethnic European farmers or nomadic cattleherders. During
1872-448: A high degree of psychopathy is "a significant predictor" for involvement in online hate activity, while none of the other 7 potential factors examined were found to have a statistically significant predictive power. Political philosopher Jeffrey W. Howard considers the popular framing of hate speech as "free speech vs. other political values" as a mischaracterization. He refers to this as the "balancing model", and says it seeks to weigh
2016-572: A major destination for French Huguenot refugees fleeing persecution at home. In April 1688, the VOC agreed to sponsor the resettlement of over 100 Huguenots at the Cape. Smaller numbers of Huguenots gradually arrived over the next decade, and by 1702 the community numbered close to 200. Between 1689 and 1707 they were augmented by additional numbers of Dutch settlers sponsored by the VOC with grants of land and free passage to Africa. Additionally, there were calls from
2160-536: A mediation process, as requested by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of the University, and Mfusi had to issue a written apology to the farming community. In April 2013, a campaign protesting against racial quotas involved charging students of different races different prices for a cup of coffee, with white students paying R5 a cup, coloured and Indians R3, and blacks R1. In 2014 AfriForum Jeug demanded that
2304-559: A newspaper column in May 2018, Max du Preez described AfriForum's position as "reactionary identity politics". He said that AfriForum "now totally dominates the socio-political discourse among white Afrikaners" and that they are "sanctioned by soft editorials and columns by prominent members of the Afrikaans commentariat". He claimed that some Afrikaners who criticised AfriForum were "aggressively demonised, insulted, belittled and even threatened". In
2448-489: A number of Boers took up arms against the British. British officials retaliated by hanging five Boers for insurrection. In 1828, the Cape governor declared that all native inhabitants but slaves were to have the rights of citizens, in respect of security and property ownership, on parity with whites. This had the effect of further alienating the Boers. Boer resentment of successive British administrators continued to grow throughout
2592-501: A persistent problem online. According to a 2021 study by the Anti Defamation League 33% of Americans were the target of identity based harassment in the preceding year, a statistic which has not noticeably shifted downwards despite increasing self regulation by companies. Several activists and scholars have criticized the practice of limiting hate speech. Kim Holmes , Vice President of the conservative Heritage Foundation and
2736-411: A population of 2,558,956 white Afrikaans speakers. The census noted that Afrikaners represented the eighth largest ethnic group in the country, or 6.3% of the total population. Even after the end of apartheid, the ethnic group only fell by 25,000 people. The South African National Census of 2001 was the second census conducted in post- apartheid South Africa. It was calculated on October 9 and reported
2880-607: A population of 2,576,184 white Afrikaans speakers. The census noted that Afrikaners represented the eighth largest ethnic group in the country, or 5.7% of the total population. Afrikaners make up approximately 58% of South Africa's white population, based on language used in the home. English speakers account for closer to 37%. As in Canada or the United States , most modern European immigrants elect to learn English and are likelier to identify with those descended from British colonials of
3024-707: A radio interview in May 2018, vice chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand Adam Habib criticised AfriForum for "linking up with fascists" such as the French National Front , the Italian Five Star Movement , Germany's AfD and US president Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton , whom Habib referred to during the same interview as "a known fascist", during Kriel and Roets' 2018 world tour. Afrikaners Afrikaners ( Afrikaans: [afriˈkɑːnərs] ) are
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#17328525981913168-405: A rape survivor", on the grounds that such claims are defamatory and that the claims were false. However, the judge ruled that AfriForum protestors did in fact "commit assault, sexual violence, sexual aggression and intimidation" against the anti-rape culture protesters. The judge noted that while some of the statements about rape threats were not literally true, the social media poster is "entitled to
3312-462: A republic in 1961. Following decades of domestic unrest and international sanctions that resulted in bilateral and multi-party negotiations to end apartheid , South Africa held its first multiracial elections under a universal franchise in 1994. As a result of this election the National Party was ousted from power, and was eventually dissolved in 2005. The term "Afrikaner"currently denotes
3456-556: A returning ship. During this period they established friendly relations with the locals, who sold them sheep, cattle, and vegetables. Both men presented a report advocating the Table valley as a fort and garden for the VOC fleets. We say, therefore, that the Honourable Company, by the formation of a fort or redoubt, and also of a garden of such size as may be practicable or necessary at the above-mentioned Cabo de Boa Esperanza , upon
3600-448: A semi-nomadic lifestyle permanently and became known as trekboers . The Boers were deeply suspicious of the centralised government and increasing complexities of administration at the Cape; they constantly migrated further from the reaches of the colonial officialdom whenever it attempted to regulate their activities. By the mid-eighteenth century the Boers had penetrated almost a thousand kilometres into South Africa's interior beyond
3744-454: A small inlet which he named Vleesch Bay ('Meat Bay'), after the cattle trade, and another Visch Bay ('Fish Bay') after the abundance of fish. Not long afterwards, Admiral Joris van Spilbergen reported catching penguins and sheep on Robben Island. In 1648, Dutch sailors Leendert Jansz and Nicholas Proot had been shipwrecked in Table Bay and marooned for five months until picked up by
3888-545: A small port colony (the future Durban) there but were unable to seize the whole area from the war-ready Zulus and only kept to the Port of Natal. The Boers found the land safe from the British and sent an unarmed Boer land treaty delegation under Piet Retief on February 6, 1838, to negotiate with the Zulu King. The negotiations went well, and a contract between Retief and Dingane was signed. However, Dingane's forces surprised and killed
4032-534: A suitable spot in Table Valley, stationing there according to your pleasure sixty to seventy as well soldiers as sailors, and a few persons acquainted with gardening and horticulture, could raise, as well for the ships and people bound to India as for those returning thence, many kinds of fruit, as will hereafter be more particularly demonstrated. Under recommendation from Jan van Riebeeck , the Heeren XVII authorised
4176-561: A survey to determine the best pastureland for the grazing of cattle. By 15 May, they had nearly completed construction on the Castle of Good Hope , which was to be an easily defensible victualing station serving Dutch ships plying the Indian Ocean . Dutch sailors appreciated the mild climate at the Cape, which allowed them to recuperate from their protracted periods of service in the tropical humidity of Southeast Asia. VOC fleets bearing cargo from
4320-574: A tour of South Africa, and for the "dozens" of articles detailing violent attacks on farms that subsequently appeared in the Australian media. AfriForum also undertook a tour of the United States that included meetings with John R. Bolton , staffers for Senator Ted Cruz , and an interview on Fox News . AfriForum toured Australia in October 2018 to raise awareness of farm attacks. Ian Cameron from AfriForum
4464-485: A unit against racism and hate speech. It also addressed racist incidents involving a number of people, Dan Roodt, and the paramilitary Kommandokorps and has stated that it regards the use of the 'k-word' kaffir to be a "gross human rights violation". In June 2022, AfriForum opened a hate speech case against the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party for six instances between 2016 and 2019 for singing "shoot
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4608-473: A young white man named Hendrik Biebouw retorted, " Ik wil niet loopen, ik ben een Afrikaander – al slaat de landdrost mij dood, of al zetten hij mij in de tronk, ik zal, nog wil niet zwijgen! " ("I will not leave, I am an African – even if the magistrate were to beat me to death or put me in jail, I shall not be, nor will I stay, silent!"). Biebouw was flogged for his insolence and later banished to Batavia (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia). The word Afrikaner
4752-636: Is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". The Encyclopedia of the American Constitution states that hate speech is "usually thought to include communications of animosity or disparagement of an individual or a group on account of a group characteristic such as race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or sexual orientation". There
4896-555: Is for youth to be exempted from affirmative action . The group's non-university activities include organising adventure camps for school learners and fundraising for children's homes. The youth wing claims that one of their biggest aims is to promote "the Christian democratic framework". AfriForum Jeug claims that they focus more on "Afrikaans" interests instead of "Afrikaner" interests. In 2010, three AfriForum Jeug members were arrested after violating an outdoor advertising by-law to protest
5040-521: Is generally accepted to be one of the prerequisites for mass atrocities such as genocide . Incitement to genocide is an extreme form of hate speech, and has been prosecuted in international courts such as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda . Starting in the 1940s and 50s, various American civil rights groups responded to the atrocities of World War II by advocating for restrictions on hateful speech targeting groups on
5184-413: Is no single definition of what constitutes "hate" or "disparagement". Legal definitions of hate speech vary from country to country. There has been much debate over freedom of speech , hate speech, and hate speech legislation. The laws of some countries describe hate speech as speech, gestures, conduct, writing, or displays that incite violence or prejudicial actions against a group or individuals on
5328-550: Is often accused of advancing the white genocide conspiracy theory due to the group's unsubstantiated claims that white South Africans are being specifically targeted in farm attacks . The organization has denied this and lodged a successful complaint with the Press Council of South Africa against an article from Mail & Guardian that claimed it promotes the idea of a white genocide. Breakfast Show host Bongani Bingwa also apologized after claiming AfriForum had specifically used
5472-440: Is reminiscent of efforts by totalitarian regimes to control the thoughts of their citizens. Civil libertarians say that hate speech laws have been used, in both developing and developed nations, to persecute minority viewpoints and critics of the government. Former ACLU president Nadine Strossen says that, while efforts to censor hate speech have the goal of protecting the most vulnerable, they are ineffective and may have
5616-553: Is thought to have first been used to classify Cape Coloureds , or other groups of mixed-race ancestry. Biebouw had numerous "half-caste" (mixed race) siblings and may have identified with Coloureds socially. The growing use of the term appeared to express the rise of a new identity for white South Africans, suggesting for the first time a group identification with the Cape Colony rather than with an ancestral homeland in Europe. Afrikaner culture and people are also commonly referred to as
5760-414: Is too narrow a category to fully counter hate speech. Ultimately, Delgado advocates a legal strategy that would establish a specific section of tort law for responding to racist insults, citing the difficulty of receiving redress under the existing legal system. After World War II, Germany criminalized Volksverhetzung ("incitement of popular hatred") to prevent resurgence of Nazism . Hate speech on
5904-475: The burgher senate. The new judiciary then established circuit courts, which brought colonial authority directly to the frontier. These circuit courts were permitted to try colonists for allegations of abuse of slaves or indentured servants. Most of those tried for these offences were frontier Boers; the charges were usually brought by British missionaries and the courts themselves staffed by unsympathetic and liberal Cape Dutch. The Boers, who perceived most of
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6048-568: The vrijburger population became known as the Cape Dutch and remained concentrated in the southwestern Cape and especially the areas closer to Cape Town. They were likelier to be urban dwellers, more educated, and typically maintained greater cultural ties to the Netherlands than the Boers. The Cape Dutch formed the backbone of the colony's market economy and included the small entrepreneurial class. These colonists had vested economic interests in
6192-690: The Batavian Republic of 1795–1806, burgher ('citizen') was popularised among Dutch communities both at home and abroad as a popular revolutionary form of address. In South Africa, it remained in use as late as the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. The first recorded instance of a colonist identifying as an Afrikaner occurred in March 1707, during a disturbance in Stellenbosch . When the magistrate , Johannes Starrenburg, ordered an unruly crowd to desist,
6336-575: The Conservative Party , as well as a leader of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) youth wing, and a large number of its executive leadership were formerly associated with Freedom Front Plus. AfriForum has been a vocal critic of the ANC 's response to South African farm attacks , claiming that the political party bears a responsibility for "remain[ing] silent" about the violence, and lodging a complaint to
6480-523: The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform for the slow pace of land reform. AfriForum has assisted black landowners who were victims of squatters . The organisation appeared before a parliamentary committee to oppose proposed constitutional amendments to allow for expropriation without compensation, and, in August 2018, AfriForum controversially published a list of farms that are said to be targeted by
6624-524: The Dutch Republic sent merchant vessels to India and, in 1602, founded the Dutch East India Company ( Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie ; VOC). As the volume of traffic rounding the Cape increased, the VOC recognised its natural harbour as an ideal watering point for the long voyage around Africa to East Asia and established a victualling station there in 1652. VOC officials did not favour
6768-597: The First Amendment in the United States) as the legal system punishes some viewpoints but not others. Other scholars, such as Gideon Elford, argue instead that "insofar as hate speech regulation targets the consequences of speech that are contingently connected with the substance of what is expressed then it is viewpoint discriminatory in only an indirect sense." John Bennett argues that restricting hate speech relies on questionable conceptual and empirical foundations and
6912-694: The Nazi salute during their initiation. Towards the end of 2014, the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities , criticised AfriForum's "Save Afrikaans schools" campaign in a press release. The campaign followed Gauteng Department of Basic Education's decision to force three Afrikaans-medium schools in Fochville to relinquish their status as Afrikaans-medium schools at
7056-481: The North-West University reject a report into a Nazi -style initiation ceremony at the university's Potchefstroom campus, claiming that the report discriminated against Afrikaners. The report was originally commissioned by Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande as an investigation into "the initiation practices and acts of Fascism and Nazism which seem to exist at the institution". AfriForum
7200-512: The Orient anchored in the Cape for a month, usually from March or April, when they were resupplied with water and provisions prior to completing their return voyage to the Netherlands. In extent the new refreshment post was to be kept as confined as possible to reduce administrative expense. Residents would associate amiably with the natives for the sake of livestock trade, but otherwise keep to themselves and their task of becoming self-sufficient. As
7344-669: The South African Human Rights Commission against the Police Minister for failing to do enough to protect farmers. The organisation launched the book Kill the Boer written by Ernst Roets , the organisation's former deputy CEO. The organisation formed a private prosecutions unit, headed by well-known former state prosecutor Gerrie Nel , amid allegations that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)
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#17328525981917488-830: The United Nations Human Rights Committee have been protecting freedom of expression, and one of the most fundamental documents is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) drafted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1948. Article 19 of the UDHR states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." While there are fundamental laws in place designed to protect freedom of expression, there are also multiple international laws that expand on
7632-506: The Zimbabwean army . In 2010 a legal team for AfriForum representing farmers in Zimbabwe won a court bid to sue Zimbabwe's government over its “cruel” and “vengeful” expropriation of South African-owned farms. In 2008 the regional court SADC tribunal ruled that Zimbabwe's land reform was illegal and racist, and that those who had suffered discrimination by having their farms expropriated had
7776-440: The internet and social media has presented a new medium through which hate speech can spread. Hate speech on the internet can be traced all the way back to its initial years, with a 1983 bulletin board system created by neo-Nazi George Dietz considered the first instance of hate speech online. As the internet evolved over time hate speech continued to spread and create its footprint; the first hate speech website Stormfront
7920-424: The permanent settlement of Europeans in their trading empire, although during the 140 years of Dutch rule many VOC servants retired or were discharged and remained as private citizens. Furthermore, the exigencies of supplying local garrisons and passing fleets compelled the administration to confer free status on employees and oblige them to become independent farmers. Encouraged by the success of this experiment,
8064-497: The Afrikaans or Afrikaans people . VOC initially had no intention of establishing a permanent European settlement at the Cape of Good Hope ; until 1657, it devoted as little attention as possible to the development or administration of the Dutch Cape Colony . From the VOC's perspective, there was little financial incentive to regard the region as anything more than the site of a strategic manufacturing centre. Furthermore,
8208-603: The Afrikaner "parent stock", as no significant effort was made to secure more colonist families after the dawn of the 18th century, and a majority of Afrikaners are descended from progenitors who arrived prior to 1700 in general and the late 1600s in particular. Although some two-thirds of this figure were Dutch-speaking Hollanders, there were at least 150 Huguenots and a nearly equal number of Low German speakers. Also represented in smaller numbers were Swedes , Danes , and Belgians . In 1754, Cape Governor Ryk Tulbagh conducted
8352-603: The Afrikaner community along social and geographical lines, driving a wedge between the Voortrekkers and those who remained in the Cape Colony. Only about a fifth of the colony's Dutch-speaking white population at the time participated in the Great Trek. The Dutch Reformed Church , to which most of the Boers belonged, condemned the migration. Despite their hostility towards the British, there were also Boers who chose to remain in
8496-538: The British annexed the Cape Colony, there were already large Dutch-speaking European settlements in the Cape Peninsula and beyond; by the time British rule became permanent in 1806, these had a population of over 26,000. There were, however, two distinct subgroups in the vrijburger population settled under the VOC. The first were itinerant farmers who began to progressively settle further and further inland, seeking better pastures for their livestock and freedom from
8640-510: The Cape after local officials noted that the cost of maintaining gardens to provision passing ships could be eliminated by outsourcing to a greater number of vrijburgers . Furthermore, the size of the Cape garrison could be reduced if there were many colonists capable of being called up for militia service as needed. Following the passage of the Edict of Fontainebleau , the Netherlands served as
8784-554: The Cape of Good Hope, at which point they encountered the Xhosa people , who were migrating southwards from the opposite direction. Competition between the two communities over resources on the frontier sparked the Xhosa Wars . Harsh Boer attitudes towards black Africans were permanently shaped by their contact with the Xhosa, which bred insecurity and fear on the frontier. The second subgroup of
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#17328525981918928-458: The Cape of Good Hope. They had to be married Dutch citizens who were regarded as being "of good character" by the VOC and committed to at least twenty years' residence in South Africa. Reflecting the multi-national nature of the workforce of the early modern trading companies, some foreigners, particularly Germans, were open to consideration as well. If their application for vrijburger status
9072-570: The Cape of their own accord. For its part, the distinct Cape Dutch community remained loyal to the British Crown and focused its efforts on building political organisations seeking representative government; its lobbying efforts were partly responsible for the establishment of the Cape Qualified Franchise in 1853. As important as the Trek was to the formation of Boer ethnic identity, so were
9216-407: The Cape peninsula and were not inclined to venture inland because of the great difficulties in maintaining contact with a viable market. This was in sharp contrast with the Boers on the frontier, who lived on the margins of the market economy. For this reason the Cape Dutch could not easily participate in migrations to escape the colonial system, and the Boer strategy of social and economic withdrawal
9360-414: The Cape was unpopular among VOC employees, who regarded it as a barren and insignificant outpost with little opportunity for advancement. A small number of longtime VOC employees who had been instrumental in the colony's founding and its first five years of existence, however, expressed interest in applying for grants of land with the objective of retiring at the Cape as farmers. In time, they came to form
9504-411: The Cape were overtaken by turmoil in the Netherlands, which was occupied by Napoleon during the Flanders Campaign . This opened the Cape to French naval fleets. To protect her own prosperous maritime shipping routes, Great Britain occupied the fledgling colony by force until 1803. From 1806 to 1814 the Cape was again governed as a British military dependency, whose sole importance to the Royal Navy
9648-411: The Castle of Good Hope with new ones of stone. In 1672, there were 300 VOC officials, employees, soldiers and sailors at the Cape, compared to only about 64 vrijburgers , 39 of whom were married, with 65 children. By 1687, the number had increased to about 254 vrijburgers , of whom 77 were married, with 231 children. Simon van der Stel , who was appointed governor of the Cape in 1679, reversed
9792-409: The Dutch language. The use of other European languages was discouraged by a VOC edict declaring that Dutch should be the exclusive language of administrative record and education. In 1752, French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille visited the Cape and observed that nearly all the third-generation descendants of the original Huguenot and German settlers spoke Dutch as a first language. Long before
9936-460: The High Court to have the suspension overturned, and the case was eventually settled out of court. The university's student appeal court lifted the suspension one month later, stating the student court had acted outside its mandate. In May 2018, following criticism of AfriForum by a North-West University professor, Elmien du Plessis, Afriforum's former deputy CEO, Ernst Roets, posted a YouTube video where he quoted Victor Klemperer , stating that "if
10080-440: The Khoikhoi, who were known to the Dutch as Hottentots . There was also an unskilled labour shortage, which the VOC later resolved by bringing slaves from Angola, Madagascar, and the East Indies. In 1662, van Riebeeck was succeeded by Zacharias Wagenaer as governor of the Cape. Wagenaer was somewhat aloof towards the vrijburgers , whom he dismissed as "sodden, lazy, clumsy louts...since they do not pay proper attention to
10224-771: The Madibeng Municipality from cutting electricity supply to Hartbeespoort. AfriForum's local government interventions have been described positively, even by its critics. AfriForum has opposed fracking in the Karoo as well as poaching. It has also campaigned against electronic road tolling in Gauteng . AfriForum was accepted as amicus curae (friend of the court) during a number of court cases. Cases where AfriForum acted as amicus curae, included those allowing voters overseas to vote in South African elections, protecting mineral rights from expropriation, and allowing public schools to promote adherence to only one or predominantly one religion during their religious school activities. AfriForum also acted as amicus curae (later co-applicant) in
10368-502: The Slachter's Nek Rebellion had demonstrated the futility of an armed uprising against the new order the British had entrenched at the Cape; one result was that the Boers who might have otherwise been inclined to take up arms began preparing for a mass emigration from the colony instead. Between 1834 and 1840 about 15 000 Afrikaners left the Cape Colony permanently. They called themselves 'emigrants' and their mass-trek an 'emigration', but in
10512-492: The UDHR and pose limitations and restrictions, specifically concerning the safety and protection of individuals. Most developed democracies have laws that restrict hate speech, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, South Africa, Sweden, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The United States does not have hate speech laws, because the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that they violate
10656-450: The VOC administration to sponsor the immigration of more German settlers to the Cape, as long as they were Protestant. VOC pamphlets began circulating in German cities exhorting the urban poor to seek their fortune in southern Africa. Despite the increasing diversity of the colonial population, there was a degree of cultural assimilation due to intermarriage, and the almost universal adoption of
10800-469: The VOC underwent a period of commercial decline beginning in the late eighteenth century which ultimately resulted in its bankruptcy. The company had suffered immense losses to its trade profits as a result of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War and was heavily in debt with European creditors. In 1794, the Dutch government intervened and assumed formal administration of the Cape Colony. However, events at
10944-479: The VOC's earlier policy of keeping the colony limited to the confines of the Cape peninsula itself and encouraged Dutch settlement further abroad, resulting in the founding of Stellenbosch . Van der Stel persuaded 30 vrijburgers to settle in Stellenbosch and a few years afterwards the town received its own municipal administration and school. The VOC was persuaded to seek more prospective European immigrants for
11088-499: The VOC's primary goal was merchant enterprise, particularly its shipping network traversing the Atlantic and Indian Oceans between the Netherlands and various ports in Asia, most of its territories consisted of coastal forts, factories, and isolated trading posts dependent entirely on indigenous host states. The exercise of Dutch sovereignty, as well the large scale settlement of Dutch colonists,
11232-555: The VOC's registration and identification system were denoted either as employees or vrijburgers . The legal classifications imposed upon every individual in the Company possessions determined their position in society and conferred restraints upon their actions. VOC ordinances made a clear distinction between the "bonded" period of service, and the period of "freedom" that began once an employment contract ended. In order to ensure former employees could be distinguished from workers still in
11376-419: The VOC's regulations. This community of settlers collectively identified themselves as Boers to describe their agricultural way of life. Their farms were enormous by European standards, as the land was free and relatively underpopulated; they merely had to register them with the VOC, a process that was little more than a formality and became more irrelevant the further the Boers moved inland. A few Boers adopted
11520-404: The [slaves] lent to them, or to their work in the fields, nor to their animals, for that reason seem wedded to the low level and cannot rid themselves of their debts". When Wagenaer arrived, he observed that many of the unmarried vrijburgers were beginning to cohabit with their slaves, with the result that 75% of children born to Cape slaves at the time had a Dutch father. Wagenaer's response
11664-444: The basis of race and religion. These organizations used group libel as a legal framework for describing the violence of hate speech and addressing its harm. In his discussion of the history of criminal libel, scholar Jeremy Waldron states that these laws helped "vindicate public order, not just by preempting violence, but by upholding against attack a shared sense of the basic elements of each person's status, dignity, and reputation as
11808-535: The basis of sexual orientation and gender identity also is banned in Germany. Most European countries have likewise implemented various laws and regulations regarding hate speech, and the European Union's Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA requires member states to criminalize hate crimes and speech (though individual implementation and interpretation of this framework varies by state). International human rights laws from
11952-468: The basis of their membership in the group, or that disparage or intimidate a group or individuals on the basis of their membership in the group. The law may identify protected groups based on certain characteristics. In some countries, including the United States , what is usually labelled "hate speech" is constitutionally protected. In some other countries, a victim of hate speech may seek redress under civil law , criminal law , or both. Hate speech
12096-581: The boer" at different events. In late August the Johannesburg High Court dismissed the case with costs. Ernst Roets testified as an expert witness with the judge saying that he failed to meet the standards required. AfriForum has stated that it will appeal. AfriForum has engaged with the UN on matters pertaining to minorities' rights and has been officially recognized as a non-governmental organization (NGO) with special advisory status. The group has criticized
12240-446: The charges levelled against them to be flimsy or exaggerated, often refused to answer their court summons. In 1815, a Cape police unit was dispatched to arrest a Boer for failure to appear in court on charges of cruelty towards indentured Khoisan servants; the colonist fired on the troopers when they entered his property and was killed. The controversy which surrounded the incident led to the abortive Slachter's Nek Rebellion , in which
12384-480: The colonial government. Around March 1657, Rijcklof van Goens , a senior VOC officer appointed as commissioner to the fledgling Dutch Cape Colony , ordered Jan van Riebeeck to help more employees succeed as vrijburgers so the company could save on their wages. Although an overwhelming majority of the vrijburgers were farmers, some also stated their intention to seek employment as farm managers, fishermen, wagon-makers, tailors, or hunters. A ship's carpenter
12528-404: The colonists. Furthermore, they insisted that the Cape Colony finance its own affairs by taxes levied on the white population, an unpopular measure which bred resentment. By 1812, new attorneys-general and judges had been imported from England and many of the preexisting VOC-era institutions abolished, namely the Dutch magistrate system and the only vestige of representative government at the Cape,
12672-505: The colony's population. The South African census of 1936 gave the following breakdown of language speakers of European origin. The South African census of 1960 was the final census undertaken in the Union of South Africa . The ethno-linguistic status of some 15,994,181 South African citizens was projected by various sources through sampling language, religion, and race. At least 1.6 million South Africans were white Afrikaans speakers, or 10% of
12816-563: The company extended free passage from 1685 to 1707 for Dutch families wishing to settle at the Cape. In 1688, it sponsored the settlement of 200 French Huguenot refugees forced into exile by the Edict of Fontainebleau . The terms under which the Huguenots agreed to immigrate were the same as those offered to other VOC subjects, including free passage and the requisite farm equipment on credit. Prior attempts at cultivating vineyards or exploiting olive groves for fruit had been unsuccessful, and it
12960-565: The company's expatriate officialdom—did not find widespread expression until the late eighteenth century. It is to the ambitions of Prince Henry the Navigator that historians attribute the discovery of the Cape as a settling ground for Europeans. In 1424, Henry and Fernando de Castro besieged the Canary Islands , under the impression that they might be of use to further Portuguese expeditions around Africa's coast. Although this attempt
13104-685: The dignity of Afrikaners because the lyrics of it were discriminatory and harmful. In 2012, AfriForum and the ANC reached a settlement before the appeal case was due to be argued in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein . AfriForum has laid criminal charges against other political figures, and social media users that it deemed to be inciting violence and racism, In June the same year, AfriForum said that they plan to lay criminal charges against 100 social media users for incitement of violence. and created
13248-445: The establishment of a fort at the Cape, and this the more hurriedly to preempt any further imperial maneuvers by Britain, France or Portugal. Van Riebeeck, his family and seventy to eighty VOC personnel arrived there on 6 April 1652 after a journey of three and a half months. Their immediate task was the establishment of some gardens, "taking for this purpose all the best and richest ground"; following this they were instructed to conduct
13392-433: The farmers and the restrictions imposed upon them by British colonial authorities. Land prices had also increased considerably during the 1820s and 1830s, which meant that the younger generation could not afford their own pieces of land, a problem that would only grow. Another reason was concerns about labour loss and financial retribution with the passing of Ordinance 50 in 1828, which outlawed slavery. The Great Trek split
13536-443: The governing African National Congress (ANC) for what it sees as a denial of minority rights in the nation. However, City Press journalist Adriaan Basson has accused the organisation of overreacting to the situation regarding minority rights. Basson stated in an open letter to AfriForum CEO, Kallie Kriel, that the premise of AfriForum's campaigns is one of victimhood. Afriforum claimed credit for taking an Australian journalist on
13680-543: The government for expropriation without compensation that the organisation received from an anonymous source. Although the organisation received a backlash from some organisations and political parties regarding the legitimacy of the list, the South African Institute for Race Relations confirmed and corroborated the legitimacy of the list. AfriForum successfully complained about a column published on News24 by journalist Pieter du Toit regarding its testimony before
13824-413: The guarantee to freedom of speech contained in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . Laws against hate speech can be divided into two types: those intended to preserve public order and those intended to protect human dignity. The laws designed to protect public order require that a higher threshold be violated, so they are not often enforced. For example, a 1992 study found that only one person
13968-651: The holiday was officially recognised and named the Day of the Covenant, changed to Day of the Vow in 1980 (Mackenzie 1999:69) and, after the abolition of apartheid, to Day of Reconciliation in 1994. The Boers saw their victory at the Battle of Blood River as evidence that they had found divine favour for their exodus from British rule. Hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It
14112-485: The internet crosses national borders, comprehensive government regulations on online hate speech can be difficult to implement and enforce. Governments who want to regulate hate speech contend with issues around lack of jurisdiction and conflicting viewpoints from other countries. In an early example of this, the case of Yahoo! Inc. v. La Ligue Contre Le Racisme et l'Antisemitisme had a French court hold Yahoo! liable for allowing Nazi memorabilia auctions to be visible to
14256-409: The land rights of the indigenous group, with both minority groups feeling they have no representation in the current government. In February 2013 AfriForum Jeug brought a complaint of hate speech against Jason Mfusi, leader of South African Students Congress), who on social media had posted, "My grandfather says 'n goeie boer is 'n dooie boer" ("a good farmer is a dead farmer"). An agreement by means of
14400-623: The late 1820s and early 1830s, especially with the official imposition of the English language. This replaced Dutch with English as the language used in the Cape's judicial system, putting the Boers at a disadvantage, as most spoke little or no English at all. Bridling at what they considered an unwarranted intrusion into their way of life, some in the Boer community began to consider selling their farms and venturing deep into South Africa's unmapped interior to preempt further disputes and live completely independent from British rule. From their perspective,
14544-475: The late 19th century this mass-movement became known as the Great Trek and the emigrants Voortrekkers . The Voortrekkers departed the colony in a series of parties, taking with them all their livestock and portable property, as well as slaves, and their dependents. They had the skills to maintain their own wagons and firearms, but remained dependent on equally mobile traders for vital commodities such as gunpowder and sugar. Nevertheless, one of their goals
14688-565: The liberal notion of civil society", and stated that the appropriate way to "engage with organisations [such as AfriForum] is not to mutter darkly about how they are trying to take over the country by having the cheek to promote their own ideas" but to "criticise their ideas and the actions they take and provide arguments for why one’s own ideas are better". The survivalist group Kommandokorps criticised AfriForum in February 2012, saying that AfriForum "had not done much to prevent farm murders". This
14832-542: The members of the delegation; a large-scale massacre of the Boers followed: see Weenen massacre . Zulu izibutho ('regiments') attacked Boer encampments in the Drakensberg foothills at what was later called Blaauwkrans and Weenen , killing women and children along with men. (By contrast, in earlier conflicts the trekkers had experienced along the eastern Cape frontier, the Xhosa had refrained from harming women and children.) A commando of 470 men arrived to help
14976-481: The nineteenth century. Aside from coastal pockets in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal they remain heavily outnumbered by those of Afrikaans origin. The South African National Census of 2011 counted 2,710,461 white South Africans who speak Afrikaans as a first language, or approximately 5.23% of the total South African population. The census also showed an increase of 5.21% in Afrikaner population compared to
15120-574: The notion, especially following a skirmish with the Khoikhoi in 1497, when one of his admirals was wounded. After the British East India Company was founded in 1599, London merchants began to take advantage of the route to India by the Cape. James Lancaster , who had visited Robben Island some years earlier, anchored in Table Bay in 1601. By 1614, the British had planted a penal colony on
15264-570: The only way to resolve this problem without abolishing hate speech laws would be to extend them to all possible conceivable categories, which Henze argues would amount to totalitarian control over speech. Michael Conklin argues that there are benefits to hate speech that are often overlooked. He contends that allowing hate speech provides a more accurate view of the human condition, provides opportunities to change people's minds, and identifies certain people that may need to be avoided in certain circumstances. According to one psychological research study,
15408-430: The opposite effect: disadvantaged and ethnic minorities being charged with violating laws against hate speech. Journalist Glenn Greenwald says that hate speech laws in Europe have been used to censor left-wing views as much as they have been used to combat hate speech. Miisa Kreandner and Eriz Henze argue that hate speech laws are arbitrary, as they only protect some categories of people but not others. Henze argues
15552-730: The organisation approaches courts to order municipalities to enforce service delivery. An example of intervention by AfriForum in this regard was the urgent order awarded to the organisation against the Vhembe District Municipality by the High Court in Pretoria , forcing the municipality to supply water to Makhado residents. In a similar case in 2013, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria granted AfriForum an order stopping
15696-457: The parliamentary committee discussing amending the constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation. In April 2011, AfriForum opened a civil case against Julius Malema , in the Equality Court after he sang the words “dubul’ ibhunu”, which translates to “ shoot, or kill the boer ”, at ANC Youth League gatherings. It was ruled that the song constituted hate speech which undermined
15840-510: The phrase "white genocide", saying "Ernst Roets, I owe you an apology, AfriForum has not used the word white genocide." In October 2010, with regard to AfriForum's response to Absa Bank softening stance on quotas in rugby, Ferial Haffajee wrote in a column in City Press that "while AfriForum is an excellent lobby group with a sense of strategy and tactics, it should be careful that its radical tactics do not dissemble into racist special pleading –
15984-515: The politically, culturally, and socially dominant and majority group among white South Africans , or the Afrikaans -speaking population of Dutch origin. Their original progenitors, especially in paternal lines, also included smaller numbers of Flemish , French Huguenot , German , Danish , Norwegian , Swiss , and Swedish immigrants. Historically, the terms " burgher " and " Boer " have both been used to describe white Afrikaans-speakers as
16128-494: The previous, 2001 census. The earliest Afrikaner communities in South Africa were formed at the Cape of Good Hope, mainly through the introduction of Dutch colonists, French Huguenot refugees, and erstwhile servants of the VOC. During the early colonial period, Afrikaners were generally known as "Christians", "colonists", "emigrants", or ingezeetenen ("inhabitants"). Their concept of being rooted in Africa—;as opposed to
16272-493: The proposed name change of Pretoria. In 2012, a campaign against racial quotas in higher education saw AfriForum Jeug members paint themselves black to protest the alleged discrimination against 30 learners who were turned away from the University of Pretoria . In February 2012, AfriForum Jeug joined the South African Progressive Civic Organisation (Sapco), a Khoisan community, in a protest over
16416-465: The public. Yahoo! refused to comply with the ruling and ultimately won relief in a U.S. court which found that the ruling was unenforceable in the U.S. Disagreements like these make national level regulations difficult, and while there are some international efforts and laws that attempt to regulate hate speech and its online presence, as with most international agreements the implementation and interpretation of these treaties varies by country. Much of
16560-476: The re-engagement of Afrikaners in the public sphere, it is closely affiliated with the Solidarity trade union , and has attracted significant controversy because of a statement by its leader, Kallie Kriel, that apartheid was not a crime against humanity ; a court ruled that Kriel did not justify apartheid or align himself with the racially discriminatory policies of the past. He unequivocally stated that apartheid
16704-876: The regulation regarding online hate speech is performed voluntarily by individual companies. Many major tech companies have adopted terms of service which outline allowed content on their platform, often banning hate speech. In a notable step for this, on 31 May 2016, Facebook , Google , Microsoft , and Twitter , jointly agreed to a European Union code of conduct obligating them to review "[the] majority of valid notifications for removal of illegal hate speech" posted on their services within 24 hours. Techniques employed by these companies to regulate hate speech include user reporting, Artificial Intelligence flagging, and manual review of content by employees. Major search engines like Google Search also tweak their algorithms to try and suppress hateful content from appearing in their results. However, despite these efforts hate speech remains
16848-656: The right to compensation. AfriForum encourages communities to become self-sufficient. Activities undertaken have included a pothole fixing campaign. According to the organization, such initiatives are part of its strategy to hold government responsible for service delivery, and are sometimes supported by local municipalities. In order to achieve this goal, AfriForum attempts to establish partnerships with municipalities. The organisation allegedly submits wish lists to municipalities, and municipalities convert it into action plans to address issues. AfriForum says if municipalities do not cooperate in improving service delivery to residents,
16992-515: The running conflicts with various indigenous groups along the way. One conflict central to the construction of Boer identity occurred with the Zulu in the area of present-day KwaZulu-Natal . The Boers who entered Natal discovered that the land they wanted came under the authority of the Zulu King Dingane kaSenzangakhona , who ruled that part of what subsequently became KwaZulu-Natal. The British had
17136-512: The service of the company, it was decided to provide them a "letter of freedom", a licence known as a vrijbrief . European employees were repatriated to the Netherlands upon the termination of their contract, unless they successfully applied for a vrijbrief , in which they were charged a small fee and registered as a vrijburger in a VOC record known collectively as the vrijboeken ('free(dom) books'). Fairly strict conditions were levied on those who aspired to become vrijburgers at
17280-622: The settlers. On 16 December 1838, the Voortrekkers under the command of Andries Pretorius confronted about 10,000 Zulus at the prepared positions. The Boers had three injuries without any fatalities. Due to the blood of 3,000 slain Zulus that stained the Ncome River , the conflict afterwards became known as the Battle of Blood River . In present-day South Africa, 16 December remains a celebrated public holiday, initially called "Dingane's Day". After 1952,
17424-583: The site, and in 1621 two Englishmen claimed Table Bay on behalf of King James I , but this action was not ratified. They eventually settled on Saint Helena as an alternative port of refuge. Due to the value of the spice trade between Europe and their outposts in the East Indies , Dutch ships began to call sporadically at the Cape in search of provisions after 1598. In 1601, a Captain Paul van Corniden came ashore at St. Sebastion's Bay near Overberg . He discovered
17568-591: The start of the 2012 school year. In June 2015, AfriForum Youth said that allegations of racism against Curro Foundation School are themselves racist. In a statement by the organisation's chair it was said "To portray an Afrikaans class being transported as class group falsely as racial segregation, is beyond absurd". In July 2016, Afriforum applied to the Western Cape High Court to have posts on social media removed that stated that AfriForum supporters had "threaten to rape women" and had "used rape to intimidate
17712-550: The tables were turned after the Holocaust he "would have all the intellectuals strung up, and the professors three feet higher than the rest; they would be left hanging from the lamp posts for as long as was compatible with hygiene." Following the video posting, du Plessis and her family received threats of violence. A petition condemning the threats against academics was subsequently circulated. The organization attracted significant controversy in May 2018, when AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel
17856-422: The total population. They also constituted 9.3% of the population in neighbouring South West Africa . According to the 1985 South African census, there were 2,581,080 white Afrikaans speakers then residing in the country, or about 9.4% of the total population. The South African National Census of 1996 was the first census conducted in post- apartheid South Africa. It was calculated on Census Day and reported
18000-551: The white population of the Cape was only about 134. Although the soil and climate in Cape Town were suitable for farming, willing immigrants remained in short supply, including a number of orphans, refugees, and foreigners. From 1688 onward, the Cape attracted some French Huguenots , most of them refugees from the protracted conflict between Protestants and Catholics in France. South Africa's white population in 1691 has been described as
18144-541: The world population has access to the internet. Additionally, the pseudo-anonymous nature of the internet imboldens many to make statements constituting hate speech that they otherwise wouldn't for fear of social or real life repercussions. While some governments and companies attempt to combat this type of behavior by leveraging real name systems , difficulties in verifying identities online, public opposition to such policies, and sites that don't enforce these policies leave large spaces for this behavior to persist. Because
18288-400: Was asked near the end of a radio interview whether he believed Apartheid was a crime against humanity , to which he replied by saying "I don’t think that apartheid was a crime against humanity, but I think it was wrong.". The organisation had previously described Apartheid as a "so-called historical injustice" and its deputy leader Ernst Roets has described Apartheid as a "wooly concept". In
18432-450: Was granted a tract of forest, from which he was permitted to sell timber, and one miller from Holland opened his own water-operated corn mill, the first of its kind in Southern Africa. The colony initially did not do well, and many of the discouraged vrijburgers returned to VOC service or sought passage back to the Netherlands to pursue other opportunities. Vegetable gardens were frequently destroyed by storms, and cattle lost in raids by
18576-452: Was hoped that Huguenot colonists accustomed to Mediterranean agriculture could succeed where the Dutch had failed. They were augmented by VOC soldiers returning from Asia, predominantly Germans channeled into Amsterdam by the company's extensive recruitment network and thence overseas. Despite their diverse nationalities, the colonists used a common language and adopted similar attitudes towards politics. The attributes they shared served as
18720-409: Was in response to AfriForum's criticism of Kommandokorps in which AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said that Kommandokorps' treatment of young people at training camps is "immoral and inexcusable". In February 2014, Flip Buys from the trade union Solidarity (which is associated with AfriForum) called for a boycott of the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld that reported that a group of Potchefstroom students gave
18864-464: Was interviewed on Sky News Australia 's program Outsiders by Ross Cameron and Rowan Dean. AfriForum also met Australian MP Andrew Hastie and delivered a presentation before the Parliament of Western Australia . The group contested the presence of Robert Mugabe at the 2009 inauguration of Jacob Zuma . It was also involved in a bid to prevent the delivery of Alouette III Air Force helicopters to
19008-451: Was its strategic relation to Indian maritime traffic. The British formally assumed permanent administrative control around 1815, as a result of the Treaty of Paris . Relations between some of the colonists and the new British administration quickly soured. The British brought more liberal attitudes towards slavery and treatment of the indigenous peoples to the Cape, which were utterly alien to
19152-545: Was not viable for them. Their response to grievances with the Cape government was to demand political reform and greater representation, a practice that became commonplace under Dutch and subsequently British rule. In 1779, for example, hundreds of Cape burghers smuggled a petition to Amsterdam demanding an end to VOC corruption and contradictory laws. Unlike the Boers, the contact most Cape Dutch had with black Africans were predominantly peaceful, and their racial attitudes were more paternal than outright hostile. Meanwhile,
19296-684: Was prosecuted in Northern Ireland in the preceding 21 years for violating a law against incitement to religious violence. The laws meant to protect human dignity have a much lower threshold for violation, so those in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands tend to be more frequently enforced. A few states , including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Rwanda Hutu factions, actors in the Yugoslav Wars and Ethiopia have been described as spreading official hate speech or incitement to genocide . The rise of
19440-528: Was published in 1996, and hate speech has become one of the central challenges for social media platforms. The structure and nature of the internet contribute to both the creation and persistence of hate speech online. The widespread use and access to the internet gives hate mongers an easy way to spread their message to wide audiences with little cost and effort. According to the International Telecommunication Union , approximately 66% of
19584-465: Was restored. Holland's administration was never effectively reestablished; upon a new outbreak of hostilities with France, expeditionary forces led by Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet , finally permanently imposed British rule when they defeated Cape governor Jan Willem Janssens in 1806. At the onset of Cape Town 's annexation to the British Empire , the original Afrikaners numbered 26,720 – or 36% of
19728-414: Was selective in prosecutions, and politically biased. AfriForum has strongly opposed the proposed renaming of South Africa's capital from Pretoria to Tshwane, as well as street renaming in Pretoria. The organisation campaigns to promote the use of Afrikaans in education and keep religion in schools. AfriForum is involved in issues regarding land reform , blaming the "corruption" and "incompetence" of
19872-448: Was successful, the Company granted them plots of farmland of thirteen and a half morgen (equal to 2,000 to 10,100 square metres or 1 ⁄ 2 to 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 acres), which were tax exempt for twelve years. They were also loaned tools and seeds. The extent of their farming activities, however, remained heavily regulated: for example, the vrijburgers were ordered to focus on the cultivation of grain. Each year their harvest
20016-409: Was therefore extremely limited at these sites. During the VOC's history only two primary exceptions to the rule emerged: the Dutch East Indies and the Cape of Good Hope, through the formation of the vrijburgers . The VOC operated under a strict corporate hierarchy which allowed it to formally assign classifications to those whom it determined fell within its legal purview. Most Europeans within
20160-522: Was to be sold exclusively to the VOC at fixed prices. They were forbidden from growing tobacco, producing vegetables for any purpose other than personal consumption, or purchasing cattle from the native Khoikhoi at rates which differed from those set by the VOC. With time, these restrictions and other attempts by the VOC to control the settlers resulted in successive generations of vrijburgers and their descendants becoming increasingly localised in their loyalties and national identity, and hostile towards
20304-481: Was to sever their ties with the Cape's commercial network by gaining access to foreign traders and ports in east Africa, well beyond the British sphere of influence. The various motives for the Great Trek are laid out in the Voortrekker leader, Piet Retief's 1837 manifesto. On the one hand, there was an ongoing conflict between the Boers and the Xhosa inhabitants on the frontier, as well as growing resentment between
20448-515: Was to sponsor the immigration of Dutch women to the colony as potential wives for the settlers. Upon the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Dutch War , Wagenaer was perturbed by the British capture of New Amsterdam and attacks on other Dutch outposts in the Americas and on the west African coast. He increased the Cape garrison by about 300 troops and replaced the original earthen fortifications of
20592-531: Was unsuccessful, Portugal's continued interest in the continent made possible the later voyages of Bartholomew Dias in 1487 and Vasco da Gama ten years later. Dias made known to the world a "Cape of Storms", rechristened "Good Hope" by John II . As it was desirable to take formal possession of this territory, the Portuguese erected a stone cross in Algoa Bay . Gama and his successors, however, did not take kindly to
20736-408: Was wrong because it was a system that infringed upon the dignity of people. AfriForum was founded in 2006 following public consultations about its charter. In the preface to the charter, AfriForum refers to itself as a "citizen's right initiative founded by the trade union Solidarity". By January 2022, AfriForum had 295,000 contributing members. Its leader, Kallie Kriel, was previously a member of
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