CHAPTER TITLE i REBECCA DAVIES is Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Relations at Plymouth University where she teaches African politics. She holds a DPhil from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa where she remains a visiting fellow at the Centre for Comparative and International Politics. She has taught at universities in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF AFRICAN STUDIES 1. Military in the Making of Modern South 14. Apartheid South Africa and African Africa – Annette Seegers States: From Pariah to Middle Power, 978 1 85043 689 8 1961–1994 – Roger Pfister 2. The Diplomacy of Liberation: 978 1 85043 625 6 The Foreign Relations of the ANC 15. A History of the Left in South Africa: Since 1960 – Scott Thomas Writings of Baruch Hirson 978 1 85043 993 6 Baruch Hirson 3. A History of East Africa, 1592–1902 978 1 85043 454 2 R. W. Beachey 16. An African Trading Empire: The Story 978 1 85043 994 3 of Susman Brothers & Wulfsohn, 1901–2005 4. The Nigerian Military and the State Hugh Macmillan Jimmy Peters 978 1 85043 853 3 978 1 85043 874 8 17. The Place of Tears: The Novel 5. Adjusting Society: The World Bank, and Politics in Modern Zimbabwe the IMF and Ghana Ranka Primorac Lynne Brydon & Karen Legge 978 1 84511 120 5 978 1 86064 000 1 18. Mineworkers in Zambia: Labour and 6. The Horn of Africa: Politics and Political Change in Post-Colonial Africa International Relations Miles Larmer Peter Woodward 978 1 84511 299 8 978 1 85043 741 3 19. Reconstructing the Nation in Africa: 7. State of Emergency: Nyasaland 1959 The Politics of Nationalism in Ghana Colin Baker Michael Amoah 978 1 86064 068 1 978 1 84511 259 2 8. From Colonization to Democracy: 20. Revolt and Protest: Student Politics and A New Historical Geography of South Activism in Sub-Saharan Africa Africa – Alan Lester Leo Zeilig 978 1 86064 091 9 978 1 84511 476 3 10. South Africa in Transition: 21. The Other Way Around – Frank Verdon The Misunderstood Miracle 978 1 86064 030 8 Adrian Guelke 22. The Politics of Neoliberal Democracy in 978 1 86064 343 9 Africa: State and Civil Society in Nigeria 11. Security and the State in Southern Usman A. Tar Africa – Agostinho Zacarias 978 1 84511 656 9 978 1 86064 328 6 23. Afrikaners in the New South Africa: 12. Coming to Terms: Zimbabwe in the Identity Politics in a Globalised Economy International Arena – Richard Schwartz Rebecca Davies 978 1 86064 647 8 978 1 84511 785 6 13. Britain, Kenya and the Cold War: 24. The Politics of Water in Africa: Imperial Defence, Colonial Security and The European Union’s Role in Development Decolonisation – David Percox Aid Partnership – Chris Rowan 978 1 85043 460 3 978 1 84511 685 9 CHAPTER TITLE iii AFRIKANERS IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA Identity Politics in a Globalised Economy REBECCA DAVIES TAURIS ACADEMIC STUDIES an imprint of I.B.Tauris Publishers LONDON • NEW YORK iv AFRIKANERS IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA Published in 2009 by Tauris Academic Studies, an imprint of I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com In the United States of America and in Canada distributed by St Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Davies The right of Rebecca Davies to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. International Library of African Studies 23 ISBN: 978 1 84511 785 6 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Printed and bound in India by Thomson Press from camera-ready copy edited and supplied by the author CHAPTER TITLE v CONTENTS Acknowledgements vii 1. Rebuilding the Future or Revisiting the Past? 1 Introduction 1 A political economy of post-apartheid Afrikaner identity 4 Theorising identity in a global era 9 2. The Afrikaner Nationalist Project 18 Appropriating the past: The development of an Afrikaner identity 19 Moving towards consensus 25 A volk in retreat? 31 The nationalist project unravels 37 A class apart: The maturation of Afrikaner capital 39 3. The Nature of Consensus in the ‘New’ South Africa 44 Consolidating dominance? The shape of the new hegemonic order 45 Neo-liberal orthodoxy and the capital transition 51 Connecting with the global consensus 56 Compromise on the domestic front 59 An African Renaissance? 63 4. Contemporary Manifestations of Afrikaner Identity in an Era of Increasing Globalisation 71 Rethinking the cultural: The future of the Afrikaner past 72 The politics of transformation 74 The new discourse of minority rights 76 The culture industry 81 The rise of a globalised capital consensus 92 vi AFRIKANERS IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA 5. The ‘Logic of the Local’ in Contemporary Afrikaner Identity Politics 99 The local tradition in Afrikaner nationalist politics 100 An alternative Afrikanerdom? 105 Recreating the cultural: New visions of Afrikaans 117 Reorienting the local: Politics at the provincial level 123 6. Renewing the Consensus in a Post-Apartheid Era? 130 Notes 139 Bibliography 177 Index 193 CHAPTER TITLE vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A great many people deserve my thanks for their help and support during the course of this project. Among those scholars and colleagues to whom I owe considerable gratitude are Janis van der Westhuizen, Karen Smith, Scarlett Cornelissen, Ken Good, Richard Gibb, Simon Payne, Jamie Gaskarth, Patrick Holden, Karl Cordell, Alex Cunliffe, Ian Murphy, Noah Bassil, Kath Sturman, Natalie Klein, Rosemary Oetojo, Andrew Mack, Hennie Kotze and Philip Nel. During the early days of my research and throughout the entire development of this book, Ian Taylor has been an invaluable source of support and direction. Across Africa, friends and colleagues have taught me far more about Afrikaners in the new South Africa than I might have learned from any book. A number of Afrikaans speaking scholars, writers, businessmen and activists all gave up considerable time to offer valuable thoughts and insights for which I am very grateful. Some are named in the course of this book, others are not. I would also like to thank Deirdre Holcroft, Vladimir Guerrero, JoAnne Taylor, Kiki Tremeer, Paul Cronje, Carinus Lemmer, Rachel Darlami, Sally Drewe, Gaspard Serrat and Mark Cornell who supported me more than they could realise. In France, Guillaume Sers, Mark Woodhatch, Alexandre Odier, Jean-Pierre Zelcer, Catherine Cournot, and Nigel and Dawn King ensured that the final stages of this project were possible. This book has benefited from the guidance of Elizabeth Munns and Rasna Dhillon at I.B.Tauris who have been unfailingly supportive. I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers at the Review of African Political Economy for their challenging feedback and advice. It is hard to describe the debt I owe to Beyers who inspired me with the possibilities of the idea for this study and so much else. I hope that I have done his vision some justice: he has been sitting on my shoulders through- viii AFRIKANERS IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA out. This book is dedicated to him and to Mollie. Finally, my greatest debt is to my family. I could not have begun or completed this project without them. REBUILDING THE FUTURE OR REVISITING THE PAST?1 1 REBUILDING THE FUTURE OR REVISITING THE PAST? Introduction The first democratic elections in South Africa during 1994 marked the formalisation of a power shift away from the minority Afrikaner grouping. Today, a profound dislocation is apparent in post-apartheid Afrikaner identi- fications. Despite the fact that Afrikaner nationalism has lost its centrality to South African politics, it remains an important political issue due to the economic and cultural importance of Afrikaans speakers. Nonetheless, the measure of contemporary group cohesion and the evolution of a once co- herent collective identity, bound together by the strength and versatility of the social coalitions of Afrikanerdom,1 are largely unremarked upon in the scholarship.2 At the same time, it is widely acknowledged that certain Afrikaans constituent parts, most notably an increasingly globalised middle class and capital or business elites, are flourishing in the new South Africa.3 Typically adapting by seeking economic independence, their success is borne out by the position of Afrikaner capital, which now ranks second only to declining English capital on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).4 Since the negotiated settlement of the 1990s the ANC government under both Presidents Mandela and Mbeki has not wavered from its commitment to dialogue with particular elements of this disparate community in graphic recognition of their significance.5 It would appear then that Afrikaner identity politics remains important in post-apartheid South Africa, even whilst it varies substantially. Most striking has been the manner in which this has had to adapt to the loss of political power at the same time as a substantial rise in economic influence. This chapter is based on my article: ‘Rebuilding the Future or Revisiting the Past? Post-apartheid Afrikaner identity politics in a globalised era’ Review of African Political Economy 2007; 112(34): 357–74. 2AFRIKANERS IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA This incidence of identity adjustment is not unique.