Out of South Africa and Into Australia: The Afrikaners’ Quest for Belonging in a Post-apartheid World Johanna Elisabeth (Hanna) Jagtenberg Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts University of Adelaide September 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS Figures v Abstract vi Declaration vii Acknowledgements viii Dedication x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 11 Introduction 11 A personal start: encounters in Polokwane 13 The question: how to cope with loss and change? 16 The aim: reaching a deep understanding 20 Human needs: an alternative model 28 Belonging: the key to our existence 33 Enacting belonging through attachment 33 Who is in and who is out: sameness and difference 36 What if belonging is lost? 38 How do we deal with loss? 38 Meaning-making: maintaining the tie and recreating the bond 40 Thesis outline 41 CHAPTER 2. METHODOLOGY AND TERMINOLOGY 44 Introduction 44 In the field: research process 45 Collecting stories: interviews 45 Who were the story tellers? A general profile 47 The context: on ‘being there’ in modern anthropology 51 Beyond the stories: interpretation and analysis 55 Questions of belonging: being the insider/outsider 57 Terminology: clarification of concepts & terms 60 An Afrikaner diaspora in Australia 62 Afrikaner vs. Afrikaans: breaking relationships of belonging? 64 i In conclusion 65 CHAPTER 3. ‘NO COUNTRY FOR WHITE MEN’: IN SEARCH OF ECONOMIC BELONGING 67 Introduction 67 South Africa: ‘No future for white sons’ 69 Affirmative action: ‘Paying for the sins of the fathers’ 72 The ‘Deep Story’ and its performative power 74 Australia: ‘No land of milk and honey’ 77 ‘Nobody gives it the time of day’: grief over unemployment 78 ‘Lured under false pretences’: the felt policy/practice discrepancy 80 ‘No “fair go” for immigrants’: perceived discrimination 83 On the reality of suffering 86 ‘Starting over from scratch’: loss of career, wealth, and self-esteem 88 ‘But the kids are all right’: meaning-making through sacrifice 90 Conclusion 93 CHAPTER 4. ‘WAITING TO BE NEXT’: SEEKING PHYSICAL SAFETY 96 Introduction 96 South Africa: ‘You’re just not safe’ 99 When living in fear becomes the norm 100 ‘Luckily, it wasn’t us’: secondary traumatisation 104 Closing down and tightening up: the effects of fear 107 Australia: ‘You just feel safe, it is the strangest feeling’ 111 ‘How can you live like that?!’ Traumatised by living in safety 112 ‘It is just so in you’: the socialisation of our habits 115 Opening up and letting go: the results of trust 117 Conclusion 121 CHAPTER 5. ‘WE DON’T BELONG THERE’: YEARNING TO FEEL INCLUDED 123 Introduction 123 ‘Rather dull than dangerous’: in search of a familiar place 126 ‘Just another African country’: how home became foreign 128 ‘Everybody drives sixty’: regaining law and order 131 ii ‘How do you explain that? Africa…’: loss of geographical belonging 133 ‘Our children will become Aussies’: recreating inclusion 135 ‘They don’t want us there’: the pain of feeling rejected 136 ‘I matter here’: the meaning of political inclusion 140 ‘Tolerated, not embraced’: feeling socially excluded 142 Conclusion 147 CHAPTER 6. ‘WE WILL NEVER ADJUST TO THIS’: CULTURAL BEREAVEMENT 150 Introduction 150 Perceptions of difference: ‘They are British’ 155 ‘That British nastiness, you get that amongst them’: the pain of history 158 ‘They never invite you back’: a ‘distant’ culture 160 ‘They don’t speak their minds’: ‘British politeness’ vs. ‘Dutch directness’ 161 The big mirror: ‘They are atheists’ 163 ‘Playing different games’: cultural bereavement at work 164 ‘Children rule’: the perceived lack of Christian values 168 ‘In our culture, you do your best’: projecting the Calvinist doctrine 171 Conclusion 175 CHAPTER 7. ‘IT NEVER GETS EASIER’: LOSS OF INTERPERSONAL BELONGING 178 Introduction 178 The meaning of losing family: conflict and vulnerability 180 ‘My oldest brother still won’t talk to me’ 181 ‘Ultimately, you choose between your children and your parents’ 182 ‘I took them away from love, but I gave them a future’ 184 The loss of community: lack of support and of familiarity 186 Coping Strategies: Maintaining the ties & Recreating the bonds 189 ‘The distance is just too great…and you try to root here’ 189 ‘A lot of people say: “Oh yeah, it’s easy.” I don’t think it’s easy’ 191 Restoring the bonds: family reunification 196 Replacing the ties: ‘Your Afrikaner friends become your family’ 197 ‘You don’t have to explain yourself all the time’ 201 Conclusion 204 iii CHAPTER 8. CONCLUSION 207 Introduction 207 The felt loss of belonging in South Africa 207 The Reality of the ‘Deep Story’ 209 Restoration and Loss in Australia 210 (Not) Finding meaning in loss 213 Conclusion: Belonging, our essential need 217 REFERENCES 219 iv FIGURES Figure 1. Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs 29 Figure 2. An alternative model of human needs 31 v ABSTRACT In this thesis, I analyse the experiences of white Afrikaans-speaking South Africans, who self- identify as Afrikaners, and who immigrated to Australia in the post-apartheid era. Based on 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork amongst this group, I centrally argue that they had lost their sense of belonging in their homeland and moved to Australia in an attempt to recreate this. Hence, I use the experience of loss of belonging as my main analytical framework. Loss is defined as the severance of attachment and belonging as togetherness. Since we attach ourselves in first instance to other people, I argue that interpersonal belonging is our most essential need. Belonging is further similar to identity, since we feel that we belong to someone or some group because we identify with them. As such, it is concerned with who we are (and not) or to whom we belong (or not), and thus with inclusion and exclusion. In South Africa after 1994, the study participants had felt excluded in nearly every sense. Since secondary research demonstrates that Afrikaners, as a group, are not excluded in their homeland, I further argue that most of these losses were felt losses. However, whether our version of reality is congruent with facts is irrelevant in our lived experience: we act upon what we believe to be true and thereby create our own reality. Therefore, the Afrikaners’ overall story that, to them, feels as if it is true, became real in its consequences. That is, due to their felt loss of belonging, they immigrated to Australia. When we are faced with loss, we generally react with grief, and grief works itself out through the competing tendencies of trying to preserve or restore the past while simultaneously attempting to recreate or replace what was lost. The Afrikaners focused on the latter by trying to replace South Africa with Australia. However, since our attachments are specific, loss is irreplaceable. Ultimately, grief can only be resolved or made bearable through meaning-making. Since the study participants failed to this with regards to their pre-immigration losses, they were still grieving over their felt loss of belonging to their homeland. Next to this, in Australia, they felt excluded too, due to their migrant status. In fact, the migration was associated with loss and grief as well, since many participants lost, to a considerable extent, their careers, wealth and, with that, their self-esteem. Most of all, they felt bereft of their culture and their relatives. However, since they viewed all of these losses as sacrifices they had made for their children, whom they felt were fully accepted in Australian society, they coped well with their post-immigration losses. Thus, the Afrikaners’ loss of belonging was made bearable through enacting belonging: the participants restored meaning to their own lives through their children. vi THESIS DECLARATION I certify that this work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name, in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. In addition, I certify that no part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name, for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of the University of Adelaide and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree. I give permission for the digital version of my thesis to be made available on the web, via the University’s digital research repository, the Library Search and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time. I acknowledge the support I have received for my research through the provision of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. Signature of candidate: Date: January 2020 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Since ‘we exist in a bundle of belonging’, in the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, I have created this thesis with the help, support and cooperation of many others –all of whom, in their own way, have thus been a part of this project. In the first place, evidently, I could not have conducted this research without the cooperation of my research participants. Their willingness and openness to share their stories has laid the foundation of this work. I have enjoyed the hospitable and generous nature of many of the Afrikaners whom I met and hold fond memories of long talks at kitchen tables and on large and cosy living room sofas, always over coffee and cake. It has been a privilege to listen to their stories and discuss their feelings with regards to their home and host country.