Broadly speaking, around 80% of South Africans share the same community values.  These values are characterised by a commitment to, among other things, the Christian faith, families, extended family, the importance of communities, cultural customs, and responsibility, as well as an aversion to lawlessness and crime.

The World Values Survey, Afrobarometer, and various other studies confirm that these community values undeniably constitute the centre ground in South Africa.

The true centre ground is not defined by the small group of woke commentators and media elites who have an extra-large microphone in certain media houses. The centre ground is defined by what ordinary people believe and experience daily in their communities. This reality is a bitter pill for these commentators, who increasingly – and intolerantly – falsely dismiss anyone who dares to disagree with them as “extremists”, “fringe figures”, “right-wingers”, “racists”, and “xenophobes”. This explains the hysterical reaction over the past week to the dialogue between AfriForum and March and March. In the eyes of this woke community, any conversation between South Africans who are seeking to build a future for their children is considered a cardinal sin if it does not take place within the framework of a woke worldview.

Who Are the True Fringe Figures?

The well-worn strategy of AfriForum’s critics is to position themselves as the occupants of the centre ground while attempting to elevate their own viewpoint as the norm, and then to falsely portray anyone who disagrees with them – even if it is the majority – as a fringe element. The reality is quite the opposite, however.

In terms of numbers, the mindset of those who criticise the mere act of dialogue between AfriForum and March and March is actually a fringe phenomenon in South Africa. Ordinary South Africans prefer that even disparate groups – which may differ on certain issues – engage in dialogue to identify shared interests for the benefit of all communities.

Apart from the fact that community values constitute the centre ground, one also increasingly sees people from the classical liberal school of thought openly defending the right of individuals to organise themselves into communities. Moreover, they are beginning to take a stand against the woke elite’s intolerance of diversity.

Myths About AfriForum’s Support

Attempts by woke commentators to falsely relegate AfriForum to the fringes of South African society are failing spectacularly. South Africans loathe the air of superiority that these commentators and the media elite display. Consequently, a backlash has emerged: AfriForum is being welcomed with open arms by local and cultural communities across the country. Cooperation between Afrikaners and other cultural communities is increasingly becoming the norm.

Attempts to claim that AfriForum lacks majority support among Afrikaners were also recently debunked by independent research that was conducted by Ground Control Research. They found that 81% of Afrikaners support the work of AfriForum and Solidarity, while a further 13% lean towards neutrality. According to the research, Afrikaners who rate AfriForum very negatively – such as Max du Preez, and News24’s Adriaan Basson and Pieter du Toit – represent only 2% of the Afrikaner population. There is therefore no longer any doubt as to who the true fringe figures are.

 AfriForum Will Not Allow Attempts to Isolate It

Those who harbour an ideological aversion to community values are currently doing everything in their power to isolate AfriForum, Afrikaans speakers, Afrikaners, and other groups and communities who also uphold such values. These attempts are failing, however, because the centre ground cannot be isolated and will always assert itself strongly.

Efforts to isolate AfriForum, the Solidarity Movement, and minority groups include casting suspicion on the existence of Afrikaans institutions, attempting to normalise hate speech against Afrikaners and other minorities, and questioning any form of community solidarity. It is both the right and the duty of Afrikaners to take their future into their own hands with a “we-will-do-it-ourselves” mindset, while also collaborating with other communities to advance shared interests. AfriForum’s commitment to cooperating with all communities, concluding agreements, and undertaking practical projects alongside various cultural communities effectively thwarts any attempt to isolate the organisation.

Examples of AfriForum’s cooperation agreements with cultural and traditional communities include the following communities:

• •AmaBhele kaJamangile;
• •Barolong Boo Seleka;
• •Batlharo Boo Tokwana Ba Ga Masibi;
• •Bakgatla Ba Kgafela;
• •Batlharo Ba Ga Motlhware;
• •Orania cultural community;
• •Nama-Afrikaner family clan;
• •Royal Leaders of South Africa (ROLESA); and
• •Vulamehlo Kusile Organisation (VUKO), a Ndebele organisation and community structure.

In collaboration with 30 traditional communities, AfriForum has also helped to establish a network of cultural communities nationwide to foster cooperation. The organisation has also undertaken practical agricultural projects in partnership with the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders.

Collaborative projects that are undertaken with the aforementioned groups include agricultural initiatives involving field crops, vegetable farming, laying-hen projects, and indigenous veld goat projects.

March and March’s Values

I cannot speak at all on behalf of March and March. I also believe that AfriForum might do certain things with which March and March would disagree. Naturally, the reverse is also true: March and March will likely do things with which AfriForum would disagree. Despite these differences, however, it is the duty of each of us who wishes to build a future for our children in this country to seek out ongoing shared interests with other organisations and develop them for our mutual benefit.

According to March and March’s documents, their fundamental principles are as follows:

• •Citizens first;
• •Rule of law;
• •Community accountability; and
• •Transparency.

The organisation makes it clear that it is not opposed to immigration, but rather to illegal immigration and lawlessness. The organisation also rejects violence.

AfriForum likewise condemns any form of violence by criminals who seek to undermine a worthy cause. However, the actions of a few individuals acting outside March and March’s policy do not negate the strong alignment with the fundamental principles that are upheld by March and March. Similarly, the actions of a few Afrikaners that may not align with AfriForum’s value framework do not mean that other cultural communities cannot agree with AfriForum on many issues.

There are points of commonality that enable joints legal action in instances where the government undermines the rule of law and the interests of citizens. This also leads to practical projects that are aimed at strengthening communities and promoting mother-language education.

The future of everyone’s children in this country is too important to allow ourselves to be deterred by small elite groups who are attempting to sabotage our work from within their ivory towers. Therefore, we will continue to build the future ourselves that our children deserve. We will also continue – despite differences within the country – to engage with the various communities in our country to identify shared interests and collaborate for the benefit of all communities.

Kallie Kriel is the CEO of AfriForum