AfriForum Youth requests protection of Afrikaner heritage

AfriForum Youth handed a memorandum to Parliament today in which they demand protection for the heritage of the Afrikaner, as part of their campaign: #dankieJan. The memorandum has to be signed by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa. On their way to Parliament, the youth organisation stopped at several statues, including the one of Jan van Riebeeck, and hung signs of support around their necks.

“Mutual recognition and respect are required to make progress in our country. It means that all cultures and heritage should be respected by everyone. The Afrikaner also wants our heritage to be preserved for future generations, so that they can also learn from the past,” says Henk Maree, National Chairman of AfriForum Youth.

The #dankieJan campaign was launched on Monday, after the statue of Paul Kruger was vandalised on Church Square in Pretoria, and various other historical statues in the country were targeted.

“History has to be depicted correctly. The Afrikaner is – from a historical perspective – increasingly being portrayed as criminals and land thieves. But apartheid freedom fighters are certainly not the untainted heroes Government is making them out to be.”

“If the heritage of the Afrikaner is not important to Government, our youth members will preserve our own heritage,” Maree concluded.

The youth organisation has given Minister Mthethwa three weeks to sign the memorandum as a written commitment by Government that it values the heritage of the Afrikaner.