Prometheus 6

Quote of note (and point of comparison):

”The levels of frustration and anger in the Afrikaner community are not only leading to emigration and a brain drain from South Africa, but also to social ills such as alcohol and drug abuse, family violence, the breakdown of our social fabric and ultimately to desperate acts of sedition such as those allegedly planned or perpetrated by the Boeremag,” Roodt told journalists at the Apr. 26 briefing, held in Johannesburg.

”The levels of frustration and anger in the Afrikaner community are not only leading to emigration and a brain drain from South Africa, but also to social ills such as alcohol and drug abuse, family violence, the breakdown of our social fabric and ultimately to desperate acts of sedition such as those allegedly planned or perpetrated by the Boeremag,” Roodt told journalists at the Apr. 26 briefing, held in Johannesburg.

JOHANNESBURG, Apr 27 (IPS) - It is 10:00 am, and the organisers are getting impatient. They have sent out invitations to over 200 journalists, most of them foreign correspondents. To their dismay, however, only a handful arrive at the Apr. 26 news briefing organised by the 'Volksversetaksie' - a pressure group which claims to articulate the grievances of Afrikaans-speaking whites, or Afrikaners.

”It's disappointing that foreign journalists have not turned up for this important briefing,” observes Dan Roodt, the leader of Volksversetaksie (or 'National Protest Action').

Afrikaners account for most of the 4.3 million whites in the country, which has a population of over 44 million according to government figures. Descended from the Dutch settlers who made South Africa their home in 1652, Afrikaners upheld the country's system of racial segregation, apartheid, for 40 years until the advent of democracy a decade ago.

Now, they see themselves as an endangered species.

…During the press conference, Roodt criticised the government's policy of affirmative action, also called 'black empowerment', which is intended to undo some of the economic devastation caused by apartheid. He described it as racism in reverse. [P6: Because we all know the correct direction for racism to flow in]

”Our youth has become unemployable in the country of their birth and hundreds of thousands must now do menial labour in Britain, despite their excellent education and skills. The blight of poverty and unemployment now affects 15 percent of Afrikaners, a direct result of government race policies,” Roodt claimed. [P6: My heart bleeds…]

Between 30 and 40 percent of South Africans, most of them black, are currently unemployed according to various estimates. Many are unable to find jobs because of the poor education that was provided for blacks under apartheid. [P6: Somehow the unemployment ratio between the Black and white communities in SA is the same as here.]