Top Afrikaner leaders & ANC NEC members meet…

“Robust” talks have been held between top Afrikaner leaders - including Kallie Kriel, Flip Buys and Dirk Hermann, and African National Congress (ANC) NEC members. In this interview with BizNews, Dr. Theuns Eloff of the Afrikaner Leadership Network describes how the meeting was set up and facilitated the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). Although there is an agreement between the parties not to comment on the contents of the discussions until there is concrete progress to report, Dr Eloff described the talks thus: “…it was difficult, and it is clear that there are misunderstandings, misperceptions on both sides. And we basically said, despite that, we may not like each other, but...we owe the country this to go forward and look for solutions.” He says the fact that “the Trump Sword is hanging over the country and also over the ANC …brings a bit of urgency…” Meanwhile, today and tomorrow, the three parties will nominate four people each to serve on a smaller task team to iron out some of the issues in the process - and report back in two weeks. “Obviously, we as the African Leadership Network also do it for the Afrikaner community and other minorities, but we also do it for the country because if we don't get this thing with the Americans right, as a country we're in trouble.”.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here.Listen here.Edited transcript of the interview .Chris Steyn (00:02.21)The Afrikaner Leadership Network and the African National Congress have held talks. We speak to Dr. Theuns Eloff of the Afrikaner Leadership Network. Welcome, Doctor.Theuns Eloff (00:13.035)Chris, thank you.Chris Steyn (00:15.158)Which organisations form part of your network now and were represented at the talks last night?Theuns Eloff (00:23.118)The Afrikaner Leadership Network came into being after the Afrikaner Declaration or Statement was issued last year, just before Freedom Day. So it's a number of organisations inside the Solidarity Movement and also outside. Now the Solidarity Movement, as you may know, consists of about 18 organisations, media, education, etc. Outside, we have members of the Leadership Network, the Afrikanerbond…We have SAAI of Theo de Jager, Pretoria Chamber of Business or the Sakekamer in Afrikaans and one or two other individuals. So we call it a leadership network because not all of those people necessarily represent organisations, most of them do. Last night, those who attended were, as the media report said Flip Buys, Kallie Kriel and Dirk Hermann from the Solidarity Movement, AfriForum and others, Theo de Jager from SAAI, Jan Bosman of the Afrikanerbond, myself as chair of the network.Chris Steyn (01:33.838)So who facilitated last night's meeting?Theuns Eloff (01:38.966)Well, you know, it was a delicious, it is a delicious irony. I got to know in the CODESA, the Multi-Party negotiations process. At that time, I was young, a young guy called Jackie Seroke. And Jackie phoned me about three months after last year's African Declaration. And he said, Hi Boetie Theuns, and I said, Hi Boetie Jackie, how are you? And so on. And he said, look, this thing of yourAfrikaners wanting to help the government, does it still stand? And I said, yes. He said, well, I've just been appointed as a special advisor to the Minister of Land Reform, Mzwanele Nyhontso, and he'd like to see you guys. He needs help. And so off we go, Kallie and Theo and I, and we had a very good meeting with the Minister. We asked him, we said, you PAC guys always said, One Settler, One Bullet, why don't you want us out of the country now? He said, well, I know we ..We see you as white African nationalists. We said, well, we can live with that. And from that flowed number of meetings around projects, rural areas with AfriForum, but also then an afternoon, evening discussion with the PAC leadership, with the Afrikaner Leadership Network, which were held in one of Academia's offices nogal in Pretoria. And that was very cordial. Obviously, we disagreed on a lot of things, but the one thing we, at the time, we...We did well and they acknowledged that, is that we convinced them of the need for mother-tongue education, which they were not aware of. That didn't help with BELA, so that's another story. And then about three weeks ago, Jackie WhatsApped me said they had a meeting around the budget with ANC, and they asked the ANC, why are you shouting at each other, you're and the Afrikaners? And the ANC said, yes, they've got their problems and so on. And then Jackie reflected and said, but we as the PAC had had a very good meeting, constructive meeting with the Afrikaners. And apparently the ANC was dumbfounded. And so the ANC said, can you guys then facilitate a meeting with the Afrikaners? And that's how it came about. I can't say who else…those parties must say themselves, but there was a fairly senior delegation of the PAC there facilitating, Jackie and the Minister. And then...Theuns Eloff (04:03.224)…very senior delegation, NEC members, not so much ministers, but NEC members from the ANC.Chris Steyn (04:10.67)Now I understand the parties have agreed not to comment on the contents of discussions until there is concrete progress. But what can you say at this stage?Theuns Eloff (04:21.912)Well, you know, let me say the statement says that it was a robust discussion. Now, as a media person, you would know that's a euphemism for a difficult discussion. But I think it sort of cleared the air, you know, between the two main groups, the As: the Afrikaners and the ANC. And I said to someone, I...Theuns Eloff (04:45.454)I think the last time I got so worked up was when I was still the Vice-Chancellor of Potch University and we had to negotiate with the University of the Northwest because early in my life, I was sort of always a mediator and I was a facilitator, but now I'm a protagonist. So it was robust, it was difficult, and it is clear that there are misunderstandings, misperceptions on both sides. And we basically said, despite that, we may not like each other, but...we owe the country this to go forward and look for solutions. I think it may have happened anyway, but I think the PAC’s emergence into the picture helped that. And I think I can say that if it hadn't been for the PAC presence, because they didn't take sides, they really facilitated, it might have taken longer to get the meeting, but also longer to finish the meeting.Chris Steyn (05:40.524)You couldn't as an Afrikaner in your wildest dreams a long time ago imagined the Pan Africanist Congress facilitating a meeting between the African National Congress and Afrikaners. Could you have?Theuns Eloff (05:52.042)I couldn't. I tell people about it, they just laughed. It's just in South Africa. That's the wonderful country we have of ironies. Absolutely.Chris Steyn (06:01.548)And now after last night's meeting, how optimistic are you going forward that these tensions between Afrikaners and the African National Congress can be diffused, Dr Eloff?Theuns Eloff (06:13.966)Well, we wouldn't have gone into the meeting if we didn't have any hope. If we said, look, it's useless to try. So we remain optimistic. It's going to be hard because without naming the issues, I mean, your listeners and viewers would know these are the issues that we talk about every day. Obviously, there's around the US visit, there's a lot of things. But I feel that there is a possibility. What makes it interesting this time is that the Trump Sword is hanging over the country and also over the ANC. And that brings, I think, a bit of urgency into the... It's not like we'll see each other every six months or there's a…This must be a structured process - and we do it for the country. Obviously, we as the African Leadership Network also do it for the Afrikaner community and other minorities, but we also do it for the country because if we don't get this thing with the Americans right, as a country we're in trouble.Chris Steyn (07:18.414)Have you set a date for your next meeting?Theuns Eloff (07:20.846)We said two weeks, so we will see what happens. We'll have to probably meet before two weeks. We have to report back in two weeks. I think today and tomorrow the three parties will nominate four people each to serve on a smaller task team to iron out some of the issues in the process.Chris Steyn (07:46.904)Thank you. That was Dr. Theuns Eloff of the Afrikaner Leadership Network speaking to BizNews after top Afrikanber leaders met with NEC members of the African National Congress facilitated by the Pan Africanist Congress. Thank you, Doctor. And I'm Chris Steyn for BizNews.Theuns Eloff (07:49.518)Thank you.

Top Afrikaner leaders & ANC NEC members meet…

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