Author Archives: Giliomee
Afrikaners would’ve had no place in this country
The main issue in today’s politics is whether the Constitution will flourish as a living document to which people of all classes and ethnic origins can appeal or whether it will become a dead letter. In the Afrikaans community the … Continue reading
Uses of history
The study of history is commonly associated with three uses. The first is the development of a distinctive sense of origins and heritage. The great Polish born Oxford philosopher, Lezek Kolakowski, formulates it best: “We learn history not in order … Continue reading
Golden boy, golden opportunity: A note on Van Zyl Slabbert*
‘What if the Progressives won?’ In 1982, a good friend and fellow Afrikaner, Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, led the Progressive Federal Party (PFP) in the general election on the platform of a liberal democracy based on universal franchise. On the … Continue reading
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Critical Afrikaner Intellectuals and Apartheid, 1943-1958
Note: This article was published in South African Journal of Philosophy, 19, 4 (2000), pp.321-39. Permission from the editors to put in on the Web is gratefully acknowledged. Hermann Giliomee Apartheid dominated the political thinking of two generations of Afrikaner … Continue reading
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BJ Vorster and the sultan’s horse
At his peak John Vorster was the most powerful man South Africa has ever known. Had he wished to he could have led the country into directions which are not open to his successor, who lacks his stature as volksleier. … Continue reading
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Tagged BJ Vorster, Hermann Giliomee, Johan Vorster, South Africa
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Great expectations: Pres. PW Botha’s Rubicon speech of 1985
Introduction President PW Botha’s speech on 15 August 1985 to the National Party (NP) of Natal was the turning point at which white rule in South Africa failed to turn. Botha was expected to use the speech, broadcast to a … Continue reading
A Note on Bantu Education, 1953 to 1970
Abstract In 1954 Hendrik Verwoerd, one of the main architects of the apartheid system, said that blacks ought not to be trained above certain “forms of labour”. These words, often quoted out of context, are commonly interpreted as based on … Continue reading
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Tagged bantu, education, henrik verwoerd, Social Issues, South Africa
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The Rise and Possible Demise of Afrikaans as a Public Language
Introduction Afrikaans developed in South Africa out of a Dutch stem as a result of interaction between European colonists, who arrived there in 1652, slaves imported from Africa and Asia, and indigenous Khoisan people. By the 1930s there were fewer … Continue reading
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Tagged afrikaans, Heinz Kloss, Jean Laponce, language, Lawrence Schlemmer
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Ethnic Business and Economic Empowerment: The Afrikaner Case, 1915 – 1970
Abstract The struggle for racial or ethnic group worth is an important socio-political issue in societies where a minority ethnic group, like the English-speaking whites in South Africa or the Chinese in Malaysia, dominates the economy but not the political … Continue reading
