COMMENT AND ANALYSIS
"Be proud of your property; you are allowed to be proud of it," Piet le Roux, the CEO of AfriSake, told his grim-faced audience in a conference room at a lodge in Irene, Pretoria, last Wednesday night. "You've worked hard for it; be proud."
He was speaking at a briefing hosted by Afrikaner-rights group AfriForum about mooted plans to change the Constitution and implement a policy of expropriation of land without compensation. The two organisations – offshoots of the Solidarity Movement – have been hosting similar events all over the country, including in church halls, to explain the country's supposedly inexorable "slide into communism" and how it can be stopped.
Listening to Le Roux (who previously served as academic head of Solidarity's private university, Akademia) and his colleagues, it seems the only way in which to stop the descent into full-blown, command-state socialism is to join either one or all of its organisations. "Remember to fill in membership forms and join!" was a refrain heard almost as many times as references to nationalisation.
Every speaker reminded the audience to 'fill in the forms; join!'
There were roughly 60 attendees at the briefing. Le Roux opened proceedings by explaining how AfriSake, AfriForum's lobby group for business, sees the land debate and what the dangers of communism are. He was followed by Charles Castle, claiming that the history of dispossession of black people started only in 1910 with the formation of the Union of South Africa, and Morné Mostert, who is AfriForum's head of local government, adding that it's the aim of "the state" to take farmers' land.
The main speaker of the evening, however, was Ian Cameron, AfriForum's head of community safety, who told his audience that there is a time in the life of every community when they must say "enough is enough". Every speaker reminded the audience to "fill in the forms; join!"
AfriForum has established a nationwide network of community safety activists who report into AfriForum's national safety structure headed by Cameron. He is at the forefront of the organisation's efforts to insulate their members from the state by providing security and the gathering of informal intelligence. Although the evening was sold as an opportunity to discuss land reform, it was dominated by security issues and guidance on how to secure your property.
"Make sure you know who is on your property... don't tell people when you are going away... make sure people that live on your property have the correct paperwork... join a community organisation... know when you can use force," Cameron explained.
He also mocked the Afrikaans singer Dozi, who attempted to negotiate with a group that illegally occupied his land near the Hartbeespoort Dam, citing it as an example of why "mooipraatjies" ("pretty speeches") don't always work.
Cameron's opening pitch was to refer to an audience member, Martin Coetzee, and recall in detail his assault by a number of criminals. The story was told in bold colour. Cameron explained how Coetzee was tied to a tree and beaten with blunt objects until one of his arms was broken.
"People who think that things are going to improve because we have a new president who promises us the sun, moon and the stars live in a dream world," he said, adding that Coetzee's experience is "the reality".
AfriForum follows a two-pronged approach: take the legal route whenever disputes arise, but continue to mobilise members where it is deemed necessary. He chuckled when he said some refer to this as their "double-bore shotgun" approach.
Cameron was there to give guidance about what to do when there are illegal land invasions, like those that occurred recently in Olievenhoutbosch. He didn't elaborate on the intricacies of land reform (it wasn't his brief) but he did say unequivocally: "Government's land reform is not about uplifting the poor; it's about nationalisation... that's it. Confrontation is not always the correct option, but sometimes a community needs to show its teeth."
Another audience member explained that 'they' don't have the same ideas about democracy as 'us'
Audience members posed a number of questions, but one angrily enquired of Cameron what he should do with one of the properties he owns. Should he sell it, should he just leave the country or should he hold on to his home? "Or maybe I should just sell it to someone overseas, someone that's not a barbarian, for the income..." the man told Cameron, who replied that he could rather give the property to him.
Another audience member, almost at fever pitch, explained to Mostert that "they" don't have the same ideas about democracy as "us": "It's about dividing what 4-million people have between 50-million people... over the course of 20 years people have been taught that everyone has rights, but nobody has any responsibilities..."
Mostert replied: "Absolutely correct..."
Le Roux explained AfriSake's position on land reform and restitution, saying it can either be "positive" or "damaging", identifying among other things market forces and "goodwill" as examples of positive forms of land reform. Redistribution and nationalisation are among the "damaging" forms of land reform, he stated.
As far as the Constitution is concerned, the country's founding document is prone to be viewed and interpreted through the prism of the ruling ideology, Le Roux explained to an audience member who aired fears about communism. "The ANC is currently following a socialist narrative, and it remains antagonistic towards the market system," he said, adding that there's a strong feeling of discontent in the ANC.
When the evening ended, as the audience sombrely filed out to their cars armed with safety tips and "the real facts" about land reform ("blacks own 34.5 percent of arable land and 39.6 percent of all land") – the hosts reminded them to "Grab some information packs and membership forms!"