Author: BeweegAdministrator

AfriForum’s Chief Executive for Strategy and International Liaison, Dr Ernst Roets has just been appointed Head of Policy for the Solidarity Movement. In his new capacity, Roets will henceforth be responsible for coordinating the policy and strategy among the institutions of the Solidarity Movement, and for promoting public buy-in for this strategy. This also entails that he will henceforth be an employee of the Solidarity Movement.

Roets said that he looks back on the past thirteen years that he has spent as an employee at AfriForum with great appreciation, but that he looks forward to the new task that lies ahead of him with great excitement. More information regarding this announcement will be made in the coming months.

Flip Buys, Chairperson of the Solidarity Movement said Roets’ appointment follows the urgent need to speed up the Movement’s protection and building projects due to the perpetually deteriorating condition of the country. Roets recently completed his doctorate in Law, which equips and enables him to give depth to the federal plans of the Movement that will be announced in early October.

The Solidarity Movement binds the more than 20 institutions of the Solidarity Movement together and coordinates their work. Flip Buys is the Chairperson, Werner Human the Head of Operations, and Jaco Kleynhans the Head of International Liaison. The 12 trustees forming part of this trust represents the biggest institutions in the federal movement. They include, among others, Dr Dirk Hermann, Chief Executive of Solidarity, Kallie Kriel, Chief Executive of AfriForum, Henk Schalekamp of the Solidarity Investment Company, Prof Danie Goosen, Chairperson of the FAK, and Hannes Noëth, Executive Director of Solidarity Helping Hand.

The Solidarity Movement welcomed the adoption of a motion on the expropriation of land by the Dutch parliament today. The motion speaks out strongly against steps that are being taken to allow for expropriation of land in South Africa. A majority of members in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament voted in favour of the motion and thereby instructed the Dutch government to take a clear stand on this issue through bilateral and other processes.

The motion was tabled by Martijn van Helvert of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and Kees van der Staaij, leader of the Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP) (Reformed Political Party). Over the past few months, the Solidarity Movement has made extensive efforts to inform politicians and other leaders in the Netherlands and in other European countries of the intended expropriation without compensation that would be catastrophic.

According to Jaco Kleynhans, the Solidarity Movement’s head of international liaison, they met with various politicians, including Van Helvert and Van der Staaij, on this matter in February. “As a consequence of the way in which the parliamentary committee investigating constitutional amendments to allow for land expropriation without compensation has shown contempt for our admonishments for caution, and for that of others, the Solidarity Movement had no choice but to internationalise this matter. We will continue to persuade politicians in other countries and other governments to put pressure on the South African government not to continue with the planned amendments to the Constitution.”

The motion adopted by the Dutch parliament today emphasises the fact that the International Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights both prohibit expropriation of property on the basis of skin colour. “The motion passed by the South African government in February last year was clearly in favour of expropriation of land on the basis of skin colour and, therefore, violated these important charters,” Kleynhans said. According to him, the Solidarity Movement expects other countries to follow the example of the Dutch parliament. “We will now also make sure that the Dutch government takes action in this regard, and we will also continue to ensure that this matter, in addition to other important issues such as rural security, which the government also pays no attention to, is discussed at international forums,” Kleynhans concluded.

Jaco Kleynhans
Head: International Liaison
Solidarity Movement
083 324 5631

The Solidarity Movement today took a stand against the reappointment of Panyaza Lesufi as MEC for Education in Gauteng. This followed after Gauteng Premier David Makhura rescinded his initial decision to move Lesufi to a different role.

Lesufi’s term of office as MEC of Education in Gauteng from 2014 has been characterised by controversial and hostile statements against Afrikaans, among other things, rather than actual successes in the province.

According to Francois Redelinghuys, communications manager of the Solidarity Movement, Lesufi’s record as MEC is nothing to get excited about. “In the first two years of Mr Lesufi’s first term of office, the percentage of learners in the province who passed mathematics in matric dropped from 74% in 2014 to 69% in 2016. During the same period, the number of learners who passed physical science dropped from 76% to 69%,” Redelinghuys said.

According to Redelinghuys, Lesufi’s obsession with waging a war against Afrikaans schools enjoys priority over the promotion of quality education in the province. “These statistics show that under Mr Lesufi’s leadership education in Gauteng has by no means made strides forward. Moreover, it is absurd that his politicking and utterances directed at successful Afrikaans schools, rather than his achievements, are now rewarded,” Redelinghuys said.

“Therefore, the Solidarity Movement reiterates that it would not back off while the right to mother tongue education is being undermined. Moreover, we will continue to fight through all our various institutions for the future of Afrikaans education,” Redelinghuys said.

Let your vote count; however future too precious to leave it up to government only – Solidarity Movement

At a joint media conference held today, member institutions that form part of the Solidarity Movement took the view on the forthcoming election that participation in the democratic process is important, but that due to the deteriorating nature of the state, own initiative will have to be taken to build further.

The institutions belonging to the movement, including Solidarity, AfriForum, Solidarity Helping Hand and the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge (FAK) represent approximately 2 million people, which include 500 000 members and their families. It represents interests at various levels, including the world of work, community safety, minority rights, civil rights, social care and language and cultural heritage.

According to Flip Buys, chairperson of the Solidarity Movement, the movement remains politically unaligned, but it still encourages members and their families to vote. “While we engage with all, we do not align ourselves with any particular party. People are justifiably upset with the poor government, and the election does offer an opportunity to make your voice heard,” Buys explained.

“However, we do not want to pretend that South Africa is a normal democracy and that the country can be brought back on the right track simply by voting. Having said that, we certainly do not reject constitutional democracy; on the contrary, we defend it. However, it is common knowledge that the ANC has not just captured the state, but the entire constitutional democracy. The country and its institutions suffered incalculable damage due to large-scale mismanagement; corruption that has taken on industrial scale proportions; the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment with its purpose of controlling the entire country; the undermining of constitutional institutions such as the National Prosecuting Authority and others; the pursuit of a disastrous transformation policy; and the reintroduction of an encompassing race dispensation,” Buys explained.

According to Buys, the movement cannot merely stand by and observe how harmful policies and poor governance bring the country to the brink of the abyss, gambling with everyone’s future as such. “We are committed to the country and therefore we are using democratic and constitutional processes to demand accountability, grow the economy and to maintain the legal order. At the same time, however, reality has shown that it would be recklessly irresponsible to just leave our future in the hands of government. That is why we will announce plans after the election to give our Plan B more momentum. With Plan B we are also taking responsibility ourselves for our community’s future by organising strong community organisations in every important area. Our dual purpose is firstly to become less reliant on the state, and secondly to achieve greater independence,” Buys confirmed.

“The purpose of Plan B is not to isolate Afrikaners, for example, but to create those very cultural spaces to enable us to live together in Africa. By creating the circumstances in which Afrikaners can be lastingly free, safe and prosperous we can also make a sustainable contribution to the wellbeing of the country and all its people,” Buys said.