In a rather bleak article in the UK Observer "Cecil Rhodes's dream ends where it began - in Bishop's Stortford " Jason Cowley recently lamented the loss to Africa of its white population.
The article marks a break in the reporting of this center left paper group. It is the first time as far as I am aware that it or the Guardian has published an article talking of a violence induced white exodus from South Africa.
Mr. Cowley however does not talk about Afrikaners, those other whites that arrived 100 to 200 years before Rhodes and who do not see Rhodes representing them as a group. Are they also leaving? There is no breakdown of the UK immigration figures that make a distinction between Afrikaans and English white South Africans.
In London however its clear that their are many Afrikaners in the UK. While Putney and Wimbledon has been predominantly English South African for some time, now Walthamstow and Leytonestone is South African as well, but predominantly Afrikaans.
Historically Afrikaners were less educated, poorer, and more patriotic. They have no family ties in Europe (People are often amazed to hear that there are no real cultural links between the Afrikaners and the Dutch). Their language is only spoken in Southern Africa and Namibia.
South Africa's borders were drawn by Afrikaners, while trekking for independence from the British and safety. Everywhere they went in numbers became South Africa. And ironically their Apartheid policy united disparate black tribes.
Are they now leaving? And if so, what will South Africa be like without them? If South Africa was created by the Afrikaner quest for safety and a better life, would it make a difference if they sought it elsewhere? Sphere: Related Content
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