Beste Kallie,
Laat ek uit die staanspoor afskop deur jou en Afriforum geluk te wens met die feit dat julle nou die "bulhond" Gerrie Nel in julle kamp het. Ek het na al jou en Gerrie se onderhoude op radio geluister en Gerrie het met oorgawe gepraat oor sy passie vir die gereg en hoe niemand verhewe bo die wet is nie. Ek hoop van harte julle gaan ALLE misdadigers nagmerries gee met julle nuwe vervolgingseenheid, selfs diegene wat hulle aan apartheidsvergrype skuldig gemaak het. Hoekom begin julle nie sommer met Sam Pienaar, die DA-lid wat betrokke was by die 'Trojan Horse' slagting in 1985, toe drie jong mans van die Kaapse Vlakte doodgeskiet is nie?? Ag ek grap sommer, voordat jy my weer soos in vorige gevalle, 'n "waghond vir politieke korrektheid" noem!
Ek moet bieg, ek het jou bekgeveg op Twitter met die "omstrede randfigure in die Afrikaanse wêreld, naamlik die regskenner Pierre de Vos, die kommentator Max du Preez en Adriaan Basson van News24, vreeslik geniet. Hoe durf hulle jou en AfriForum kritiseer? Die klomp "Afrikanerhaters". Weet hulle nie jy en AfriForum is besig om "onbeskaamd vir die belange van Afrikaners en Afrikaans te veg nie?"
Ek brand die heel tyd om jou hierdie vraag te vra: Wie is nou eintlik die "Afrikaner" wie jy en AfriForum verteenwoordig? Ek vra nederig vir jou raad met hierdie aangeleentheid.
Jy sien Kallie, ek praat my hele lewe Afrikaans. My oorlede pa, 'n oud-onderwyser, was van 'n dorpie genaamd Carnarvon in die Noord-Kaap. Sy Afrikaans was "punt in die wind", soos hy soms geskerts het. So het hy en my Ma, ook 'n oud-onderwyseres, gesorg dat ons as 'n familie net die keurigste Afrikaans gebruik. Wanneer ek vakansies na my tuisdorp, die Paarl, terugkeer, praat ek net die taal van my hart: Afrikaans. Selfs toe ek destyds as student op Stellenbosch was en by dosente moes hoor dat "my Afrikaans nie die voldoende standaard is om van my 'n modelstudent te maak nie," het ek nie my liefde vir die taal verloor nie.
Trouens Kallie, ek het my joernalistiek loopbaan in Afrikaans begin. Ek skryf steeds in Afrikaans en het die afgelope 20 jaar meestal in Afrikaans op radio en televisie uitgesaai. Ek hou van rugby, woon Afrikaanse feeste by en luister soms na Afrikaanse musiek. Vra net die "Afrikaners" wat by my troue destyds was: Dozi se "Ryperd" was nogal een van die hoogtepunte!
Ek vra jou raad Kallie want die "Afrikaners" wat ek ken, is mense wat nie hulself in 'n hoekie van wanhoop praat nie. Hulle steek hand uit om te help en dink nie Afrikaans definieer hulle hele bestaan nie. Vir hulle is Afrikaans net 'n taal en hulle erken ook Afrikaans se onaangename verlede. Hulle erken die gruwel van Apartheid en noem dit nie 'n "wollerigheid", soos jou kollega Ernst Roets, verlede jaar in 'n televisie onderhoud gesề het nie.
Die Afrikaners wat ek ken is bekommerd oor plaasmoorde, maar rou ook oor die swart boere wat vermoor word, of die hordes swart werkers wat ook in plaasaanvalle omkom.
Die "Afrikaners" waarmee ek te doen het, is ook ewe bekommerd oor die talle bruin kinders wat daagliks onder bendegeweld op die Kaapse Vlakte sterf.
Hulle praat uit teen alle vorme van rassisme, nie net sekeres nie.
Die "Afrikaners" waarmee ek bevriend is juig almal saam wanneer Kagiso Rabada opponente laat bontstaan en blameer nie alewig "politieke inmenging" wanneer Elton Jantjies, net soos Ruan Combrink of Adriaan Strauss soms 'n afdag het nie.
So Kallie, ek wonder net, kwalifiseer ek dalk as jou idee van 'n Afrikaner? Of gaan ek dieselfde paadjie loop as die Protea snelbouer Vernon Philander wat volgens jou, tydens die 2015 Wêreldbeker-kriekettoernooi net aan "politieke" en "kwota vereistes" voldoen het?
Beste groete,
Echbert
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Dear Kallie
Let me from the outset congratulate you and AfriForum for luring the "bulldog" advocate Gerrie Nel into your camp. I listened to all your and Gerrie's interviews on radio and he spoke with conviction about his passion for the law and how nobody is above the law. I truly hope you will give ALL criminals nightmares with your new prosecutions unit, including those that took part in apartheid abuses.
Why don't you start with Sam Pienaar, the DA member involved in the 'Trojan Horse' slaughter in 1985, when three young men from the Cape Flats were shot dead? Ag, I'm only joking, before you again call me a "watchdog for political correctness"!
In fact, Kallie, I started my career in journalism in Afrikaans. I still write in Afrikaans and over the last 20 years of my broadcasting career I mainly worked in Afrikaans. I like rugby, I attend Afrikaans festivals and sometimes listens to Afrikaans music. Just ask the "Afrikaners" that attended my wedding : Dozi's "Ryperd" was one of the highlights!
I have to admit, I enjoyed your fight on Twitter with the "controversial Afrikaans peripherals", constitutional expert Pierre de Vos, commentator Max du Preez and News24 editor Adriaan Basson. How dare they criticise you and AfriForum? The bunch of "Afrikaner haters"! Don't they know you and AfriForum are "unashamedly fighting for Afrikaner and Afrikaans rights"?
I've been itching to ask: Who exactly is "the Afrikaner" that you and AfriForum represent? I humbly request your advice in this regard.You see, Kallie, I've been speaking Afrikaans my whole life. My late father, who was a teacher, was from a dorpie in the Northern Cape called Carnarvon. His Afrikaans was "punt in die wind", as he sometimes joked. My mother, also a teacher, ensured that our family only used correct Afrikaans. When I return to my hometown of Paarl during holidays, I only speak the language of my heart, Afrikaans. Even when I studied at Stellenbosch and lecturers told me my Afrikaans "is not of a high enough standard to ensure that you may become a model student", I never lost my love for the language.
I'm asking your advice Kallie because the "Afrikaners" I know are people who don't talk themselves into a corner of hopelessness. They stick out a helping hand and don't believe Afrikaans defines their whole existence. For them Afrikaans is just a language and they acknowledge Afrikaans' uncomfortable past. The admit the horror of apartheid and don't refer to it as a "woolly concept", as your colleague Ernst Roets said during a television interview last year.
The "Afrikaners" I know are worried about farm murders , but also mourn murdered black farmers or the many murders of black farmworkers.
The "Afrikaners" I know are just as concerned about the coloured children that die because of gang violence on the Cape Flats.
They reject all forms of racism, not just selectively.
The "Afrikaners" I know cheer when Kagiso Rabada makes life uncomfortable for opponents on the cricket pitch and don't always blame "political meddling" when Elton Jantjes has an off-day with the boot, just like Ruan Combrinck or Adriaan Strauss sometimes has an off-day.
So Kallie, I'm wondering, am I an Afrikaner in your mind? Or am I going to be discarded the same way as you did Vernon Philander, the fast-bowler that according to you played in the 2015 Cricket World Cup because of "politics" and "quota requirements"?
Best,
Echbert