Enlightened Afrikanerdom

Within Afrikanerdom (the sphere of Afrikaners) there was a growing realization amongst leading intellectuals that apartheid had to be reformed and modernized to avoid the self-destruction of the Afrikaner people. But what is argued in this chapter is that this was pursued only insofar as it would conform to their own reasoning of what was right and just. With the support of primary interview data, the chapter interrogates the various positions taken by a number of well-known Afrikaner intellectuals who became concerned to formulate and advance a new way forward through exploring group-centred constitutional change and through promoting new forms of dialogue over the 1980s. Particular attention is given to the Dakar Conference and to the Mells Park talks. Overall, it is argued that enlightened Afrikaner intellectuals were guided by forms of reasoning that fell within the terms of their Calvinist faith and the established racial frame of the Afrikaner people—which meant there was no proper confrontation with the fundamental issue of systemic racism.