Conversations with Capetonians: Profile of an Afrikaner activist…and friend

Traveler aficionados will often say the same thing – they want to experience life as a local. But it’s a rare and special occasion to connect with a local whose story embodies the narrative of a country – both the ugly past and the way forward. That’s a tall order. Well, I had the great fortune of meeting that local in Cape Town, South Africa.

Hannelie Booyens, a 48 year-old seasoned journalist and media consultant was born in Pretoria, South Africa. During her childhood, her family lived on several farms in what was then called Transvaal province (now Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces). She was 25 years old when democracy dawned on South Africa in 1994, spending most of her adulthood during the post-Apartheid era. Through a friend of a friend (twice over) we were introduced via email. She immediately welcomed me and invited me to her flat in Gardens, Cape Town. We became instant friends. Hannelie was very candid in sharing the details of her experiences as a white South African, or as they are known here, Afrikaners.

Afrikaners, who invented “apartheid”, traditionally identify themselves separately from other white South Africans. They are the white ethnic group who descended from the Dutch settlers in the 1600s. Afrikaans is their native language, a blend of Dutch, East Asian and African languages. Hannelie’s Dutch ancestor first came to South Africa in the 17th century and she also has ancestors of German, French, Flemish, British and Irish descent.

Early childhood views

In describing her childhood, Hannelie shared that her parents were pro-Apartheid, fanatically religious Afrikaners. In fact, her father still is today as he is working on a book in support of Apartheid. At a young age, she was taught that black women do not feel pain like white women do when they lose a child. “They don’t suffer like us. They respond like an animal would and just have another child,” she was told. That statement both hit me in the gut, as well as provided insight into the depth of rationalization used to justify the treatment of native Africans. Parallel to this ideology, there was religion. Although religion was often used to provide Biblical justification for apartheid, Hannelie believes it was Christian principles that ironically instilled in her parents that some aspects of Apartheid were inhumane. They didn’t condone the National Party’s state sanctioned violence against black Africans, but they firmly believed that integration of different races was against God’s will and the “natural order” of things. It’s a fascinating dichotomy.

The tipping point

When asked about the pivotal moments that made her realize that what she was being taught was inherently wrong, Hannelie detailed two. The first was at a very young age and relates to her older brother, Tjaart, who died from Aids in 2003 age at 37.

Tjaart was a gentle, creative soul who never quite conformed to the narrow definition of masculinity prescribed in a fanatically patriarchal culture. If a boy was sensitive and more drawn to the arts than sport, he could expect severe punishment, which Tjaart received from a young age. Experiencing parental violence to conform to restrictive gender roles and being forced to betray your true self for the sake of an ideology, became key to questioning other aspects of Christian Nationalist indoctrination.

“From a very young age my three siblings and I started to rebel against our authoritarian parents. We were very close in age and we formed a united front to support each other in combating the abuse and draconian rules my parents imposed on us,” Hannelie explains.

Her parents controlled every aspect of their lives, but the one activity they never restricted was reading. “That was our saving grace. Reading opened new worlds and possibilities to us. It also revealed the absurdity and injustice of the political system we lived in.”

As the Booyens children grew older, they started to reject their parents’ fascism more openly.

“When Tjaart admitted to my father that he is gay in his late teens he got a terrible beating. Later, after a disagreement about politics and religion, my father chased him and my sister Susan out of the house at gunpoint.”

But although the fraught relationship continued into adulthood, Hannelie said her parents didn’t reject Tjaart when he fell ill. In the last months before his death, they visited him every day.

The loss to was not only that of a sibling, but of a close friend and lifelong ally, Hannelie says.

It was an event that rocked her world permanently. For me, this story was particularly painful having two siblings with whom I’m incredibly close. Needless to say, this tragedy very much shaped her narrative going forward.

The second anecdote she recalls was when she was a young leader at a Voortrekker camp, an organization for white Afrikaans youth similar to the Girl Scouts of America. At 16 years old, Hannelie was responsible for watching over a group of young children. It was 1986, a time of massive political unrest in South Africa, from which white youth were mostly shielded.

She vividly remembers one night being bitterly cold as the group camped next to a river in winter. The camp administrators underestimated the number of blankets and warm clothes needed to keep the group warm. She, along with the little kids, were miserably cold and uncomfortable. This led to an epiphany – if one night of discomfort could make her irritable and angry, how would millions of other South Africans feel about not having access to the most basic resources all of the time. “It was a very visceral insight,” Hannelie says. “It suddenly made sense that people would take part in violent protests and risk everything to change a system that impacted so directly on their wellbeing.”

My sense is that moment was a tipping point preceded by years of witnessing injustice. Though Hannelie has since rejected religion, I can’t help but believe that, subconsciously, it was Christian belief system that enabled her to connect the dots between these circumstances.

A shift to action

In 1990, Apartheid ended and Nelson Mandela was freed. As a twenty-one year old, Hannelie spoke out for what she believed. She became a member of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1991 and supported the work of the ANC Women’s League. She strongly believed the treatment of black South Africans was unjust and, in true Hannelie-style, was quick to put her money where her mouth was.

Not surprisingly, Hannelie became a journalist and later a journalism lecturer. Much of her work was, and still is, focused on exposing the injustices that are still so prevalent in South Africa today… and there are many as she will tell you. In fact, the same day she invited me over for dinner party, Hannelie was also dealing with a racist incident in a restaurant that went viral on social media. These days she’s using her media savvy and insight into the political and race complexities of South Africa to help companies manage their online reputation.

One of the more controversial pieces Hannelie wrote was from her days as a lecturer at North-West University in Potchefstroom from 2012 – 2014. She identified a problematic culture designed to keep the campus white and Afrikaans. She exposed the devious ways the white management had excluded black students at this major state-funded academic institution in this article and here. Needless to say, she no longer works there!

She also mentors young black youth through a not-for-profit organization called Salesian Life Choices, an organization that invests in disadvantaged youth to tackle inequality. In fact, she invited me to dinner with her 18-year-old mentee, Thembalethu Seyisi, just last week to celebrate him graduating at the top of his class and his acceptance into Stellenbosch University’s law school.

The path forward

So, what differentiates Hannelie Booyens from other sympathetic white South Africans? In my opinion, possesses a unique set of qualities. She’s sympathetic, yes, but more importantly she’s empathetic, takes action and is an influencer. She believes that as a white South African, she has an obligation to champion this cause. You will often hear her paraphrase Edmund Burke’s famous words: “Evil happens when good people do nothing.”

Hannelie believes although apartheid was replaced by a more just political system, South Africans still suffer from its terrible legacy. “Economic inequality has remained and it’s not fair to blame everything on the corrupt ANC government. White privilege is as real in South Africa as it is in America and racism is still a massive problem.”

Hannelie was an incredible influence on me during my brief three weeks in Cape Town. Like it or not, we live in a time where ethnic and racial diversity is at the forefront of international politics. Before writing this piece, I googled Hannelie on the web and found this tagline: “Journalist, feminist, professional shitstirrer”. I will end by saying that I hope my new, lifelong friend continues to stir the shit here. And when she’s done, she’s welcome to come stir it up in the US!