Problems of explanation in the study of Afrikaner nationalism: a case study of the West Rand

This paper seeks, on the one hand, to point out the important contribution of scholars who have demonstrated the socially constructed nature of Afrikaner nationalism, and on the other, to redress the national focus of the existing literature on the topic by means of a local case study of Krugersdorp, a mining and industrial town to the west of Johannesburg. It is argued that the work of Dan O'Meara and a number of other authors, who have shown that Afrikaner ethnic identification is a construction which both conceals and is pulled apart by divisions of class, interest and gender, provides an essential basis for understanding Afrikaner nationalism. The article critiques and rejects the positions of Johann Van Rooyen, who advances the idea of an ‘ethnic dynamic’ driven by a search for Afrikaner ethnic security and status. In the Krugersdorp case study the article shows that, far from being propelled by such a unitary dynamic, Afrikaner ethnic mobilisation during the period of the decline of apartheid was unstable and fragmented, and liable to be displaced by considerations of pragmatic self‐interest on the part of its constituents. In the mid‐1980s local politics focussed on the right wing's demands for the removal of a black residential area, Munsieville, located next to a white suburb. This demand was opposed by the ruling National Party. Although the Afrikaner right mobilised powerfully on the issue, this faded away rapidly when security in the area was stepped up. The right mobilised again at the end of the 1980s to try to maintain segregation of social facilities in the town. But, despite their control of local government, the rightists were forced to back down, for practical economic and political reasons, and to accept desegregation. From 1988 to 1991 the neo‐fascist AWB built support on a paramilitary basis in the area. Again, however, they failed to sustain momentum. Ultimately, the bulk of the Afrikaner electorate in Krugersdorp did not place an ‘ethnic dynamic’ above their practical interests, and adapted to the process of political change.