Afrikaner and Ndebele organisations sign historic agreement

19 December 2023

The Ndebele organisation Vulamehlo Kusile Organisation (VUKO) and the Afrikaner organisation AfriForum today signed a historic recognition and cooperation agreement during the annual Ingwenyama Nyabela Commemoration at KoNomtjharelo, the historic AmaNdzundza Royal Headquarters close to Roossenekal in Limpopo.

The organisations also announced that they will be collaborating on the preservation of this area with its significant historical and heritage value with the aim of strengthening cultural identity and the promotion of knowledge about history, especially aimed at the youth.

“The signing of this recognition and cooperation agreement in the year that the AmaNdzundza commemorates 140 years since the second war with the erstwhile Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek and its allies is significant. We honour our ancestors, who did everything that they could to ensure our existence as a cultural community here in southern Africa. Because of their sacrifices and perseverance we are still here today.

We are, however, not getting stuck in the past; we are using our history and heritage as an inspiration and a foundation to build the future. Cultural communities in southern Africa are facing many challenges. It will be easier to overcome these if we collaborate; that is why we signed this agreement with AfriForum,” says Elias Mahlangu, Board Chairperson of VUKO.

“AfriForum is working to establish a network of cultural communities, based on mutual recognition and respect, that can collaborate to overcome shared challenges. A new order based on community federalism is taking shape at grassroots level.

It is creating the space for cultural communities to collaboratively shape the future we want for the children of our communities here at the southern tip of Africa. It was a privilege to sign a recognition and collaboration agreement at a time and place that carry so much cultural and historical significance,” says Barend Uys, Head of Intercultural Relations and Cooperation at AfriForum.

The aim of the agreement is to establish and maintain a lasting relationship with a view to ensuring everlasting peace and friendship between the cultural communities represented by the organisations and to promote their development through, among other things, the following:

preservation and safeguarding of cultural identity and heritage;

promotion of community self-sufficiency and self-management;

promotion of intercultural reconciliation and dialogue; and

promotion of mother tongue education.

The following principles form the basis of the agreement:

mutual recognition and respect;

peaceful coexistence;

acceptance of each other’s identity, permanency and existence as autonomous cultural communities;

the prerogative of cultural communities to govern their own affairs and establish and maintain their own institutions without interference from the state or any other entity;

respect for the diversity of governing institutions, customs and practices, including those relating to land use and landownership; and

freedom of religion and religious and cultural practices.

“AfriForum and VUKO have previously collaborated on matters relating to language and cultural identity. Formalising our collaboration is another step forward. Our approach to creating the future we want is true to our motto, ‘Kuvuswa Ezivusako’, which can be translated as ‘help comes to those who help themselves’,” concludes Mahlangu.

Issued by Barend Uys, Head: Intercultural Relations and Cooperation, AfriForum, 19 December 2023