Reconciliation Day speech by FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald, Bothaville, Free State, 16 December 2018
Reconciliation Day: Do not make Afrikaners the scapegoat
South Africa's Constitution affords Afrikaners the right to commemorate and express their heritage and culture. Most Afrikaners view the 16th of December as an opportunity to commemorate the Day of the Vow within the context of a covenant that was made in 1838.
The vow or covenant at Blood River was not made by a government, but by the ancestors of the Afrikaner nation. Thus, it is every Afrikaner's right to choose to commemorate the Day of the Vow.
Reconciliation Day and the annual commemoration of the 1838 covenant are not polar opposites. It would be a mistake to try and force Afrikaners to choose between the two.
What the majority of the people in South Africa really want is peace and a safe future for their children. They also want to have the right to be themselves, e.g. Afrikaners, in a country with so many languages and cultures.