Episode 03 - Dr Pieter Groenewald, VF+
Dr Pieter Groenewald is the leader of the Vryheidsfront Plus (VF+)/Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus). It is a conservative party, primarily concerned with protecting minority rights throughout the country. Dr Groenewald has been a member of parliament since 1989, and leader of the VF+ since 2014. Under his tenure the party moved away from being concerned with only Afrikaner rights to a broader focus on minority rights, generally.
Like most conservative parties the values that underpin the VF+ policy stances are old-school, honour, integrity, respect, etc. However, their primary policy goal is centred around community self-determination. This was something I was interested in, as I was unclear as to what exactly self-determination means, according to the VF+.
Dr Groenewald said that the best way to conceptualise self-determination is in terms of the devolution of powers of governance to the provincial and local levels. He stated that most of the tax money collected in a province should remain within that province and that some nationally run institutions, such as the police force, should be given to the provinces to manage.
In his explanation of the VF+’s stance on self-determination, Groenewald goes on to explain that within the constitution (section 235) there is a clause which contains the right to self-determination and that the clause has never been substantiated by national legislation. It is through the activation of this clause that the VF+ wishes to see self-determination occur in the country.
Moving away from self-determination to the huge challenges in South Africa, much of the VF+’s plan to fix the problems revolves around two main areas, the building of a capable state, in which the best people are employed to government positions and the ending of race-based hiring policies.