Freedom Front leader Constand Viljoen has held secret meetings with the editors of leading Afrikaans newspapers. Gustav Thiel reports
FRESH evidence of the split between the National Party and the Afrikaans press emerged this week with details of a campaign by the Freedom Front to woo the country’s top Afrikaans editors.
The Mail & Guardian established this week that FF leader Constand Viljoen met with editors of the three biggest Afrikaans newspapers – Die Burger, Beeld and Rapport – late last year in an effort to garner support.
Staffers at Die Burger say it was Viljoen’s expressed view when he met their editor, Ebbe Dommisse, that the Afrikaans press should be supportive of the cause of right- wing Afrikaners.
It was disclosed by Dommisse at a recent editorial meeting that he met with Viljoen to discuss the ”possibility of accommodating” the FF’s ambition of forming a whites-only homeland.
Dommisse, however, told staffers at the meeting that he informed Viljoen that Die Burger could not support any political party officially and that a large amount of its readers came from the coloured community who, Dommisse said, did not support the ideals of right-wing Afrikaners.
Viljoen confirmed this week that he met with Dommisse and added that it was standard practice for him to meet with the editors of Afrikaans publications.
”I also met with Willie Kuhn and Izak de Villiers, the editors of Beeld and Rapport respectively.
”I must, however, stress that we did not discuss the political perspective of the newspapers specifically,” said Viljoen. A source, who is aware of Viljoen’s meeting with Dommisse, stressed that it is ”not standard practice” for Viljoen to meet editors of any English newspapers whereas he gives priority to Afrikaans publications.
Officially Dommisse denies that Die Burger would support any political party, but said at the meeting that he ”believes the country should move in the direction of a multi-party democracy”.
The official minutes of a staff meeting has Dommisse saying: ”Die Burger is situated on the left of the [Afrikaans] political spectrum and will not move to the right … a strong opposition is needed in South Africa and it is evident that the African National Congress is sliding away from success. Even so, we will not shift our position.”
The editorial meeting, where Dommisse revealed how he met Viljoen, was called after several editorial members expressed their dissatisfaction with the politics of the paper.
Said one staff member: ”It has long been accepted among the majority of staffers that the newspaper, even though it officially denies supporting any political party, in fact does so behind closed doors.
”This policy is never related to staff members which we feel is not a healthy situation.”
Coloured and black members of the staff are said to be unhappy about the programme of affirmative action instituted by the paper some years ago. One said coloured and black staffers ”are still put in marginalised positions”.
Dommisse said affirmative action policy is established by the board of Nasionale Pers, but said that merit and the ability to use Afrikaans would always be considered as vital to any policy.
Die Burger is seen by media observers as being more conservative than Beeld, but definitely not as far right as Rapport.