/ 1 January 2002

Afrikaners form new political party

A group of conservative Afrikaner politicians on Saturday formed a new political party, which they said would cater specifically for the needs of South Africa's former ruling white minority.

A group of conservative Afrikaner politicians on Saturday formed a new political party, which they said would cater specifically for the needs of South Africa’s former ruling white minority.

Cassie Aucamp, a parliamentarian for the small conservative minority party the Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging (Afrikaner Unity Movement) and Danie Schutte, a former apartheid National Party (NP) minister were elected leaders of the new National Action.

The two men said the new party’s formation came after

disillusionment by ”hundreds of thousands” of South Africans with the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and the New National Party (NNP), which ruled South Africa under apartheid as the National Party (NP).

Both the NNP and DA draw their support from mainly white South Africans, with the NNP recently entering a power-sharing deal with the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

”We want to establish a South Africa where all minorities have rights, the right to be themselves and to play a part not only as individuals but as belonging to a specific culture or group,” Aucamp said.

Aucamp said the formation of the party resulted from

negotiations between conservative Afrikaner groups for the past four years.

Aucamp said it wanted to participate in mainstream South African politics, but wanted to put the interests of Afrikaners first.

”We are not ashamed to say that we will specifically support the interests of the Afrikaner.”

But he added that all South Africans who supported the party’s principles were welcome to join.

”We want to play the main game in front of the main pavilion,” Aucamp said. – Sapa-AFP