Russia students see future for Afrikaans

“Afrikaans is a beautiful and emotional language. It is very unfair that it is being suppressed in South Africa.”

These are the words of Valentina Kim (22), one of six Russian students who study Afrikaans as first and second additional language at the Lomonosov Moscow State University’s Institute for Asian and African Languages.

The student group visited the offices of the civil rights organisation AfriForum and the trade union Solidarity as part of a cultural tour that was arranged by the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge (FAK) to teach them more about Afrikaans and Afrikaans-speaking people.

According to Johan Jansen van Vuuren, Project and Communications Officer at the FAK, the students attracted the attention of the organisation after Prof. Deon Geldenhuys from the University had visited Moscow. The organisation then invited the students to visit South Africa to learn more about Afrikaans and Afrikaans-speaking people.

“For me, Afrikaa

Draaiboek van skrywer François Bloemhof word Hollywood-fliek

Hy het nie besef dat dit sy droom is nie totdat dit gebeur het. ’n Rolprent gaan aanstaande jaar in Hollywood van ’n draaiboek van die skrywer François Bloemhof gemaak word.

Sy voorstel vir ’n rolprent wat hy ses maande gelede aan ’n Amerikaanse rolprentvervaardiger voorgelê het, is pas aanvaar.

“Dis een van daai dinge wat so onrealisties is dat ek glad nie op daardie skaal gedink het nie. Hier in Suid-Afrika moet jy iemand ken voordat jy ’n voet in die deur kry, of iemand ken wat íemand ken. En ek ken niemand nie! Nog minder in Hollywood. Dit was dit dus nooit ’n opsie nie.”

Bloemhof se draaiboek The Night Visitor, ’n wetenskapfiksieriller handel oor ’n model wie se suster vermoor is. Met haar terugkeer na haar tuisdorp besef sy dat haar suster nie die enigste slagoffer is nie en dat sy dalk ook in gevaar verkeer.

Sy enigste verfilmde vollengte-draaiboek is Double Echo wat onlangs voltooi is. Dit is gegrond op sy spanningsroman Doods

The Treaty of Waitangi gets Afrikaans translation!

A major event of great importance for South Africans and Afrikaans especially has occurred the previous weekend in New Zealand. New Zealand’s ground document, the Treaty of Waitangi, or the Tiriti o Waitangi, is now officially available in Afrikaans.

In fact, it is now available in 30 more languages than the two (and English) that has been the case until now. The Afrikaans translation is a product of the hard work of three Afrikaans New-Zealanders, namely Alta Rall (a member of the NZSTI), Dina Cloete and Philip Langenhoven.

A major event of great importance for South Africans and Afrikaans especially has occurred the previous weekend in New Zealand. New Zealand’s ground document, the Treaty of Waitangi, or the Tiriti o Waitangi, is now officially available in Afrikaans. In fact, it is now available in 30 more languages than the two (and English) that has been the case until now.

Looking for

Out and about with Dirk Scheepers

Out and about is the column where we chat to people who live or have lived and worked abroad. This week we are talking to Dirk Scheepers, currently living in America.

Where do you live and why exactly there?
I live in New York and would really like to move further south, to Texas, for better weather and no federal state tax. But alas, I work in finance and need to live close to Wall Street.

In what line of work are you?
I work as an institutional broker and trade corporate stocks of companies such as Amazon and Apple.

Do you still speak Afrikaans?
My entire family is still in South Africa, but I speak/listen/read Afrikaans on a daily basis, especially on my podcast, the DS Program. More links are available at the end of this article.

What do you like most about your life there?
I like the shortage of electric fences, very few smash and grab, the relative low murder rate and the fact tha

Spelers uit SA druk 7 keer in Euro-klubreekse

Spelers uit Suid-Afrika het sewe drieë in die eerste ronde van Europa se twee voorste klubreekse gedruk.

Die Springbok-skrumskakel Faf de Klerk het die meeste punte (tien) behaal toe hy met twee doelskoppe en twee strafdoele vir die Engelse klub Sale teen die Franse klub Toulouse geslaag het.

Die twee spanne het in die reeks om die Europese Uitdaagbeker met 20-20 gelykop gespeel.

In die reeks om die Europese Kampioenebeker het nog ʼn Bok, Ruan Pienaar, sewe punte met twee doelskoppe en ʼn strafdoel vir Montpellier (Frankryk) teen Leinster (Ierland) behaal.

Die Iere het met 24-17 gewen.

Die gewese Bolandse en deesdae Franse toetsflank Bernard le Roux, het as slot een van Racing 92 se drie drieë in sy sege van 22-18 oor Leicester (Engeland) gedruk.

In die kragmeting tussen die Engelse klubs Northampton en Saracens het die Bok-stut Vincent Koch ʼn drie vir Saracens gedruk.

Die gewese Westelike Provinsie-slot David Ribbans van Northampton, wat met

Bokke pak All Blacks met 3 veranderinge tydens Rugbykampioenskap-toets teen die All Blacks in Albany

Trevor Nyakane se snywond in sy gesig het genoegsaam herstel dat hy die Springbokke in Saterdag se Rugbykampioenskap-toets teen die All Blacks in Albany sal verteenwoordig.

Onsekerheid het oor sy beskikbaarheid bestaan nadat hy die veld in die toets teen die Wallabies in Perth verlaat het. Hy moes agterna verskeie steke vir sy wond ontvang.

Hy is wel nie in die beseerde Coenie Oosthuizen se plek as vaskopstut in die beginspan gekies nie. Oosthuizen sal ongeveer ses weke weens ’n gebreekte arm uit wees. Hy is reeds huistoe gestuur waar hy ’n spesialis in Durban sal besoek.

“Ruan Dreyer het goed gevaar toe hy Frans Malherbe in Junie vanjaar teen ’n kragtige Franse voorry vervang het,” het Allister Coetzee gesê.

“Ruan sal Saterdag begin. Ons wil met Trevor en Steven Kitshoff as ’n kombinasie op die bank volhard sodat hulle in die tweede helfte impak kan maak.”

Dreyer is een van drie veranderinge aan die beginspan.

Franco Mostert sal wee

Expats in the USA aim to secure our future as ethnic group in South Africa

The wheels are rolling to take the ANC government to task in the USA, through a two-phased action. Through expats in the USA, Front National’s adv Jurg Prinsloo and FN international liaison officer Catryn Bosman will collaborate with an USA law firm and two Republican Congresswomen.

The newest is that our statements and information have found their way through the corridors of power in the USA.

The action is supported by FN to gain:

The international right to self-determination through USA intervention;
and the discriminatory laws, practices and ordinances as concern farm murders, general attacks on “whites”, racial slurs on social media and video clips by “blacks” and politicians such as Zuma, Maimane and Malema. These will hinge on racial incitement, Affirmative Action, Black Economic Empowerment, emigration figures for whites, quotas in sport teams and university applications, land grabs and more than 100 discriminatory laws to be tested in a USA

We’re running out of whites – Half a million white South Africans have left the country

About half a million white South Africans have left the country in the past three decades, and Stats SA estimates that a further 112 740 will emigrate in the next five years.

The white population is also ageing as younger people are mostly the ones who go, leaving their parents behind.

Population growth estimates show that the white population declined by 22 250 people, from 4.52 million in 2016 to 4.49 million in 2017. Over the same period, the total population increased by 900 000 to 56.62 million.

Frans Cronjé of the Institute of Race Relations said the white population structure resembled an hourglass after 1994, when many between the ages of 20 and 40 emigrated. Since then, the bottom and top parts of the hourglass have shrunk, because the white people who remained had fewer children.

Though Stats SA couldn’t say why whites were leaving, emigration agencies believe political instability, crime and uncertainty are reasons cited for leaving. Emma Wald

Two stellar South African movies coming to Showmax – a must-watch for South Africans living abroad

Both of these thought-provoking tear-jerkers are a must-watch for South Africans living abroad, and they’re both coming to Showmax. Raising important issues currently facing South African society, the Afrikaans films Uitvlucht, from the director of Faith Like Potatoes, and Treurgrond, starring Steve Hofmeyr, are coming to Showmax for overseas viewers. Add them to your diaries – and have the tissues handy!

Darrell Roodt’s film Treurgrond, landing on Showmax on Monday, 31 July, deals with a controversial subject. It is a close look at the issue of farm murders in South Africa. The outspoken actor, musician and activist Steve Hofmeyr plays Lukas, the soft-hearted farmer at the centre of the story. Lukas tries desperately to protect his family, farm and community when the area is plagued by farm attacks.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKB4P0yH2nM[/embed]

Apart from the violence on the farms, there’s also a land claim hanging again

South African ‘Braai’…as Explained by a Foreigner

Previously, I mentioned several unique things South Africans do that I got to observe in the time spent living in this country (away from my homeland, The Netherlands).

Recently, I saw some people walking barefoot in the local supermarket. This phenomenon comes along quite often, and my initial reaction was to offer assistance. “Did someone take your shoes?”, I asked.

Unimpressed, the girls mentioned no help was needed, and explained to me that this was their way to stay connected with the earth. Later in the queue, one of them was definitely connected with a slice of ham, some used dental floss and a cash receipt.

I forgot to mention the braai as a specific subject, as I feel this deserves a dedicated article in itself. A braai, or braaing, derives from the Dutch word ‘braden’, which means roasting.

Some might argue that a braai these days is considered more of a social event, which also just happens to involve the roasting/grilling of meat on an o