:00:09. > :00:18.South Africa, the Rainbow Nation. But is one of its largest minorities
:00:19. > :00:22.being marginalised? Many Afrikaners believe their culture and language
:00:23. > :00:30.are under threat. You're always walking around with a target on your
:00:31. > :00:33.back. Protests are leading to their mother tongue, Afrikaans, being
:00:34. > :00:38.dropped by the country's universities. Afrikaners, the people
:00:39. > :00:42.who ran South Africa during the brutal apartheid era now say the
:00:43. > :00:46.rules rigged against them. People don't like giving up power, white
:00:47. > :00:53.people don't like giving up power, who wants to give power? With a
:00:54. > :00:57.nation having high crime and soaring poverty, could their survival be in
:00:58. > :01:04.doubt? You will have a situation where racists will create
:01:05. > :01:08.instability. I've come to South Africa to find out how a white
:01:09. > :01:21.minority which once ruled the roost now fears for its future.
:01:22. > :01:36.I've come to South Africa's wine country. The vineyards that line the
:01:37. > :01:42.hills around the town of Stellenbosch are some of the
:01:43. > :01:47.country's by Mr. But it's not the wine that I'm here for. -- finest.
:01:48. > :01:51.Stellenbosch is at the centre of a controversy that goes to the heart
:01:52. > :01:54.of what it means to be South African, and more specifically a
:01:55. > :01:59.white South African. Stellenbosch university is one of the best in the
:02:00. > :02:05.whole of Africa but it also has a reputation as a bastion of white
:02:06. > :02:10.privilege. It's former students include prime ministers from
:02:11. > :02:16.apartheid. It only ended 22 years ago. The university is more diverse
:02:17. > :02:21.now. But in a country that is 90% black or mixed race, two thirds of
:02:22. > :02:24.its students are white. It's a picture many think is reinforced by
:02:25. > :02:29.classes here being taught in Afrikaans, the mother tongue of most
:02:30. > :02:34.of South Africa's white minority. Hey, David, nice to meet you, I'm
:02:35. > :02:39.Ben. Nice to meet you. What is the plan? At the moment the plan is to
:02:40. > :02:46.go to the police station. Bernard is running for student president, he
:02:47. > :02:49.is... They are challenging the university's decision to scale back
:02:50. > :02:57.teaching in Afrikaans in favour of English. Why does retaining the
:02:58. > :03:01.language matter so much to you? We've got a couple of examples in
:03:02. > :03:07.South Africa are where people have been told they are not allowed to
:03:08. > :03:11.speak their mother tongue, their language, and their culture in a way
:03:12. > :03:16.also faded away. It has happened before and every time it has ended
:03:17. > :03:20.the same way. You could almost use the word ethnic cleansing, that
:03:21. > :03:24.everyone is just being made the same. Today Bernard has come to the
:03:25. > :03:28.police station to start legal proceedings against the university.
:03:29. > :03:34.He wants to overturn their decision to reduce the number of classes
:03:35. > :03:38.taught in Afrikaans. Give me an idea of what it is like to be white and
:03:39. > :03:43.Afrikaans at the moment in South Africa. What it's like is you're
:03:44. > :03:48.always walking around with a target on your back. Everything's your
:03:49. > :03:52.fault, everything gets blamed Maicon Uecomm excluded from jobs and
:03:53. > :03:57.bursaries and for every eight black workers you're supposed to have...
:03:58. > :04:02.That is a racial make-up that is enforced by law. I suppose because
:04:03. > :04:06.the starting point was so bad in the sense of the black community really
:04:07. > :04:10.did not have any advantages to begin with as a consequence of apartheid,
:04:11. > :04:14.was something that dramatic not necessary to essentially fixed the
:04:15. > :04:18.problem, to get more black people into work? At the moment you could
:04:19. > :04:23.say that the way that government is treating it is totally flawed, they
:04:24. > :04:27.are treating symptoms, not the problem. South Africa's students
:04:28. > :04:33.have held noisy and sometimes violent protests over the past 12
:04:34. > :04:36.months. Demonstrations over university fees, colonial era
:04:37. > :04:44.statues and the use of Afrikaans in the classroom have used together. In
:04:45. > :04:48.response to accusations that teaching in Afrikaans effectively
:04:49. > :04:50.excludes nonwhite students, universities, including
:04:51. > :04:57.Stellenbosch, have promised to scale back or even phase out teaching in
:04:58. > :05:01.the language. So this is an Afrikaans bookshop? Yes, basically
:05:02. > :05:07.the textbooks... Simone is mixed race. Like many so-called coloured
:05:08. > :05:10.South Africans she does speak a dialect of Afrikaans, but not the
:05:11. > :05:15.same variant of the language spoken by white students. She is among
:05:16. > :05:19.those campaigning for classes to be taught in English. If I did economic
:05:20. > :05:26.sigh would need this textbook. Which is all in Afrikaans? Mostly, yes. We
:05:27. > :05:30.have translated them in our class and we have these microphones, the
:05:31. > :05:34.ghost whisperer as we call them, because they whisper what the
:05:35. > :05:38.lecturer is saying in English. Usually what happens is the
:05:39. > :05:42.translator gets things mixed up because she is not maybe well versed
:05:43. > :05:47.in economic language, and then we always get stuck in the middle. It
:05:48. > :05:51.is literally you sitting there looking at a lecturer speaking one
:05:52. > :05:57.language and in your ear is a lady saying... I'm getting my education
:05:58. > :06:02.through a third-party, not through the lecturer itself. To critics,
:06:03. > :06:06.these teaching arrangements aren't just messy. They are a sign that
:06:07. > :06:10.some of the country's universities are still prioritising the needs of
:06:11. > :06:16.white students. A key question is that in South Africa, a country that
:06:17. > :06:22.is 80% black, a university 70% white. So there's something wrong
:06:23. > :06:25.with that. Usually your institutions should reflect kind of the
:06:26. > :06:29.demographics of your country. And you're not giving credit in terms of
:06:30. > :06:34.the fact they are trying to save their culture? I think the method in
:06:35. > :06:39.which they are doing it is extremely exclusive. I'm an Afrikaans speaker
:06:40. > :06:44.but are you preserving my heritage? I don't think so, you're not
:06:45. > :06:45.preserving my culture or my mum's, you are preserving Afrikaner culture
:06:46. > :06:59.as it was during apartheid. I'm at a student residency to meet
:07:00. > :07:04.up with Bernard again and for the first time he is facing voters to
:07:05. > :07:08.answer questions about his bid to be president. Bernard's audience is
:07:09. > :07:22.all-male, mostly white and largely Afrikaans speaking.
:07:23. > :07:33.I'm Bernard Peters, I'm one of the candidates standing this year. We
:07:34. > :07:38.are to introduce ourselves to allow you to get to know us and to ask any
:07:39. > :07:44.questions afterwards. I'm an English student, I speak English, I learn in
:07:45. > :07:49.English, how are you going to persuade me to vote for you? The
:07:50. > :07:52.only thing we stand for is equal rights and people opportunities for
:07:53. > :07:56.Afrikaans and English on this campus. It should be equal
:07:57. > :08:00.opportunities for all. Bernard is keen to represent himself as an
:08:01. > :08:04.exclusive candidate -- inclusive. But there's still a perception here
:08:05. > :08:08.that he is trying to preserve the privilege of white students. You
:08:09. > :08:12.said you represent every single student in Stellenbosch but there
:08:13. > :08:18.are so many students that prefer only English, prefer only Afrikaans,
:08:19. > :08:22.how would you go about every single student's opinion and thought if you
:08:23. > :08:30.represent that? I can't shy away from the fact that half of them...
:08:31. > :08:39.I'm not Afrikaans so basically they are using my vote. Knowing that you
:08:40. > :08:45.guys are from African forum as well, it kind of makes me question what
:08:46. > :08:51.you guys stand for and how you're going to present me as a student. We
:08:52. > :08:57.are presenting the students, we will represent you, we are not there only
:08:58. > :09:01.for certain groups. We are from African forum but we will represent
:09:02. > :09:10.all of the students. The students in this room are part of a generation
:09:11. > :09:13.call so-called born Frears, but Bernard's campaign, like all
:09:14. > :09:18.politics here, isn't happening in a vacuum. Everyone here is living in
:09:19. > :09:22.the shadow of decades of racial segregation. Do you think white
:09:23. > :09:25.Afrikaners are still being punished because they are associated with
:09:26. > :09:29.apartheid? Definitely, without question. You have to acknowledge
:09:30. > :09:32.the fact I am privileged as a white male living in this country with
:09:33. > :09:36.parents who have been through apartheid and are privileged, it
:09:37. > :09:39.wasn't that way for everyone but it was for the majority of white South
:09:40. > :09:44.Africans. I've had the privilege of having books. Someone in a squatters
:09:45. > :09:48.camp who has had nothing but Briggs and a soccer ball, they haven't had
:09:49. > :09:52.that kind of privilege. It's not my fault, I shouldn't feel guilty, but
:09:53. > :09:55.there is a miss balance and a problem in the country I need to do
:09:56. > :10:07.something about. Just up the road from Stellenbosch
:10:08. > :10:10.is the tower monument. Built to celebrate what was hoped to be the
:10:11. > :10:17.exponential growth of the Afrikaans language. This is one of the few
:10:18. > :10:25.monuments to a language anywhere in the world. It was created in 1970s
:10:26. > :10:29.five when white Afrikaners were at the height of their power. Obviously
:10:30. > :10:34.things have changed quite a bit since then. Apartheid insured the
:10:35. > :10:38.ruling white minority held onto their privileges. The Constitution
:10:39. > :10:42.of a new South Africa aims to protect the rights of all South
:10:43. > :10:45.Africans regardless of race. But corruption, high crime and soaring
:10:46. > :10:49.unemployment are blighting the country. And while white South
:10:50. > :10:54.Africans are statistically less likely to be victims of crime or
:10:55. > :11:00.unemployment than blacks, there are plenty of Afrikaners who say the new
:11:01. > :11:04.South Africa is against them. I head north to the country's
:11:05. > :11:09.administrative capital, Pretoria, to meet an unlikely champion of
:11:10. > :11:13.Afrikaner rights. He's a singer, activist, actor and he most
:11:14. > :11:14.definitely does not feel the need to apologise for his identity. Quite
:11:15. > :11:25.the opposite actually. Steve Hollis Meyer is one of the
:11:26. > :11:31.bestselling artists in South Africa, but it is his statement claiming
:11:32. > :11:35.Afrikaners are being marginalised in post- apartheid South Africa at that
:11:36. > :11:43.make him a hero in the eyes of his friends. -- Hoffmeier. This place
:11:44. > :11:48.feels a bit more like I am in Texas and South Africa. There are cowboy
:11:49. > :11:54.hats, and out of the 650 guests here, I am pretty much the darkest
:11:55. > :11:59.one. Backstage, I want to find out why he has become so disillusioned
:12:00. > :12:03.with the new South Africa. The Nelson Mandela idea was good and
:12:04. > :12:08.practical. His idea of a Rainbow Nation? It was an experiment, but
:12:09. > :12:15.what kicked in was a strange sense of entitlement, and it has escalated
:12:16. > :12:23.ever since, and 21 years later, I'd the ideal of the country, and I
:12:24. > :12:29.recognise any half of the people. It is a tough thing, but these systems
:12:30. > :12:34.were invented by white people and it is a white legacy. Can we leave that
:12:35. > :12:41.legacy in the hands of all the black government? I'm not sure they are
:12:42. > :12:44.doing very well. I am not a racist who says black or other colours
:12:45. > :12:48.can't do things. I am not that racist. I believe in the potential
:12:49. > :12:52.of all groups. I certainly believe certain groups did not come to the
:12:53. > :12:58.party. I am just a pop star, by the way. You should not believe
:12:59. > :13:03.everything we say. But I have been working in my community than 30
:13:04. > :13:07.years. I live with me on the stone and feel their heart beating and
:13:08. > :13:13.laugh, I laugh, when they cry, I cry. In general, the economy is not
:13:14. > :13:18.doing as well as it could. As a consequence, all races are doing
:13:19. > :13:23.worse? As far as the rest of the world is concerned, it is almost a
:13:24. > :13:26.ship you can't turn around. But the consequence of that means not just
:13:27. > :13:31.white people are suffering, all races are suffering. You are in a
:13:32. > :13:41.collective. I can agree with that. I have made my campaign my people.
:13:42. > :13:46.Hoffmeier's people, those who tonight, Saint grateful for the
:13:47. > :13:54.support. -- seem grateful. Nobody has the guts to stand up, but Steve
:13:55. > :13:58.does. Why do you think the place is packed? The place is pretty much
:13:59. > :14:08.entirely white, though. That is true. Why? It is Afrikaner, though.
:14:09. > :14:19.What do you like about his political views? His open-minded. Some say he
:14:20. > :14:25.is not that open-minded. He seems positive about the Afrikaans
:14:26. > :14:30.committee. -- committee. Do Afrikaans people need staining of
:14:31. > :14:38.four? I think so. -- standing up for.
:14:39. > :14:43.MUSIC PLAYS The most remarkable moment of the
:14:44. > :14:55.evening is his showstopper, his rendition of South Africa's
:14:56. > :15:00.apartheid era national anthem. Too many South Africans, this song
:15:01. > :15:02.represents an old country they are ashamed of, but not the people in
:15:03. > :15:22.this room. CHEERING
:15:23. > :15:26.Are some of the things he says racist, and does he exaggerate the
:15:27. > :15:31.facts? Too many people, the answer is yes. But to a lot of people in
:15:32. > :15:36.there, and thousands around the country, he is pretty much the only
:15:37. > :15:45.person standing up for them. CHEERING
:15:46. > :15:49.To try to better understand what is going on in the Africana amenity, I
:15:50. > :15:52.have come to the sociology department of the bit rate
:15:53. > :16:03.University. This is where it happened? Yes, it is. ! Pretoria. I
:16:04. > :16:09.meeting a professor. The campus was the scene of some of the angry
:16:10. > :16:14.clashes over the use of Afrikaans and some of the classroom. It was an
:16:15. > :16:20.explosion of movement. She has written extensively on the role and
:16:21. > :16:23.identity of her fellow Afrikaners. The head, the recent protests over
:16:24. > :16:30.the Afrikaans language have bought into force on wider reality. It is
:16:31. > :16:34.unpleasant to be in a position of power and privilege for centuries
:16:35. > :16:39.and for that decision to then be basically confronted with the
:16:40. > :16:45.arguing it should be disappointed. People do not like giving up power.
:16:46. > :16:49.! Dismantled. Men don't like giving up power, heterosexuals don't like
:16:50. > :16:57.giving up power. Who likes to give up our? It is not a comfortable
:16:58. > :17:09.space to be in. Hasluck gotten worse for the Afrikaners? These are white
:17:10. > :17:13.people living under the breadline. If you look at the unemployment
:17:14. > :17:23.rate, tween five and for white people, but 27% for the population
:17:24. > :17:26.as a whole. Some white Afrikaners would argue a system of reverse
:17:27. > :17:32.racism is now taking place in South Africa. Is that the case? We have a
:17:33. > :17:37.system of what we call implement equity, and a system of black
:17:38. > :17:41.economic empowerment. Why it is different to discrimination or
:17:42. > :17:45.apartheid is because during apartheid, differences were used to
:17:46. > :17:49.take opportunities from people. Affirmative action, whatever you
:17:50. > :17:54.want to call it, that does not take white opportunities for white
:17:55. > :17:58.people, it is basically trying to enhance the availability of
:17:59. > :18:02.opportunities to all people. Post- apartheid, one of the aims was to
:18:03. > :18:08.have embraced was society. And that the achieved at having policies that
:18:09. > :18:15.are aimed at people's brace? -- race less. It is impossible to move to a
:18:16. > :18:19.society where we can let go of race. Until we have actually rectified
:18:20. > :18:25.those injustices that are based on race.
:18:26. > :18:34.The final stop on my journey is the very heart of South Africa's vast
:18:35. > :18:40.interior. This is wild country, sparsely populated and a world away
:18:41. > :18:44.from city life. It is quite obvious there are plenty of white Afrikaners
:18:45. > :18:49.that are pessimistic about their future in this country. But to some
:18:50. > :18:51.of them it is worse than that. There is a group that are actively
:18:52. > :18:56.preparing for the moment South African society. Hard. And there
:18:57. > :19:04.will be no one left to protect white Afrikaners. I am about to meet them.
:19:05. > :19:07.-- falls apart. These are the sites lenders, southerners in Afrikaans.
:19:08. > :19:13.They claim mentorship of 20,000. Even if this is our correct, they
:19:14. > :19:21.remain very much a fringe group. This would not be the best time to
:19:22. > :19:24.say I'm a vegetarian? They believe the high crime and poverty levels
:19:25. > :19:28.are indicators the country is about to clubs. I see the world's biggest
:19:29. > :19:36.sausage. That is dry enormous. ! Collapse. This then is the head of
:19:37. > :19:44.emergency planning for the grid. You are going to have a situation that
:19:45. > :19:47.will flow out of instability. You already have close to 20 million
:19:48. > :19:52.people living on grants. You know what they look like. Two months
:19:53. > :19:56.after you get a situation of instability in this country, there
:19:57. > :20:01.is no income. Obviously there will go to be better living areas. The
:20:02. > :20:07.white? Which is the white. You will have complete. I received the first
:20:08. > :20:10.and will happen is a lot of people will grow out of cities. --
:20:11. > :20:15.obviously the first thing. It is the same story. When people start
:20:16. > :20:20.running around without anything. They have drawn up plans for white
:20:21. > :20:24.refugee camps. They think the breakdown of law and order will lead
:20:25. > :20:29.to white filling cities. Some think they believe is inevitable --
:20:30. > :20:34.bullying. In general, like white people in this country don't like
:20:35. > :20:40.each other? In general, the filling. It is not about not liking them, it
:20:41. > :20:47.is about being with your own. I invite people who speak like me,
:20:48. > :20:52.think like me. That is what we do. He takes me to meet another site
:20:53. > :21:00.lander to show me the extent of the group's planning. This man is one of
:21:01. > :21:06.a network of people who have prepared trucks full of emergency
:21:07. > :21:13.supplies. Frying pans, food. Blankets. There is also medical
:21:14. > :21:18.equipment. The basic stuff is in here that we will need to survive.
:21:19. > :21:23.They think anarchy is not just inevitable but imminent. Surely it
:21:24. > :21:27.means you must be thinking about negative things like the world
:21:28. > :21:32.supposedly ending, if you are with your kids, you will get a thought
:21:33. > :21:37.about the world potentially ending tomorrow, society could fall. Is
:21:38. > :21:40.that not quite upsetting? It is upsetting, but you must or is
:21:41. > :21:46.keeping in mind. You can't slip on that one. -- always keep it in mind.
:21:47. > :21:50.If you relax, they can catch you on the back foot. Soon have to
:21:51. > :21:52.constantly be thinking of this stuff to make sure you survive? It is the
:21:53. > :22:08.survival instinct to carry on with. It is impossible to know how many of
:22:09. > :22:16.South Africa's 4.5 million white people might share the group's bleak
:22:17. > :22:19.outlook. It is certainly not mainstream. Even if their
:22:20. > :22:23.predictions are wrong, they are a group of whites as Aberdeen 's who
:22:24. > :22:33.see no future for themselves in this country. -- South Africans. This is
:22:34. > :22:38.being my first time in South Africa. I think the most depressing thing as
:22:39. > :22:43.being just how real and for racial tension still is in the country. 20
:22:44. > :22:47.odd years on from apartheid, it is clear a lot of people here but tried
:22:48. > :22:50.to find out where they belong in South Africa today. That is
:22:51. > :22:54.especially true among the white Afrikaner community who are caught
:22:55. > :22:59.between a history that human eyes as them and a future that they are not
:23:00. > :23:01.just unsure of but are in feel. -- fear of.