Jeugkrag
Encyclopedia
Jeugkrag was a short-lived South Africa
n youth group, surreptitiously funded by the apartheid government's department of Military Intelligence in an operation known as Project Essay. Led by Marthinus van Schalkwyk
(ironically now member of parliament for the ANC
) it operated exclusively on Afrikaans university campuses and sought to influence the political views of Afrikaans-speaking students.
Van Schalkwyk was the national chairman. He was supported between 1987 and July 1988 by Cedric de Coning who was both Director of Fund Raising and Publicity Secretary.
Putatively aimed at bringing together youth from different ethnic and ideological backgrounds, Jeugkrag was a transparent effort to supplant the process of youth dialogue originally started by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), an NGO founded at the end of 1986 by the liberal ex-parliamentarians Frederik van Zyl Slabbert
and Alex Boraine
with funding from donors such as the Open Society Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Slabbert and Boraine, who had decamped in frustration from the tricameral parliament, were part of the white group that held ground breaking discussions with ANC delegates at the historical Dakar meeting. They were vilified by PW Botha who called them ‘political terrorists’. Peter Mokaba
, an ANC
leader that Jeugkrag had engaged, would later comment: At the time although we knew that Jeugkrag was not an independent organization, but part of the heart and soul of the National Party
, it was our policy to discuss matters with both progressive and reactionary organizations.
In 1990 en route to a meeting in Botswana
, a 12-person Jeugkrag delegation was detained by police at the Monomotapa Hotel in Harare
, Zimbabwe
. They were questioned about a meeting that they had attended with members of the Zimbabwe Unity Movement
(ZUM), a marginal political group opposed to Robert Mugabe’s
government. The delegation consisted exclusively of representatives from Afrikaans-language universities including the Rand Afrikaans University
, Stellenbosch University
, and the University of Pretoria
.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n youth group, surreptitiously funded by the apartheid government's department of Military Intelligence in an operation known as Project Essay. Led by Marthinus van Schalkwyk
Marthinus van Schalkwyk
Marthinus Christoffel Johannes van Schalkwyk is the Minister of Tourism in the Cabinet of South Africa. Formerly both Premier of the Western Cape and Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of South Africa, he was the leader of the New National Party from its inception on 8 September 1997 until...
(ironically now member of parliament for the ANC
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
) it operated exclusively on Afrikaans university campuses and sought to influence the political views of Afrikaans-speaking students.
Van Schalkwyk was the national chairman. He was supported between 1987 and July 1988 by Cedric de Coning who was both Director of Fund Raising and Publicity Secretary.
Putatively aimed at bringing together youth from different ethnic and ideological backgrounds, Jeugkrag was a transparent effort to supplant the process of youth dialogue originally started by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), an NGO founded at the end of 1986 by the liberal ex-parliamentarians Frederik van Zyl Slabbert
Frederik van Zyl Slabbert
Frederik van Zyl Slabbert was a South African political analyst, businessman and politician. He is best known for having been the leader of the official opposition — the Progressive Federal Party — in the House of Assembly from 1979 to 1986.-Early life, education and academic career:Born in...
and Alex Boraine
Alex Boraine
Dr. Alex Boraine is a South African politician. He was born in Cape Town.Having been ordained as a Methodist minister in 1956, he studied at Rhodes University in South Africa, Oxford University in England, and Drew University in the USA....
with funding from donors such as the Open Society Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Slabbert and Boraine, who had decamped in frustration from the tricameral parliament, were part of the white group that held ground breaking discussions with ANC delegates at the historical Dakar meeting. They were vilified by PW Botha who called them ‘political terrorists’. Peter Mokaba
Peter Mokaba
Peter Mokaba was a member of the South African parliament, deputy minister in the government of Nelson Mandela and president of the South African governing party's youth wing, the ANC Youth League...
, an ANC
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
leader that Jeugkrag had engaged, would later comment: At the time although we knew that Jeugkrag was not an independent organization, but part of the heart and soul of the National Party
National Party (South Africa)
The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...
, it was our policy to discuss matters with both progressive and reactionary organizations.
In 1990 en route to a meeting in Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
, a 12-person Jeugkrag delegation was detained by police at the Monomotapa Hotel in Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
. They were questioned about a meeting that they had attended with members of the Zimbabwe Unity Movement
Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe
The Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe was the final incarnation of a party formerly called the Republican Front and prior to that the Rhodesian Front...
(ZUM), a marginal political group opposed to Robert Mugabe’s
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
government. The delegation consisted exclusively of representatives from Afrikaans-language universities including the Rand Afrikaans University
Rand Afrikaans University
The Rand Afrikaans University ' was a prominent South African institution of higher education and research that served the greater Johannesburg area and surrounds in from 1967 to 2004...
, Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch University is a public research university situated in the town of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Other nearby universities are the University of Cape Town and University of the Western Cape....
, and the University of Pretoria
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...
.