Boerestaat

Volkstaat
Flag
Volkstaat as proposed by the Freedom Front Plus and the Volkstaat Council
Status	Proposed
Official languages	Afrikaans
Demonym	Afrikaners
Government	Proposed independent republic or autonomous region within South Africa
Volkstaat
• Proposed by South African Bureau for Racial Affairs	1960s-1990s
• Establishment of Orania	6 April 1991
• Accord on Afrikaner self-determination	23 April 1994
• Establishment of the Volkstaat Council	16 June 1994
• Proposed by the Volkstaat Council	31 March 1999
Population
• 1998 estimate	70,000 Afrikaners

"Volkstaat" (an Afrikaans word meaning "people's state", literally "people-state") is a term used to describe proposals to establish self-determination for Afrikaners in South Africa, either on federal principles or as a fully independent Afrikaner homeland.

Following the Great Trek of the 1830s and 1840s, Afrikaner or Boer pioneers expressed a drive for self-determination and independence through the establishment of several Boer republics over the rest of the 19th century. The end of apartheid and the establishment of universal suffrage in South Africa in 1994 left some Afrikaners feeling disillusioned and marginalised by the political changes, and resulted in a proposal for an autonomous Volkstaat.

Several different methods have been proposed for the establishment of a Volkstaat. Besides the use of force, the South African Constitution and international law present certain possibilities for establishment. The geographic dispersal of minority Afrikaner communities throughout South Africa presents a significant obstacle to the establishment of a Volkstaat, as Afrikaners do not form a majority in any separate geographic area that could be sustainable independently. Supporters of the proposal have established several land cooperatives in Orania in the Northern Cape and Kleinfontein in Gauteng as practical implementations of the idea. Initiatives in Balmoral and Morgenzon, both in Mpumalanga, failed to develop beyond their initial phase.

Historically, Boers have exhibited a drive for independence which resulted in the establishment of different republics in what is now the modern Republic of South Africa. The Voortrekkers proclaimed separate independent republics, most notably Natalia Republic, the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (the Transvaal). However, after the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), British rule led to the dissolution of the last two remaining Boer states (the Orange Free State and the South African Republic).