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| Founded | 1930 Cape Town, Cape Province,Union of South Africa. |
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| Type | Non-governmental organisation |
| Focus | Afrikaans language & culture based onBiblical, Christian values. |
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Area served | Republic of South Africa &Namibia |
| Method | Direct action,lobbying, research,innovation |
Key people |
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| Website | atkv |
TheAfrikaans Language and Culture Association (Afrikaans:Afrikaanse Taal- en Kultuurvereniging),ATKV, is a society that aims to promote the Afrikaans language and culture. The association was founded in 1930 inCape Town. Since its inception and up to the end ofApartheid in 1994, membership was only open to members of theAfrikaner Christian community. Membership was thereafter opened to include people of allethnicities, sharing the same values as the ATKV (i.e. speaking Afrikaans and belonging to the Christian faith).
TheWitwatersrand Gold Rush of 1886 andAnglo Boer War (1899–1902) resulted in an influx of foreigners to theZuid Afrikaanse Republiek. Because theBoer Republics becameBritish colonies right after theAnglo Boer War, theAfrikaners felt marginalised andstigmatised.[1] This culminated in the mass urbanisation of unskilled Afrikaners during theGreat Depression years. Like many British soldiers and immigrants theimpoverished Afrikaners found refuge in the formerSouth African Railways.[2] Provision was made for them by theSouth African Government in railway camps (a forerunner of the Apartheid Township) later known as "Spoorwegkampe".
The combination of the above factors caused the Afrikaners to fear erosion of their culture and language. In 1930 Edwin Robert Carney and Sybrand (Sybie) Jacobus van der Spuy started talking about an association for Afrikaners. Van der Spuy felt that an Afrikaansdebate association would be sufficient. Edwin Carney showed preference to the idea of an Afrikaans language and culture association because in his opinion such an association would have more bargaining power to the authorities.
On Tuesday, 19 August 1930, twelve Afrikaners from different sections of the railway services met in Cape Town and the Afrikaans Language and Cultural Association (ATKV) was founded. Sybie van der Spuy was chosen as the first chairman and HJ Kamerman as the first secretary of the newly founded ATKV.
The ATKV has been controversial on membership issues in the past, most notably:
Die Taalgenoot[5] is a quarterly magazine published by the ATKV for its members, with content sourced from Afrikaans speaking people in South Africa and in thediaspora.
The ATKV owns and operates seven holiday resorts in South Africa.[6] Historically these resorts were only open towhite Afrikaans speakers that were members of the ATKV. Since the early 1990s these resorts have been open to the general public with discount to organisation members.
These seven resorts are:
Beginning 1974, ATKV started organising an annual music competition dedicated to Afrikaans music. The competition was known asCrescendo from its inception until 2005. In 2006, it was renamed CrescendoKreatief and became a songwriting-based competition.[7] The competition was terminated after the 2012 competition season.
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The ATKV has been active in many areas of South African culture and language.
Some projects ATKV are part of or sponsor include:[8]
They also sponsor several South African arts festivals:
During 1937 the ATKV decided to establish a museum inHartenbos. As the idea of the Symbolic Ox Wagon Trek of 1938 originated in Hartenbos, the museum concentrates on theGreat Trek of 1838 (when theBoers, dissatisfied with British rule, left the Cape Colonyen masse). The museum also focuses on the history of Hartenbos itself.[17]
The Museum is well stocked withox wagons,weapons, and other historic artefacts, and is divided into ten halls depicting various aspects of the overall theme:
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