This is the view of Japie Gouws, chairman of the Pendoring board and Group MD of the ATKV, which has firmly supported the Pendoring Awards since their inception 16 years ago.
"The ATKV is totally inclusive of all Afrikaans speakers. The language has no boundaries; the great number of ATKV cultural projects that are enjoyed and supported across colour boundaries bears testimony to this," stresses Gouws.
Besides the significant number of Coloured people in the Western Cape who are proudly Afrikaans-speaking, there are also many black South Africans who fluently speak - and enjoy - Afrikaans.
To make additional provision for the needs of Coloured people in the Western Cape, the ATKV now also operates a fully-fledged regional office in Stellenbosch. Teachers teaching Afrikaans as a second and third language are also assisted by the ATKV with a variety of resources. On top of that, the majority of ATKV projects are specifically targeted at school-going youth and involve some 500 000 pupils annually.
ATKV Group MD Japie Gouws: “Afrikaans must not be marginalised; it also deserves a safe and secure place in Africa. By encouraging advertising people to create in Afrikaans, the ATKV also helps to strengthen the language in the advertising industry.”
Black choirs, for example, participate annually in the ATKV's popular Applous competition and often make it through to the finals. Even Chinese pupils have shown their mettle in Afrikaans at one of these competitions. And last year a female choir of black students from a residence at the University of Johannesburg walked away as Applous winners.
According to Gouws, the ATKV also likes to engage in talks with various Afrikaans stakeholder groups, such as Coloured poets and writers in the Western Cape, Afrikaans-speaking Muslims and Tswanas in the Northern Cape with Afrikaans as vernacular, to gauge their needs and to bring about greater mutual understanding and co-operation.
The Afrikaans culture is also vitally important and an integral part of the cultural objectives of the ATKV. "For this reason, the ATKV is involved with the Heritage Foundation (Erfenisstigting) and Voortrekker Monument, not only through board representation, but also financially. The contribution of Afrikaans-speakers to make a difference in South Africa now, is indispensable," emphasises Gouws.
"It's about Afrikaans. It must not be marginalised; it also deserves a safe and secure place in Africa. By encouraging advertising people to create in Afrikaans, the ATKV also helps to strengthen the language in the advertising industry.
"There are many Afrikaans speakers in the marketing world who can not only use their talent in aid of Afrikaans, but can also encourage and convince the companies and firms that employ them to create Afrikaans advertisements. By doing so, they will score points and make money," adds Gouws.
Pendoring GM Franette Klerck says the ATKV's ongoing support of Pendoring is invaluable.
"The commitment with which the ATKV promotes and manifests Afrikaans - 'from morning to night, from biltong to beskuit, from Ingrid Jonker to Karen Zoid, from Langlaagte to London', from rhymes to advertising, is not only commendable, it plays a decisive role in promoting goodwill and nation-building in South Africa - while the rainbow colour of each cultural and language group is allowed to shine brightly."
