Identity still triumphs in multicultural politics

In 1997 the American political scientist Samuel Huntington made the following observation: “In the post cold war world the most important distinctions among people are not ideological, political or economic. They are cultural.” Huntington predicted that “Who are we?” would be one of the most fate-determining and decisive questions of the 21st century. Here in South Africa, as well as increasingly in Western politics, Huntington is being proven correct. In America, for example, the political discourse is being dominated increasingly by debates on what an American exactly is.

Here in South Africa, we see new data that challenges established, decade-old dogmas on identity, showing us in which direction the winds are blowing, like a windsock. Recent research by AfroBarometer emphasises the fact that ethnic identity will be a determining factor in South African politics in the foreseeable future. One of the survey questions gave respondents the option to choose between their South African national identity and their cultural identity (for example, Afrikaner, Zulu, Xhosa, Coloured, etc.). The results speak volumes.

Over the past 20 years, the number of South Africans who primarily identify themselves according to their ethnic identity has increased significantly, doubling from 13% in 2006 to 26% in 2026. Alongside this development, the percentage of South Africans that value their ethnic identity equally strong to their South African national identity has more than doubled in this same period from 28% to 58%. Lastly, the percentage of the population who regard their South African identity as primary dramatically decreased from 59% to a mere 16%. The situation has therefore evolved from national identity dominating – reaching a high point of 70% in 2011 – to ethnic identity either sharing the top spot or occupying it exclusively for 84% of South Africans in 2025.

Each person’s multiple identities are by nature arranged hierarchically. For example, I identify as a Christian, Afrikaner, Afrikaans speaker, African, South African, part of the Western civilisation, Pretorian, a former Bolander, WP supporter and many more. None of these identities denies any of the other, but they do form a hierarchy. The higher an identity’s position in this hierarchy, the more difficult it would be – and even traumatic – to lose or to have it taken away. Today there are parties who demand that different cultures in a multicultural society should have but one identity. This zero-sum mentality can be found in the words of Mozambique’s former President, Samora Machel: “For the nation to live, the tribe must die.”

A community of communities

South Africa is a collection of a myriad different cultures, religions, languages and so forth – each one an identity in a community of communities. Our country’s history is full of cautionary tales about the results of one central power that attempts to standardise different communities into a universal monoculture, or by forcing them to subject their mother languages or cultural traditions to a single, new identity.

A die-hard fact remains: For a significant number of Afrikaners, the prerequisite to being comfortably South African is the freedom to be proud and unashamed Afrikaners. The latest AfroBarometer data shows that this fact also holds true for other cultural groups in South Africa. Otherwise, the South African identity feels like a dominating, exclusionary project – a jealous god. Those who react maliciously or hostile towards Afrikaners who celebrate the Day of the Vow or towards Zulus who celebrate Shaka Day should keep this in mind.

The writings and statements of certain analysts and politicians create the idea that a strong sense of cultural identity should not be allowed for everyone, because to them this is divisional and a threat to harmony and peace in South Africa. They also demand that all South Africans must primarily regard their South African identity above all their other identities. This vision is irreconcilable with reality, as the latest data shows. The opposite has happened over the past two decades, with cultural identity reasserting itself, rather than fading in importance. We should therefore stop chasing the end of the rainbow and rather see the multicultural South Africa for what it is, and not for what some people want it to be. We must accept the reality of identity in South Africa, even if it renders certain ideologues uncomfortable, and try to truly understand it. Our actions and plans for the future must therefore be adapted to function within this reality, to even complement it, rather than fighting it in futility.

The solution for the given multiculturalism challenge of our time, with which us as well as other Western societies currently struggle, is not to be found along the road of standardisation of humankind or cultural destruction, but rather along the road of consistent mutual recognition and respect. Cultural communities’ only option is not a binary choice between an inferiority and a superiority complex. The sustainable road rather lies in a third option, along the golden midway of allowing and even encouraging healthy cultural self-respect. Each culture should be afforded the space and freedom to be proud of their history, heritage, religion, traditions, values, heroes and ancestors. The hypocritical approach that allows pride only in certain cultures while condemning others to exclusion, collective guilt, scapegoat status and shared shame clearly sowed much more racial conflict and division than what it tried to prevent.

Cultural wealth

The Afrikaner philosopher N.P. van Wyk Louw described the cultural and linguistic wealth of humankind as a collection of unique instruments in the orchestra of God. It is not an evil endeavour to treasure your own unique language and culture, or to protect it against threats so that we can pass it on to the next generation. “We are allowed to be on our own side,” Flip Buys often reminds us. Identity, especially cultural identity, clearly lies close to the hearts of most South Africans.

Any hope of a future in which intercultural cooperation is at the order of the day will depend on whether we will react less prescriptive and more curious about the phenomenon of different cultural identities. Freedom of association and freedom of dissociation should both be protected and respected in a multicultural society. Forced integration is as abusive of human rights and immoral as forced separation. Let us encourage mutual respect and acknowledgement and investigate how different indigenous cultural communities of South Africa – white, brown and black – appreciate and experience this southernmost point of Africa in their own ways. To think that the tower of Babylon can by erected today through a melting-pot mixture of monoculturalism is wishful thinking of the first water. I would rather explore a diverse cultural rainforest than a uniform pine plantation.