Voortrekker Monument

The following blog post was written on the evening of the 23^rd July. Due to technological restrictions it was posted at a later date.

Today we visited the Voortrekker Monument in Petoria and I am still not sure that I am entirely comfortable with the visit. The Monument was built in 1949 to honor the voortrekkers (which were Boer pioneers) that traveled across South Africa to establish Petoria in 1835, which became known as the Great Trek. The Monument also honors the victory of the Boers at the battle of Blood River during which they fought against the Zulu and the leader of the battle who the city of Petoria is named for (there is talk about renaming the city because of this). The museum continues to house the eternal flame, lit to symbolize the “light of civilization carried forth by the Voortrekker movement,” which to me does not necessarily have a place in a post-apartheid society.

Although the information the museum shares may be historically accurate, they seem to be missing a huge piece of the picture-things that seemed obvious to me when walking through the museum. The fact that the land the Voortreekers believe God gave them was already inhabited by the Zulu is completely missing from the museum. The only way you would even know Zulu were involved in the conflict is through the images depicting them being defeated by well dressed Boers. The fact that the Afrikaans/apartheid government would spend so much money building such a magnificent museum to honor the Great Trek during an era that offered Black South Africans so little in terms of freedom is also shocking.

The place was a little too much for me, to be honest. It would be like having an enormous monument to honor the expansionists at the Battle of Little Big Horn and ignoring the fact that American Indians were involved.

The gift store was also strange…you could buy a mug with a picture of Nelson Mandela’s head on it or one with the pre-1994 flag.