"Bid vir my ma" : a narrative inquiry into the experiences of white Christian Afrikaner females during SADF conscription from 1980 until 1990

Abstract

This inquiry provides a narrative on the experiences of white Afrikaner females during 1980 and 1990 in South Africa. The Defence Amendment act of 1967 declared that every white male is to complete compulsory military service, and between 1960 and 1991 an estimated 600 000 white South African men were conscripted into the SADF. The conscription of white males had a profound impact on the experiences of white Afrikaner females in South Africa. Through a narrative inquiry into a familial archive, I trace an unknown local history that finds itself situated in the middle of the SADF’s campaign to a militarised South Africa. I contend that these stories of the ordinary offer up an opportunity to consider themes of whiteness, gender and memory. The inquiry identifies the role of Apartheid institutions such as the Dutch Reformed Church and SADF in the rise of Afrikanerdom and the lives of Afrikaners between 1980 and 1990. After the compulsory military service for white South African men ended in 1993, it became apparent to me that the experiences of the Border War were mainly silenced. I therefore provide a look into the photographs, objects of memory and practices of food making which speaks to the experiences of white Afrikaner women during 1980 and 1990 through the exhibit 'Pakkies aan Boetie’ (2019). The inquiry also considers, through the lens of popular culture, how Afrikaner youth born after 1994 navigate legacies of Apartheid and conscription.