Abstract:
With the advent of a new political dispensation in South Africa in 1994, the newly
elected government of South Africa changed the name of the public holiday on 16
December from “the Day of the Vow” to “the Day of Reconciliation”. The intention of
this change was to further reconciliation and nation-building in a post-apartheid South
Africa. Many Afrikaners, however, continue to commemorate the 16 December 1838
vow as part of their religious practice. The focus of this article is to show that this poses a
major new challenge to the church in South Africa because reconciliation is not only the
task of the government, but one of the fundamental calls of the church. This article first
focuses on the roots of the vow as part of the Voortrekkers’ religious understanding of
themselves, the role it played in Afrikaner nationalism, and the actions of the South
African government since 1994 to further the day as a day of reconciliation. A
conclusion is then reached that the government alone will not succeed in changing the
minds of many conservative Afrikaners. The church will have to take up this challenge.
