Reconciliation: it's up to us!

Reconciliation Day (a public holiday) is significant to both the Afrikaner and African cultures. The holiday came into effect in 1994 after the end of apartheid, with the intention of fostering reconciliation and national unity. The day is also the de facto start of the South African summer holiday period being the first of four public holidays to fall in a sixteen-day period at the height of summer. (The other days are Christmas Day, Family Day (commonly called Boxing Day) and New Year’s Day).

For Afrikaners, 16 December was commemorated as the Day of the Vow, also known as Day of the Covenant or Dingaan's Day. The Day of the Vow was a religious holiday commemorating the Voortrekker victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838, and is still celebrated by some Afrikaners.

On the other side of the political spectrum, 16 December is also the anniversary of the 1961 founding of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), the armed wing of the African National Congress.

During the first 16 December Reconciliation Day celebrations in 1995, the founding president of our democracy, the late Nelson Mandela said: This Day of Reconciliation celebrates the progress we have made; it reaffirms our commitment; and it measures the challenges. 

"Reconciliation however, does not mean forgetting or trying to bury the pain of conflict. Today we re-affirm our solemn constitutional compact to live together on the basis of equality and mutual respect.”

He concluded with Let us join hands and build a truly South African nation.