The FF Plus Youth in Gauteng has decided to act on its commitment to ensuring that the Afrikaner heritage is preserved for future generations by joining the Voortrekker Monument’s ‘Rebuild the Monument Project’.
The party’s youth has “purchased” the cenotaph in the Voortrekker Monument for an amount of R50 000 as part of the Voortrekker Monument’s Project to raise funds for the Monument’s maintenance. The buyer receives a certificate and the information is also recorded in the Monument’s archives.
The Voortrekker Monument and the Heritage Foundation suffered a severe financial blow during the Covid-19 pandemic seeing as they are mainly dependent on tourism.
Like all other cultures, the Afrikaner heritage was formed and moulded by its history and it is the youth’s responsibility to ensure that their heritage in its entirety remains intact for future generations. Thus, the FF Plus Youth is actively involved in the preservation of all monuments and memorials in the province.
The FF Plus Youth decided to buy the cenotaph specifically because it is the focal point of the Monument and it symbolizes the resting place of Voortrekker leader Piet Retief as well as all the Voortrekkers who died during the Great Trek.
The architect of the Monument, Gerard Moerdijk, designed the cenotaph so that the sun shines through an opening in the cupola onto the cenotaph every year on the 16th of December exactly at 12:00 enlightening the words “Ons vir jou Suid-Afrika” (We for Thee, South Africa).
The cenotaph is made of red granite from the Parys district in the Free State.
This Project offers the public the opportunity to contribute financially to the protection of South Africa’s historical heritage. For more information, please visit the following link here
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Jean Kriek on FF Plus
South Africa Today – South Africa News
