Is the Right in South Africa Now Woke Too?

Has South Africa’s political right adopted the language and tactics of the woke left, or is Afrikaner self-protection something fundamentally different?

This article was first published in Afrikaans on Ontlaer on 14 May 2026. It has been slightly updated to incorporate recent commentary on wokeness within the political right.

It is being claimed in America, where else, that the right wing has also started using “wokeness” as an antidote to left-wing wokeness.

For example, an American article on the subject, titled “How the Woke Right Replaced the Woke Left,” by Thomas Chatterton Williams, was published in The Atlantic on 17 February 2025. Opinions about the so-called “woke right” have also appeared in other American publications, which are readily accessible to readers who want to explore more American perspectives on the matter.

One recent article, published in July 2026, was written by Ross Barkan and appeared on Substack. It is entitled “The Post-Woke World.” In his article, he refers to what the cultural critic Mo Diggs has called “Red Woke,” or right-wing woke: the new identity politics that conservative and MAGA forces have embraced.

Barkan writes that Woke 1.0, as he refers to the wokeness that prevailed under Democratic Party rule, died because:

“The excesses of the George Floyd/pandemic summer and the collapse of old Twitter, along with the natural passage of time, had weakened woke—but it became obvious, come 2025, the last vestiges of woke would not survive the assault from the federal government, whether it was the swift dismantling of DEI, the bullying of college administrations, or mass layoffs triggered by DOGE. Rather than foster a culture of free speech and free expression, conservatives simply embraced Red Woke, taking all the pathologies of the regime they hated and applying it to their own causes. They became the language cops, with even larger truncheons.”

The subject was also discussed locally not too long ago, specifically in The Common Sense on 7 April 2026.

The reason I am writing this opinion piece is to determine whether so-called “woke” behaviour can also be observed in right-wing circles in South Africa, as is apparently being witnessed in America. If it can, is it justified when judged in context?

Or is it simply the right mimicking the left because it has seen the results of wokeness and decided to weaponise a similar ideology for right-wing purposes here in South Africa?

The subject became particularly topical following the public outcry over the Afrikaners’ “Bokkieweek,” which was regarded by some as a sign of the resurgence of “apartheid attitudes” among right-wingers in South Africa. Asking whether right-wing wokeness exists in South Africa, and trying to find an answer, is therefore timely.

For those who do not know it, Bokkieweek is an annual gathering of Afrikaans children who participate in sporting activities as a cultural group. It gives them an opportunity to bond with one another through their shared language and culture.

It has been criticised as exclusionary by some non-Afrikaners, something that is not denied by the organisers of the event, which has taken place for many years. The event is specifically organised to allow Afrikaner children to mix, compete, build athletic skills, and enjoy the company of other children who share their language and cultural beliefs. It does so unapologetically.

What Is Wokeness?

First, a brief description of what I understand by “wokeness.”

It is an awareness of what individuals or groups perceive as social injustices, such as systemic racism, unearned privilege, gender discrimination, and discrimination against certain marginalised groups more generally.

Inequality in all spheres between people and groups is viewed as a great evil that must be fought. This awareness, or wokeness, is then translated into action aimed at confronting those held responsible for these injustices.

The confrontation takes various forms, including protest marches and the controversial “cancelling” of people or institutions that do not share the perceptions of left-wing woke individuals and groups.

Such cancellation consists of overt and hostile smearing, conducted by any means possible, with the aim of making the targeted individuals or groups appear irrelevant.

So-called “right-wing wokeness,” viewed broadly, sounds to me like the opposite of the left-wing wokeness conceived by the left.

Regarding “left” and “right,” I ask the reader to join me in treating these as very broad and oversimplified categories that divide individuals and groups into opposing schools of thought and action.

The left is often associated with the pursuit of greater equalisation. The right is often characterised as consisting of groups or individuals who feel strongly about maintaining and preserving distinctive group values, cultures, and traditions.

We could go much further with these definitions, but for our purposes, it is sufficient to determine whether wokeness, which initially originated on the left, has now begun to find traction on the right in South Africa, or perhaps has existed there for a long time.

We must also ask whether it can be justified when judged in context.

Are Afrikaner Organisations “Woke”?

Because the majority of Afrikaners in South Africa are viewed as being on the right rather than the left, according to my broad definition above, we must examine whether Afrikaners, and especially the organisations that try to protect their interests, also act in a woke manner.

I am aware that there is no consensus on who is or is not an Afrikaner. However, for the purposes of this opinion piece, I refer to Afrikaners in a simplified manner as the majority of people who support organisations such as AfriForum, Solidarity, and the Orania movement. I believe this is a reasonably safe assumption.

The question is therefore whether the Afrikaner supporters of these organisations permit them to act in a woke manner on the right, just as left-wingers and their organisations often practise wokeness within their own ranks.

Is it the same kind of wokeness? Is it justified when judged in context, assuming it does indeed exist within right-wing circles?

AfriForum explicitly campaigns for the protection of minority rights, with a particular focus on the Afrikaner community. In that respect, it is certainly right wing insofar as it seeks to protect and promote the interests of a specific cultural group.

Solidarity is also primarily focused on protecting the Afrikaner community’s continued existence within the economy. In that respect, it is also right wing.

Orania likewise focuses on Afrikaners, although it is more territorially inclined because its community occupies a single, legally defined area. It is also right wing in the sense that it promotes the interests of a specific cultural group.

But do these right-wing organisations act woke?

AfriForum

If we look at one of AfriForum’s primary functions, namely opposing injustices against a specific group, Afrikaners, it is difficult not to see an element of wokeness in it. It is, in other words, wokeness for the benefit of a predominantly right-wing group.

There is, however, an important difference between this and left-wing wokeness.

This right-wing wokeness is not used as a weapon to discredit, smear, or belittle other groups. Its purpose is not to cancel others. It is not weaponised against other communities, but used to retain, protect, and expand what is important to Afrikaners: mother-tongue education, greater self-reliance, reduced dependence on government, equality under the law, and similar objectives.

I cannot see how fulfilling this function can be regarded as weaponisation to the detriment of other groups. By trying to protect, maintain, and develop one’s own community, one is surely not necessarily pursuing the detriment of people outside that group.

Solidarity

How can Solidarity’s efforts to protect the economic survival of the Afrikaner community be seen as the weaponisation of wokeness intended to discredit or cancel other groups?

On the contrary, my observation is that Solidarity advocates alongside other groups for the protection of all workers’ rights.

If, in the process, it points out government efforts that specifically strip away the rights of Afrikaner workers, this still cannot be viewed as a right-wing woke attempt to cancel the rights of other workers.

Orania

In what way can it be argued that, because Orania promotes the interests of a specific cultural group, namely Afrikaners, its supposed right-wing wokeness disadvantages other groups?

Land ownership is readily available to all of South Africa’s various population groups. Many groups, such as the Zulus through the Ingonyama Trust, already possess substantial landholdings.

As far as Orania is concerned, any other population group is free to establish its own equivalent.

“Black is the new Orange,” in that case, to slightly twist the title of the famous television series.

A Defensive, Rather Than Punitive, Wokeness

My conclusion is that we do indeed see elements of wokeness within certain right-wing groups in South Africa.

Unlike left-wing or right-wing wokeness that seeks to disadvantage those who do not share its values, however, the South African right-wing groups discussed above are not geared towards revenge, retribution, condemnation, belittlement, or smearing.

They are not comparable to typical woke-left groups, or even to some woke-right groups in America.

I also do not think South African right-wing groups are merely trying to mimic the woke left. On the contrary, long before the current American debate, we had already realised that a minority such as the Afrikaners must be protected through a form of wokeness.

It is, however, a wokeness that is not weaponised to hurt others.

This stands in stark contrast to left-wing wokeness, which is frequently weaponised to cause harm. Right-wing wokeness intended to hurt others would be just as wrong, regardless of whether it took place in South Africa or elsewhere in the world.

Piet du Plessis is a retiree with a long history of involvement in applied socio-economic development. He describes himself as a liberated Afrikaner who has moved beyond self-flagellation and believes that he is free to live out his cultural pride and values, and to proclaim them openly when appropriate.