Volkskild
Meaning “People’s Shield” in Afrikaans
Volkskild is open to anyone with a serious interest in studying South Africa’s colonial history and contributing to the preservation of European colonial heritage in the region.
Mission
Volkskild exists to:
- Promote serious, evidence-based study of the colonial history of South Africa and the wider region.
- Preserve and celebrate the heritage of South Africans of European descent — Afrikaans- and English-speaking alike — as one community among the country’s many, with its own history, language, and traditions worth knowing.
- Equip its members, particularly its younger members, with a deep historical literacy and a confident sense of identity rooted in knowledge.
- Build practical connections between Afrikaans- and English-speaking South Africans of European descent, recognising the shared cultural inheritance that sits beneath their linguistic differences.
Founded in 2026, Volkskild opens for membership at the end of May and launches officially in September.
Volkskild — meaning “People’s Shield” in Afrikaans — is an apolitical cultural and heritage organisation dedicated to the serious study of South Africa’s colonial history and the preservation of the heritage of South Africans of European descent.
- Build practical connections between Afrikaans- and English-speaking South Africans of European descent, recognising the shared cultural inheritance that sits beneath their linguistic differences.
- Equip its members, particularly its younger members, with a deep historical literacy and a confident sense of identity rooted in knowledge
- Promote serious, evidence-based study of the colonial history of South Africa and the wider region.
- Preserve and celebrate the heritage of South Africans of European descent — Afrikaans- and English-speaking alike — as one community among the country’s many, with its own history, language, and traditions worth knowing.
Liam Richard May
Founder and director
Edward Rulph Brink
Founding member and director
Reinhard Herbert Tietz
Founding member and director