Abstract
As a prominent Afrikaner intellectual, Prof. Willie Esterhuyse’s political thinking during the years 1973 to 1987 was widely reflected in the press. Throughout this period, Esterhuyse consistently encouraged fellow Afrikaners to adopt a non-discriminatory attitude toward people of colour and acted as a champion for a new constitutional order – which indeed became a reality in 1983, although a fully democratic dispensation only emerged twelve years later. He repeatedly defended his position as an enlightened critic and remained loyal for many years to the ruling National Party and the Afrikaner Broederbond. However, in 1987 he ultimately concluded that reform needed to go further and that the National Party was no longer the appropriate vehicle for this. He was soon after drawn into a new role, that of facilitator of talks about talks between the government and the African National Congress.
This article poses two key questions:
- How did his thinking develop up to the point he broke with the ruling National Party? and
- How should one assess his possible influence on the Afrikaans public?
The possible influence of W.P. Esterhuyse’s thinking, given the press coverage it received, is examined in light of certain media-theoretical perspectives, namely the agenda-setting theory and the multi-step flow model, which are themselves the outcome of decades-long debates on the influence of the media. The consistency of his message is also relevant, as it may contribute to acceptance.
The aim is not to deal with the empirical material deductively; nor does the article intend to test or develop the theories/models inductively. The sole purpose is to describe the historical development of Esterhuyse’s thought, but specifically as it was reflected in the press. It is therefore situated within a media-historical and media-theoretical context, and against the background of the multi-step flow theory, which offers a valuable framework for understanding how media messages are dispersed in societies. It also recognizes the active role of other opinion leaders and audiences’ role in interpreting media content.
The use of Esterhuyse’s own news-clip collection can be described as a convenience sample. The themes (e.g., discrimination, the necessity of good relations, and political reform) were identified, grouped chronologically, and recorded – each time with reference to the specific publication and occasion (where applicable) during which Esterhuyse delivered a lecture or speech that was reported on.
The qualitative analysis of reports, letters, articles, and reviews provides an indication of Esterhuyse’s thinking, how it developed over time, and how certain newspapers paid attention to it. The focus is therefore on Esterhuyse, not the newspapers as such. The main goal is to trace his developing thought, but specifically insofar as it was covered in newspapers. His books are not addressed here, except to the extent that they received press coverage.
Esterhuyse was clearly presented by newspapers as a thought leader, although he was by no means the first Afrikaner intellectual to express open criticism of aspects of Afrikaner thought, especially concerning apartheid. Because newspapers regarded his thinking as important enough to give attention to, they acknowledged him as an agenda-setter – and fulfilled that role themselves as well.
There was an unspoken partnership between Esterhuyse and the press that possibly played a significant role in preparing voters for reform. This affirms the agenda-setting hypothesis, which holds that newspapers, on the one hand, present readers with an agenda of what to think about, while readers (or, in this case, an opinion leader like Esterhuyse) play a role in providing opinions to the newspaper.
Although the influence of newspapers cannot be determined with certainty, this article is essentially a case study of how the credibility of a source can lead to repeated exposure and contribute to a consistent message that, over time, may lead readers to a change in thinking. In this way, political and media history go hand in hand, though no definitive conclusions can be drawn about Esterhuyse’s influence on readers. Rather, this should be cautiously interpreted within the context of the multi-step flow model – a model that emphasizes the complexity of influence and how it flows via the media and users even to non-users.
This perspective to some extent relativises the importance of the press/media and also highlights the role of active users and other stakeholders. It does not diminish the role of a public intellectual like Esterhuyse; instead, it underscores the multifaceted nature of the political influence process within a democratic context. In a period where the press was still a major role player, it is important to note that intellectuals such as Esterhuyse were invited to write opinion pieces for newspapers or magazines.
As an Afrikaans intellectual who supported the National Party (NP), Esterhuyse had free access to the Afrikaans media. It is also noteworthy how the Sunday Times, as the largest newspaper in the country and a sharp critic of government policy, repeatedly gave Esterhuyse the opportunity to express his views. Esterhuyse’s friend Tertius Myburgh, editor of the newspaper, may have given him prominent space for various reasons: The articles were highly readable, clearly had a reformist agenda, and may have attracted Afrikaans readers to the paper – thus a win-win situation.
An important further dimension of Esterhuyse’s potential influence is that he and other commentators expressed opinions that newspapers could, at times, align with, or which affirmed viewpoints the newspapers had already taken. This closely ties in with the core idea of the multi-step flow model.
Together, these articles helped create a climate in which the ruling party could move away from a policy that excluded Coloured people and people of Indian descent from political representation to one in which they could take up their place in Parliament in 1983. After that, the reality of Black citizenship could come to the fore, and thinking could move beyond the policy of independent national states (homelands). In the meantime, many discriminatory laws were repealed one by one, and the ground was prepared for what was to come.
Naturally, all this exchange of ideas in the media did not take place in a vacuum. The growing unrest among Black and Coloured people, as well as international pressure and a weakening economy, all played a role. But while some Nationalists saw this as a reason to dig in their heels (and even to break away and form the Conservative Party), others gradually abandoned their entrenched positions.
Could the opinions expressed by newspapers and spokespersons like Esterhuyse have contributed to this? According to the assimilation model, it is entirely possible: When people are exposed over a long period to a consistent viewpoint that challenges their own deeply held beliefs, change is possible. In Esterhuyse’s case, he also frequently appealed to the Christian ethics of his fellow Afrikaners, thereby confronting them with questions that challenged their perspectives.
Although white voters still strongly supported the NP in 1989 and voted against the newly-formed Democratic Party, the majority of white voters accepted F.W. de Klerk’s change in direction on 2 February 1990 without protest.
While many other factors were at play, the role of opinions expressed via newspapers is difficult to dismiss. Apart from the obvious agenda-setting role, its connection to the multi-step flow model is important. Greater understanding can be sought in light of the model’s emphasis on ideas disseminated through communication networks. In this way, the thoughts of Esterhuyse (and others) were potentially disseminated to an ever-widening circle, but within a complex process where media messages were not directly transferred to a passive audience. Instead, intermediaries (fellow opinion makers such as politicians, cultural leaders, ministers, school principals) interpreted, relayed, and rephrased the message(s) before it reached an even broader public.
Therefore, one cannot make a definitive judgement about Esterhuyse’s possible influence. Other theoretical and methodological approaches will open up different perspectives and may increase understanding of a remarkable figure, but they will necessarily have to take account of Esterhuyse as a front-line thinker on newspapers’ news and opinion pages.
Keywords: Afrikaner intellectual; agenda setting; apartheid; multi-step flow model; National Party; newspapers; press coverage; political views; W.P. Esterhuyse
- The feature image of this article was taken by Naomi Bruwer and obtained from the LitNet archive.
Lees die volledige artikel in Afrikaans
Die voorposdenke van W.P. Esterhuyse, soos weerspieël in die pers (1973–1987)