Volksmoeder steeds vandag volksvreemd: portrayals of Afrikaner women and femininity in the music of Koos Kombuis

Abstract

Koos Kombuis, a member of the Voëlvry movement, is an Afrikaans musician who wrote and performed anti-establishment Afrikaans  songs in the 1980s. These songs served as a mechanism for critiquing the South African National Party, the apartheid regime and  conservative Afrikaner traditions. His music, both in solo contexts and with his backing band Die Warmblankes, acts as a pointed and  sometimes humorous reflection on various Afrikaner cultural tropes. Rooted in Afrikaner nationalism and conservative Calvinism,  traditional Afrikaner culture requires its members to conform to conventional and stereotypical gender roles. The notion of Afrikaner women having to appear ordentlik (respectable, proper), as described by Van der Westhuizen (2017), stems from the volksmoeder ideal  that emerged after the Anglo-Boer War. In the ‘orthodox’ version of the volksmoeder tenet, Afrikaner women’s highest calling and  greatest fulfilment are found in their own homes, where they are required to physically and morally ‘reproduce’ the nation. This  volksmoeder ideal, although it may sound outdated, still holds true in many South African households today, with women expected to be  ordentlik. This article examines the portrayal of traditional feminine gender roles in the music of Kombuis, specifically in the song ‘AWB- Tiete’ (‘AWB Tits’). By analysing the lyrical and musical content of this song through the lens of gender theory, ‘AWB-Tiete’ can be  understood as a satirical commentary on an idealised version of Afrikaner femininity.