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'{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] --> | name = Daniel Francois Roodt | image = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|5|26|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Springs, Gauteng|Springs]], [[Gauteng]], [[South Africa]] | occupation = Activist, Essayist, Novelist, Poet, Literary Critic. | nationality = [[South Africa]] | website = http://roodt.org | influences = | influenced = | awards = }} '''Daniel Francois Roodt''' (born 26 May 1957) is a South African [[activist]], literary critic and [[writer]]. ==Biography== ===Early life and education=== Roodt was born in the mining town of Springs, east of [[Johannesburg]], [[South Africa]]. He went to primary school at Laerskool Christaan Beyers where he became headboy. He was a member of the [http://www.voortrekkers.org.za/ Voortrekkers], an Afrikaner Youth Movement. As a small boy, he read avidly, including Afrikaans children's literature and encyclopaedia articles on Greek and Roman mythology. His father, Daniel Roodt Sr., regularly read some poetry to him by classical Afrikaans poets such as [[A.G. Visser]], [[Eugène Marais]] and Dutch poet [[A. Roland Holst]]. Because he intended studying law, he had to enrol for Latin at high school. He therefore went to the prestigious Hoër Seunskool Helpmekaar in Johannesburg (today [[http://www.helpmekaar.co.za Helpmekaar Kollege]]). His Latin teacher was Mr. Piet van Rensburg who was later murdered in an armed robbery on the outskirts of Johannesburg in Kya Sands. Roodt participated in a number of sports, but excelled at athletics, especially the high jump. He played some rugby, participated in swimming, rowing, tennis, badminton, cross-country and chess. He received Southern Transvaal colours in cross-country. However, in the high jump he regularly set new records, was Southern Transvaal champion, high school interbond champion and while still under-16 competed in the under-17 South African championships. Already at school, Roodt was an accomplished writer, receiving high marks for composition. His trainer in the high jump, Mr. Louis Malan, was also he head of the Afrikaans department at Helpmekaar and thought highly of him. Both his English teachers, Keith Allen and Peter Lynsky, encouraged him to read modern classics such as James Joyce and George Orwell. Together with friends, he regularly visited downtown Johannesburg which was then a mainly white city and the nearby highrise apartment areas such as Hillbrow and Berea. At the age of 14, Roodt won a prize during a radio quiz on Olympic athletics champions. When he was 15, Roodt gave an impromptu lecture in class on the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre. While in matric in 1974, he supported the liberal party, the Progressive Party of Mrs. [[Helen Suzman]] and Mr. [[Colin Eglin]]. After completing his schooling in Johannesburg, he enrolled for a [[Bachelors degree]] at the [[University of Witwatersrand]]. Roodt lectured at the [[University of Durban-Westville]] for a while, and in [[1985]] left South Africa for [[France]] to avoid [[conscription]] in the South African Defence Force.<ref name="a72497"/><ref name="mond">{{cite web|url=http://www.oulitnet.co.za/mond/danroodt.asp |title=LitNet: Die mond is nie geheim nie |publisher=Oulitnet.co.za |date= |accessdate=2010-07-28}}</ref> His literary works had been banned by the South African government.<ref>http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/555568/South-Africa/260145/Literature</ref> While studying in France, Roodt's political ideas changed; where he was once anti-establishment and opposed the [[Afrikaner]] government in South Africa, he became a staunch opposer of [[communism]].<ref name="a72497"/> ===Career=== After returning to South Africa in [[1992]], Roodt worked for Citibank until [[1999]], and in [[2000]] he co-founded PRAAG (Pro-Afrikaanse Aksiegroep, or Pro-Afrikaans Action Group),<ref name="a72497"/> which describes itself as an extra-parliamentary movement devoted to the rights of Afrikaners.<ref>[http://www.praag.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=3&id=23&Itemid=117 PRAAG Homepage]</ref> PRAAG also has a publishing division, which has published some of Roodt's most recent writing. Roodt has contributed articles to Focus, the journal of the liberal [[Helen Suzman Foundation]], columns to ''[[American Renaissance (magazine)|American Renaissance]]'', a [[white nationalist]] magazine, various scientific or academic journals in South Africa, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as a host of articles in South African newspapers such as ''The Mail & Guardian'', ''The Sunday Times'', ''Business Day'', ''Beeld'', ''Die Burger'' and ''Rapport''. He also regularly appears on television and radio talkshows in South Africa. In May 2011 Roodt stood for the [[Freedom Front Plus]] during the municipal elections as a candidate in Johannesburg, but was not elected. ===Activism=== Roodt has strong views on the preservation of Afrikaans and Afrikaner culture.<ref name="mond"/> He maintains a blog and the PRAAG website, commenting constantly on actual issues in South Africa. Roodt also regularly writes letters regarding political matters to various South African (mostly Afrikaans) newspapers and the literary [[e-zine]] LitNet.<ref name="Venter, A 2007. pp. 501-502">Venter, A. 2007. Book Review: ''Aweregs: politieke essays''. ''Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe'', 47(3):pp. 501-502.</ref> ===Controversy=== Roodt caused a controversy after creating an internet site for the purpose of insulting South African journalist, writer and activist [[Max du Preez]]. Roodt explained that he had set up the site so that anyone who disliked Du Preez and his views, could openly express their dislike on the website.<ref>http://afrikaans.news24.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Du-Preez-Roodt-kruis-swaarde-20100110</ref> When contacted by Afrikaans Sunday newspaper [[Rapport]] for comment, Du Preez merely replied that 'it only confirms what I suspected: That Dan has a [[Homoeroticism|homo-erotic]] fixation with me'.<ref>http://www.nuus24.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1479/781e3207a1eb4375ae2eb325f7c643fe/10-01-2010-07-05/Du_Preez,_Roodt_kruis_swaarde |title=Du Preez, Roodt kruis swaarde: Nuus24: Suid-Afrika: Nuus |publisher=Nuus24 |date=2010-01-10 |accessdate=2010-07-28}}</ref> In May 2011, the domain name in question was seized by the regulator of South African web domain names, and given to Du Preez.<ref name="rapport.co.za">http://www.rapport.co.za/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Max-du-Preez-kry-sy-naam-terug-20110528</ref> A judge had ruled that Roodt had misused Du Preez's name as part of a slanderous campaign against the latter.<ref name="rapport.co.za"/> The website has since been offline. In March 2010 Roodt advised Afrikaners to support the [[association football|football]] team of the [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]] instead of the [[South Africa national football team|South African team]] in the [[FIFA World Cup]], hosted by South Africa in June and July 2010.<ref>http://www.praag.co.za/dan-roodt-magazine-178/7373-afrikaners-behoort-nederlandse-sokkerspan-te-ondersteun.html</ref> In May 2010 Roodt travelled to Europe where he met with [[Neo-Nazi]] and far-right political associations to discuss the ideal of the Afrikaner [[Volkstaat]].<ref name="c605">http://www.rapport.co.za/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Roodt-soek-in-Europa-steun-van-neo-Nazis-20100605</ref> In [[Sweden]] he met with members of the Swedish Resistant Movement ([[Swedish language|Swedish]]: [[Svenska Motståndsrörelsen]]),<ref name="c605"/> an openly [[militant]] Neo-Nazi organization that honours controversial figures such as [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref>[http://patriot.nu/artikel.asp?artikelID=1244 Patriot.nu]</ref> Roodt reportedly held talks with [[Filip Dewinter]], one of the leading members of the Flemish separatist party [[Vlaams Belang]]. On the July 5th episode of ''[[The Daily Show with John Stewart]]'' Roodt was interviewed by John Oliver in a piece entitled "The Amazing Racists." During the interview (which Oliver refers to as a "tasting tour of some of the finest examples of vintage bigotry") Roodt discusses his views on the dangers of interracial breeding, the supposedly inherent differences between races, and the need for a separate exclusively white nation.<ref>http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-july-5-2010/oliver---world-cup-2010--into-africa---the-amazing-racists Dan Roodt in Satire on The Daily Show</ref> ===Writing=== Roodt's first novel, ''Sonneskyn en Chevrolet'' (Taurus, [[1980]]), is an anti-establishment commentary on South African society (and specifically Afrikaner society) of that time.<ref name="k608">Kannemeyer, J.C. 2005. ''Die Afrikaanse literatuur, 1652-2004''. Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau. p.608.</ref> His only published volume of [[poetry]] to date, ''Kommas uit 'n boomzol'' (Uitgewery Pannevis, 1980), structurally parodies ''Komas uit 'n bamboesstok'' (Human & Rousseau, [[1979]]), a volume of poetry by famous Afrikaans poet [[D.J. Opperman]].<ref name="k608"/> Afrikaans [[literary critic]] [[John Christoffel Kannemeyer|John Kannemeyer]] asserts that there is 'no one poem of any intrinsic value' in ''Kommas uit 'n boomzol'', and similarly views Roodt's subsequent prose work ''Twee sinne'' (Taurus, 1985).<ref name="k608"/> Roodt's first publication after ''Twee sinne'' is a long critical [[essay]] on the South African [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] (TRC) entitled ''Om die Waarheidskommissie te vergeet'' ('Forgetting the Truth Commission', [[2001]]). This would be PRAAG's first publication of one of Roodt's works. In 2004, PRAAG published the novel ''Moltrein'', which is about a promising musician who leaves South Africa during the 1980s to avoid military service in the South African Defence Force. Kannemeyer notes that the use of the Afrikaans language in this novel is testament to the author's ineptness with using the language, and that with this novel Roodt makes no new contribution to the Afrikaans literature.<ref>Kannemeyer, J.C. 2005. ''Die Afrikaanse literatuur, 1652-2004''. Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau. p.609.</ref> In 2005 Roodt released ''The Scourge of the ANC'' (PRAAG), a heavy critique against the ANC, but also against the former South African government under leadership of [[FW de Klerk]].<ref name="a72497"/> The following year, ''Aweregs'' (PRAAG, [[2006]]), another collection of political essays, was released. Regarding ''Aweregs'', Venter notes that if the ultimate aim of the book is <blockquote> to demonstrate the author's pessimism regarding Africa, the [[African National Congress]] (ANC), "the new" South Africa, and supporters of the idea that Afrikaans can only survive by developing [[multilingualism]] in South Africa, then Roodt's vision succeeds. But it is a limited and distressing vision. ''Aweregs'' is in that case merely a sly, polemical work for the sake of being mean and controversial.<ref name="Venter, A 2007. pp. 501-502"/> </blockquote> ===Personal life=== Roodt currently lives with his wife, Karin (née Bredenkamp), and their three children in Dainfern [[Golf]] and Country Estate in Johannesburg, South Africa.<ref name="a72497"/> ==See also== + [[Afrikaans]] * [[Afrikaans literature]] * [[Afrikaner]] * [[Afrikaner nationalism]] * [[Apartheid]] * [[Boer]] ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==External links== * [http://roodt.org/ Roodt's personal blog] * [http://praag.org/ Homepage of the Pro-Afrikaans Action Group] * [http://therightperspectivepodcastblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/hello-africa-dr-dan-roodt.html Hello, Africa! Interview: Discussion of a Boer Volkstaddt] {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME =Roodt, Dan | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =1957-05-26 | PLACE OF BIRTH =[[Springs, Gauteng|Springs]], [[Gauteng]], [[South Africa]] | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Roodt, Dan}} [[Category:1957 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Afrikaans-language writers]] [[Category:South African white nationalists]] [[Category:South African writers]] [[af:Dan Roodt]]'