Great Trek Was Not From Cape Town.

There are some folks who often erroneously presume that the Great Trek of the 19th cent was from Cape Town [ as noted by the author cited in source # 17 of: The Cape Rebels Were Not Cape Dutch. ] when in fact the Great Trek was virtually entirely from the Cape frontier where the Boer population had developed at least 150 years prior. This confusion likely arises from the fact that the centennial celebration of the Great Trek was organized to start at Cape Town but that did not reflect the true history concerning the matter. One of the main reasons for recreating the Great Trek as starting at Cape Town during the centennial celebrations was no doubt to foster a monolithic Afrikaner identity so as to cover up the distinct Boer identity of the participants of the Great Trek. The Boer people of the frontier were much more prone to trek [ & in fact had a long history of trekking ] due to their long standing anti-colonial outlook & desire for independence & freedom on the African continent. This outlook was not shared by the Cape Town & Cape Dutch population.  

The Afrikaners Did Not Go On The Great Trek.

The principle participants during the era of the Great Trek were the Boer people of the Cape frontier. The Boers emerged on the Cape frontier starting during the late 17th cent [ just a few decades after the initial arrival of the Dutch East India Company ] & trekked further inland throughout the 1700s. The Boers are the descendents of the Trekboers who settled into the Cape frontier region. The folks who would appropriate the term Afrikaner in a political context [ circa late 19th cent ] where then still known as the Cape Dutch during the era of the Great Trek & remained where they were during the Great Trek.     

The RSA Was Not a True Republic.

The Republic of South Africa declared on May 31 1961 was only ever a republic in name alone thus a nominal republic as it maintained the British Westminster system & turned the post of Governor-General into a ceremonial State President. 

[ The Constitution of the Republic differed remarkably little from the Union Constitution. The object of the exercise was to bring about a single political loyalty for all White South Africans, not a new system. Nationalists hoped that the English speakers would abandon their dual loyalty once they could no longer look to Britain as a fatherland. ] From: Page 494. The Afrikaners: biography of a people. By Hermann Buhr Giliomee.

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The notable Boer Patriot Robert van Tonder left the National Party in 1961 over that party's betrayal of the Boer Republics [ & noted that the RSA was a threat to Boer identity ] & started advocating for the restoration of the Boer Republics as the only measure to ensure the survival of the Boer people / nation.