Japie Gouws, MD of the ATKV.

It is the organisation’s premise to help people to understand each other better, build bridges between cultural groups and to focus on things on which we agree, of which there are many. In this regard we’ve been quite successful and today the ATKV is probably one of the most inclusive organisations of its kind in South Africa.

We cannot demand for Afrikaans if we cannot demand it for other languages. Our attitude and message are that Afrikaans-speaking people are nice folk and that Afrikaans has great value, just like the other languages. We also wish to stress and highlight the potential of all other languages and what they can gain from marketing and advertising.

Stories are a word often used by the ATKV. We listen carefully to other people’s stories so that we can understand them: where they hail from, their sorrow, their joys. Yes, you also tell your own stories, but in the first instance, you listen to other people’s tales. Everything we do centres on stories. This is how you build a bridge, a nation and encourage and achieve reconciliation.

Pendoring has positioned itself as an organisation that proclaim, ‘Let’s put shoulder to the wheel, pull together and promote what’s important to us: mother tongue advertising.'

The ATKV is not fighting for Afrikaans; it markets Afrikaans. We are not belligerent; we do not rush to court. When you can convince people with anti-Afrikaans sentiments, or non-Afrikaans speakers, of the value of Afrikaans and other indigenous languages, it is so much more gratifying. This is exactly how we approach Afrikaans, and I firmly believe there are still many opportunities in the current South African environment to market Afrikaans. We do not have to wallow in the doldrums. I wish the ATKV could have been twice its size; that there were two or three other organisations that could do this type of thing because there is great potential.

The Pendoring Advertising Awards will be open for entries from 8 May to 1 August 2017.