Philippus Jacobus Wilhelmus Buys (born 1 March 1963) is a South African trade union leader. Born in

Delareyville Delareyville is a maize- and peanut-farming town situated in North West Province of South Africa. The town is 96 km south-west of Lichtenburg, 82 km north-east of Vryburg, 114 km north-west of Wolmaransstad, and 61 km north of ...

, Buys studied at

Potchefstroom University The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (abbreviated as PU for CHE) was a South African university located in Potchefstroom. Instruction was mainly in Afrikaans. In 2004, the university was merged with other institutions to c ...

and then the

University of Johannesburg The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is a public university located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), the Te ...

. He began working as an industrial relations officer at

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...

, then in 1992 moved to work as an organiser for the Mine Workers' Union (MWU). In 1994, he served on the

Volkstaat Council The Volkstaat Council ( af, Volkstaatraad) was an organisation of 20 people, created by the South African government, to serve as a constitutional mechanism to enable proponents of the idea of a Volkstaat to constitutionally pursue the establishme ...

, which investigated the potential of an

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...

Volkstaat The concept of a Volkstaat (, "People's State"), also called a Boerestaat, is a proposed view to establish an all-white Afrikaner homeland within the borders of South Africa, most commonly proposed as a fully independent Boer/Afrikaner nation ...

. In 1997, he became CEO of the MWU. At the time, the union was associated with

white nationalism White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara. ''Hate Crimes''. Greenwoo ...

and its membership had fallen to 30,000. Under Buys' leadership, the union was renamed as

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

, its membership greatly increasing. Buys also founded

AfriForum AfriForum is a South African non-governmental organisation focused mainly on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population. AfriForum has been frequently described as a white nationalist, alt-right, and Afrikaner nation ...

, which lobbies for the interests of Afrikaners.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buys, Flip 1963 births Living people People from North West (South African province) South African trade union leaders University of Johannesburg alumni