On the Day of Reconciliation 2019, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa described the Voortrekkers as invaders and the Zulu army as "Freedom Fighters". Dirk Hermann, managing director of the trade union Solidarity, criticised this historical claim as inaccurate and as a "criminalisation of Afrikaner history", and emphasised the reconciliatory message of politician Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
