in Pretoria, the eighth leader of the Voortrekker, Prof. T. P. Strauss (“oom Piet”) was elected. Constant adaptations were made, and are still made, to transform the Voortrekkers to a more modern youth movement for Afrikaners. At the congress of 2005, Prof Strauss was once again elected as leader for the next four years. In 2009 he was again elected as the leader of the Voortrekkers. 2013-current At the 2013 congress, Dr Danie Langner was elected as the new Voortrekker leader. Dr Langner is also the Managing Director of the FAK ( Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Associations) as of 2012. Organisation Organisationally, the Voortrekkers are divided into a number of gebiede (areas) which correspond to the old pre-1994 South African provinces plus Namibia, which in turn are subdivided into oorde (districts) and then kommandos (commandos). Each kommando consists of a number of spanne (teams). Membership levels At primary-school level (ages 5–12), members are known as Penkoppe (boys) and Drawwertjies (girls); the emphasis at this stage is to develop personal leadership qualities. In high school (ages 13–17), members are referred to as Verkenners (scouts) and its emphasis is to continue what was learned in the earlier primary-school phase by applying its lessons to developing general leadership skills. Young adult members (ages 18–30) are known as Staatmakers (dependables), with the program emphasising training for leadership positions at its several levels of organisation. See also Ernest George Jansen External links Afrikaner organizations Society of South Africa Youth organisations based in South Africa Youth organizations established in 1931 1931 establishments in South Africa