In 1993 Afrikaners faced a difficult political choice. We were confronted by the political reality of a process the outcome of which seemed uncertain at best, potentially devastating at worst. Given the fact that Afrikaners constitute just 8 per cent of the population, along with the immense international pressure in support of the process, we faced a tidal wave.

To claim that the process would be any less "legitimate" in our absence was ludicrous in view of our numerical position. It was regarded as legitimate among the majority of people in South Africa as well as the world in general.

Our choice was one of attempting to ride the wave or being washed up on the beach as a political corpse. The alternative would have been the use of violence to try to avert the inevitable. While militarily we may have won the battles, we would almost certainly have lost the war. The wave could simply not be broken or stopped.

As a result we decided to participate in what many of our supporters originally considered to be the "betrayal" of Afrikaner interests.

Some of our colleagues chose to stay behind and have since found themselves in the political wilderness, lacking the resources to continue the promotion of Afrikaner interests in the extra-parliamentary arena.

Had we heeded their advice we too would have shared this fate, and there would have been no political platform from which to propagate our ultimate political goal of Afrikaner self-determination.

Today we are in parliament and made use of the election to demonstrate that among the Afrikaner minority there is strong support for self-rule. In addition, we succeeded in influencing the constitution-writing process. The constitution holds specific enabling clauses which are vital in advancing towards a future territorial dispensation wherein Afrikaners can realise their desire to secure their identity as an ethno-cultural group.

All this could only be achieved from within the political process. Participation has achieved this and, since the demise of De Klerk and the National Party, placed us in a position from where we can rightfully claim to represent Afrikaner interests into the next millennium.

In a nutshell, non-participation is a one-shot political weapon. Unless it is followed by real political action or the creation of insurmountable realities on the ground, the process tends to steamroller those who stand in its way.

After the last press conference announcing one's boycott of the political process, it becomes increasingly difficult to have one's voice heard. The attention of the media and the world can then only be regained by extra-parliamentary action, and one invariably becomes more confrontational towards the process.

In fact, to be taken seriously again one is almost compelled to pose an obstacle to the very continuation of the process in order to be able to influence it from the outside. In most cases this can only be done with a certain amount of mass action or violence, resulting in escalation and a return to the streets.

From a moral point of view, those boycotting the process are thereby likely to abandon the "moral high ground" in favour of those within the process. As happened, with the Inkatha Freedom Party, their image then becomes increasingly tarnished and they are, often simplistically, regarded as "spoilers".

To re-enter the political arena from such a position is difficult and almost unavoidably subject to power-politics. In the end it is better to stay in the process, not to compromise one's principles, but in order to remain relevant and not relinquish the moral high ground to the opposition.

This does not mean "jellyfish politics" or that a "peace at any price" attitude can necessarily deliver peace in the true sense. There is always the risk of being politically outmanoeuvred. It merely means going in to ride the wave as far as it will go and then looking at one's options again.

Constance Viljoen was chief of the South African defence forces from 1980 to 1985; he is now leader of the Freedom Front, the fourth-largest party in the South African parliament, which espouses the cause of Afrikaner self-determination.