[1] In the words of its mission statement (as translated), "The Voortrekkers empowers the Afrikaners to be successful as positive citizens and dependable Christians."

In some ways the Voortrekker organisation represents an Afrikaans-language alternative to the largely English-speaking Boy Scout movement, with its British heritage.

Dr. Visser appealed to the directors of the Boy Scout movement (founded in 1907 and spreading to South Africa from 1908) to allow the incorporation of the Voortrekkers into the "broader church" under one umbrella, but this venture failed.

In 1920 the first "Kommando" of the Voortrekkers (English equivalent: "Troop") was established in Bloemfontein at the Central High School.

Voortrekkers and other Afrikaners celebrated this event widely, walking with burning torches in many locations in South Africa.

[3] A short while after the congress, Theuns de Wet broke away with "a small group" of Voortrekkers to form the Afrikaner Kultuurbond.

During Dreyer's term, the old-fashioned and formal, militaristic uniform, was replaced with a more modern and cost-effective Voortrekker attire.

Organisationally, the Voortrekkers are divided into a number of gebiede (areas) which loosely correspond to the South African provinces plus Namibia, which in turn are subdivided into oorde (districts) and then kommandos (commandos or troops).

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.