Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging

The flag of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging

The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Template:Lang-en) or AWB, is a political and former paramilitary group in South Africa under the leadership of Eugène Terre'Blanche. They are committed to the restoration of an independent Boere-Afrikaner republic or "Boerestaat" within South Africa. In their heyday they received much publicity both in South Africa and abroad as an extremist white supremacist group. The organisation was reactivated in 2008.

Beginnings

The AWB was formed on 7 July 1973 in a garage in Heidelberg, Transvaal (now Gauteng), a town southeast of Johannesburg. Eugène Terre'Blanche, a former police officer, became disillusioned by then-Prime Minister B.J. Vorster's "liberal views," as well as what he viewed as Communist influences in South African society. Terre'Blanche decided to form the AWB with six other like-minded persons, and was elected leader of the organisation, a position he holds to this day.

Their objective was to establish an independent Boerestaat ("Boer State") for Boere-Afrikaner people, existing separately from South Africa, which was considered too left wing by Terre'blanche. The AWB was formed in an attempt to regain the ground lost after the Second Boer War: they intended to re-establish the Boer Republics of the past — the South African Republic (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek) and the Republic of the Orange Free State (Oranje Vrystaat) — which the European and American governments had recognised in the late 1800s.

Logo

The AWB flag is composed of three sevens in a white circle upon a red background, forming a triskelion.

Despite the strong resemblance to the swastika and the historic admiration for Nazism among the far right in South Africa, Terre'Blanche publicly claims to distance the AWB from this interpretation of the emblem. He claims instead that the sevens, 'the number of JAHWEH', 'stand to oppose the number 666, the number of the anti-Christ'. Red is considered to represent Jesus' blood, while black stands for bravery and courage. The inner white circle symbolizes the "eternal struggle". However, the resemblance to the national-socialist emblem is so strong that it raises the question if Terre'Blanches interpretation isn't a ruse.

The AWB also uses the "Vierkleur" or the original flag of the once independent Transvaal Republic.

Apartheid era

During the 1970s and 1980s, the AWB grew from the original 7 to several thousand white South Africans. They opposed the reform of Apartheid laws during the 1980s, harassing liberal politicians and holding large (and often quite rowdy) political rallies. Terre'Blanche used his flamboyant oratorical skills and forceful personality to win converts. He railed against the lifting of many so-called "Petty apartheid" laws such as the law banning interracial sex and marriage, as well as the larger and more important steps, such as limited political rights to Indians and Coloureds. During the State of Emergency (1984 to 1986) there were many reports of AWB violence against unarmed non-whites. The AWB was especially in opposition to the then-banned African National Congress. The ruling National Party considered the AWB to be little more than a fringe group, so while not officially endorsed, they were able to operate relatively unhindered. However in 1986, white police officers took the unprecedented step of using tear gas against Terre'Blanche and the AWB when they disrupted a National Party rally. The organisation is estimated to have had support amongst 5 to 7 percent of the White South African population in 1988. In the Nick Broomfield sequel, His Big White Self he claims that the organisation reached a peak of half a million supporters in their heyday.

Volkshulpskema

An economic crisis in the mid-1980s saw many poorer white South African families fall on hard times. The AWB instituted a programme to help the very poorest Afrikaner families. It was initially called the AWB Voedingskema (feeding scheme) and then the Volkshulpskema (people's help scheme), the programme contributed to the popularity of the AWB in the Afrikaner community. The scheme delivered a meal every day to 14,000 poor Afrikaner children in Pretoria. In the final 3 months of 1986 alone 300 tons of food was donated. In the winter, bedding was donated as well. Sympathetic mine owners and farmers 'arranged' jobs for unemployed Afrikaners on the farms and mines. Certain farmers also donated vegetables on an almost weekly basis to the poorest. Afrikaans singer Bles Bridges held a concert on March 3rd, 1987 in Pretoria and gave the 10,000 Rand raised to the AWB's People's Help Scheme.

During the end of apartheid

AWB Rally, Church Square, Pretoria in 1990.

During the negotiations that led to South Africa's first multiracial elections, the AWB threatened all-out war. During the Battle of Ventersdorp in August 1991, the AWB confronted police in front of the town hall where President F W de Klerk was speaking, and three AWB supporters and one passer-by were killed in the conflict. Later in the negotiations, the AWB stormed the Kempton Park World Trade Centre where the negotiations were taking place, breaking through the glass front of the building with an armoured car. The police guarding the centre failed to prevent the invasion. The invaders then took over the main conference hall, threatening delegates and painting slogans on the walls, but left again after a short period.

In 1988, the AWB was beset by scandal when claims of an affair with journalist Jani Allan surfaced. In July 1989, Cornelius Lottering member of breakaway AWB group "Orde van die Dood", orchestrated a failed assasination attempt on Allan's life by placing a bomb outside her Sandton apartment. Nick Broomfield's 1991 documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife claimed that Terre'Blanche had an affair with the Sunday Times journalist; a claim she denied as well as her portrayal in the documentary. This led to Allan taking libel proceedings against the documentary broadcaster Channel 4 in 1992 in the London High Court. During the trial, several transcripts of their alleged sexual relationship appeared in the South African and British press.Terre'Blanche also submitted a sworn statement to the London court denying that he had had an affair with Allan. Although the judge found that Channel 4's allegations had not defamed Allan, he did not rule on whether or not there had been an affair.

Bophuthatswana coup

Main article: Bophuthatswana coup

In 1994, before the advent of majority rule, the AWB gained international notoriety in its attempt to defend the dictatorial government of Lucas Mangope in the homeland of Bophuthatswana. The AWB, along with a contingent of about 90 Afrikanervolksfront militiamen entered the capital of Mmabatho on March 10 and March 11. During their entry to the homeland they were all observed indiscriminately shooting civilians and tossing grenades from their vehicles. After the black soldiers and police with Bophuthatswana Defence Force (they and the AWB were out in force to support president Mangope) witnessed these killings, they disappeared from the streets in protest. They later turned on the AWB/Volksfront militiamen at the airport at Mafikeng. One AWB member was shot and killed when the convoy attempted to leave the airport and continue on to Mmabatho. When in Mmabatho, the AWB and the Afrikaner Volksfront found themselves under continuous siege from both the Bophuthatswana Defence Force and Mmabatho citizens. When attempting to retreat from Mmabatho on March 11, three AWB members were killed by Defence Force members after they had been wounded in a firefight. Nearby photojournalists and televison news crews recorded the incident which proved to be a public relations disaster for the AWB, demoralized the white right , and showed the world in stark terms that decades of white supremacy had come to an end. Despite this disaster, Eugène Terre'Blanche proclaimed the failed campaign a victory because over a hundred Bophutatswana soldiers were killed and only three AWB members were killed.

Post-apartheid

On June 17, 1997 Terre'Blanche was sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting a petrol station worker, John Ndzima, and the attempted murder of a security guard and former employee, Paul Motshabi. Terre'Blanche was released in June 2004 after serving 3 years in Rooigrond Prison near Mafikeng. During his time in prison he became a born-again Christian and claims he has moderated many of his more racist views and preaches reconciliation as 'prescribed by God'. However, the AWB website still claims these court cases and other scandals involving him were fabricated by the 'Black Government and the left wing media'.

There was controversy in April 2007, when AWB posters surfaced at the 13th Klein Karoo National Arts Festival in Oudtshoorn. Several posters made reference to the Bok van Blerk song 'De la Rey', an Afrikaans hit record about the Boer General as well as to South Africa's former coat of arms. Organisers were quick to remove the posters.

Reactivation 2008-

In March 2008, the AWB announced it was re-activating for 'populist' reasons, citing the encouragement of the public. Reasons for the return include the electricity crisis, corruption across government departments and rampant crime.. Plans include a demand for land that they claim is legally theirs in terms of the Sand River Convention of 1852 and other historical treaties, through the International Court of Justice in The Hague if necessary, and if that fails, taking up arms. In April 2008, Terre'Blanche was to be the speaker at several AWB rallies in Vryburg, Middelburg and Pretoria. There have been several articles in the South African press as well as in the British newspaper The Telegraph about the resurgence of the organisation. Although the organisation was not mentioned in the reporting of Sunday Times (South Africa) political poll amongst national urban voters. A rival party the Freedom Front Plus, a politically moderate right party that draws support from predominantly Afrikaner voters, garnered 1.6%.

Several areas in South Africa have been earmarked as part of a future Volkstaat according to three critical title deeds. The areas include; Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal, the old republics of Stellaland and Goosen in the far North-West and sections of the Free State.

Amidst a Facebook race row concerning North West University students, the South African press revealed that the AWB have been using the social networking site to recruit members. The Mail and Guardian newspaper revealed that the AWB group has over 5, 000 members, mostly twentysomethings and appeals to 18- to 35-year-olds to join the party's youth wing, saying: "Jou volk het jou nodig [Your people need you]."

Membership

Although primarily an Afrikaner movement, with Afrikaans as their sole official language, the AWB also had English-speaking white members. As Terre'Blanche's driver and AWB member, Jan 'J.P' Meyer, once remarked, "We have a large membership, even in parts of the country that we don't see as our the Boervolk homeland".

Their spokesperson, Andre Visagie, recently said that 500 people had attended the meetings in Middelburg and Vryburg, citing an 'All time high' for the party. Since 1994, their membership levels have diminished significantly.

See also

Similar groups

• Afrikaner Volksfront
• Boerestaat Party

Separatism

• Orania
• Volkstaat

Documentary films

• His Big White Self
• The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife
• Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends episode 3.3

External links

• Official website AWB
• Truth and Reconcilliation application by Ontlametse Menyatsoe who was at the centre of the Bophuthatswana incident
• South African Press Association (1997): AWB EXPRESSES REGRETS OVER BOP KILLINGS, RACISM
• The return of Eugene Terre'Blanche : Independent Online 30 March 2008
• Rising Right : Independent Online 10 May 2008
• 'All time high' for AWB : Independent Online 10 May 2008

Further reading

The Bang-bang Club: The Making of the New South Africa, Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva, William Heinemann, 2000 ISBN 0-434-00733-1 (details the Bophuthatswana incident)