Hotel Murah di Lombok - South African white far-right leader Eugene Terre’Blanche, who fought to prevent the end of apartheid in the early 1990s, was beaten and hacked to death at his farm on Saturday, his party said. Police said two black workers in custody for the killing of Terre’Blanche, 69, appeared to have been angry over unpaid wages rather than having had a political motive for the killing.
‘KILL THE BOER’
Hotel Murah - But his Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) linked it to the recent singing of an apartheid-era song with the lyrics, “Kill the Boer,” by the head of the ruling ANC party’s youth league in a row that has drawn fears of growing racial polarization.
“That’s what this is all about,” said Andre Visagie, a spokesman for the AWB. “They used pangas [machetes] and pipes to murder him as he slept.”
Terre’Blanche, who described himself as a Boer, was the voice of hard-line opposition to the end of white minority rule, but had lived in relative obscurity since his release from prison in 2004 after serving a sentence for beating a black man nearly to death.
His party was revived two years ago and he had begun efforts to try to build a united front among white far-right parties to fight for a white homeland, but had gained little traction.
Terre’Blanche was a powerful orator in his Afrikaans language and was a distinctive figure, heavily built, with a thick gray beard and dressed in khaki. He often attended rallies on horseback during his fight to stop majority rule.
Police said the suspected killers were aged 16 and 21. Both had worked for Terre’Blanche.
“They apparently attacked the leader because they were not paid for work,” spokesperson Adele Myburg said, giving no details of how the killing was carried out.
Friction has come to the fore in the country over the singing of the “Kill the Boer” song by African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema last month, which the party has also defended despite its commitment to reconciliation.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance also drew a link between the killing of Terre’Blanche and the atmosphere in the country of 50 million where roughly 10 percent are white.
“This happened in a province where racial tension in the rural farming community is increasingly being fueled by irresponsible racist utterances by the ANCYL leader,” said Juanita Terblanche, of the main opposition Democratic Alliance.
She was not a direct relation.
ZUMA
There was no immediate comment from the ANC; however, South African President Jacob Zuma yesterday called for calm, saying the killing should not incite racial hatred.
“The president appeals for calm following this terrible deed and asks South Africans not to allow agent provocateurs to take advantage of this situation by inciting or fueling racial hatred,” his office said in a statement, SAPA news agency reported.
Zuma, who took office last year, has made special efforts to court white Afrikaners, assuring them they have nothing to fear from his government and that all South Africans must live together.
This story has been viewed 616 times.
‘KILL THE BOER’
Hotel Murah - But his Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) linked it to the recent singing of an apartheid-era song with the lyrics, “Kill the Boer,” by the head of the ruling ANC party’s youth league in a row that has drawn fears of growing racial polarization.
“That’s what this is all about,” said Andre Visagie, a spokesman for the AWB. “They used pangas [machetes] and pipes to murder him as he slept.”
Terre’Blanche, who described himself as a Boer, was the voice of hard-line opposition to the end of white minority rule, but had lived in relative obscurity since his release from prison in 2004 after serving a sentence for beating a black man nearly to death.
His party was revived two years ago and he had begun efforts to try to build a united front among white far-right parties to fight for a white homeland, but had gained little traction.
Terre’Blanche was a powerful orator in his Afrikaans language and was a distinctive figure, heavily built, with a thick gray beard and dressed in khaki. He often attended rallies on horseback during his fight to stop majority rule.
Police said the suspected killers were aged 16 and 21. Both had worked for Terre’Blanche.
“They apparently attacked the leader because they were not paid for work,” spokesperson Adele Myburg said, giving no details of how the killing was carried out.
Friction has come to the fore in the country over the singing of the “Kill the Boer” song by African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema last month, which the party has also defended despite its commitment to reconciliation.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance also drew a link between the killing of Terre’Blanche and the atmosphere in the country of 50 million where roughly 10 percent are white.
“This happened in a province where racial tension in the rural farming community is increasingly being fueled by irresponsible racist utterances by the ANCYL leader,” said Juanita Terblanche, of the main opposition Democratic Alliance.
She was not a direct relation.
ZUMA
There was no immediate comment from the ANC; however, South African President Jacob Zuma yesterday called for calm, saying the killing should not incite racial hatred.
“The president appeals for calm following this terrible deed and asks South Africans not to allow agent provocateurs to take advantage of this situation by inciting or fueling racial hatred,” his office said in a statement, SAPA news agency reported.
Zuma, who took office last year, has made special efforts to court white Afrikaners, assuring them they have nothing to fear from his government and that all South Africans must live together.
This story has been viewed 616 times.
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