October 1993.To the white right wing, the end of the world as they knew it was at hand. The white government was negotiating a non-racial democracy with the African National congress and the Communist party. The Svaart Trafar nightmares of generations were becoming reality. It was the perfect climate for a right wing boom. Paranoid whites ordered food and fuel and prepared for war. A month before the 1994 election the right wing invaded Bopotswana. The first proper armed insurrection by the right wing paramilitaries. It was a humiliating defeat.
And the man they pinned their hopes on, former SADF Chief Constantelfune, suddenly signed a deal with Nelson Mandela.
and took part in the election. Contrary to all their expectations the elections were peaceful and successful. And South Africa was engulfed in a spirit of goodwill as Nelson Mandela became the first democratic president.
For the first two years, South Africa was living a dream called reconciliation.
The humiliation of the right wing was exacerbated with dozens of right wingers appearing before the truth commission, asking for forgiveness and blaming the right wing leaders for their plight.
But 2, 3 years later the euphoria of the new South Africa was wearing thin. Conservative whites felt increasingly marginalised as they saw all the symbols of power moving into black hands. The perception that Afrikaans was loosing ground and that affirmative action was threatening white jobs fueled this unhappiness. But it was this steady increase in brutal attacks on mostly white farmers and the use of this phenomenon by politicians that have recently stoked the fires of dissent.And in the last few months, there have been many rumors of a new right wing revival.
Eugene Terre’blanche, AWB, (subtitles): The situation is different than before the elections.
Robert van Tonder, Boerestaatparty: It’s an intolerable situation. It can’t continue like this.
Andrew Ford, Boereweerstandbeweging, (Subtitles): There are many ways of showing resistance. In all areas, our work places…right across the spectrum there are many ways to resist.
Willem Ratte: What we fought for during the Boer war, what we stood for, is those ideals are still very much still alive, we can’t just drop them just because it is convenient now just to forget about them.
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): Conditions are deteriorating faster than even we expected.
Fred Rundle, Freedom 200: Our first step, can obviously as we go along we can innovate and make decisions, but our first step is to inform the world and rally support, exactly what the ANC did, overseas against this government and we are even asking for sanctions.
Eugene Terre’blanche (Subtitles): The volatile situation is created by the inability of the current government. By its dishonesty and its intolerable communist methods.
The same old faces, The same old characateurs,and the same old rhetoric:
Eugene Terre’blanche: Tell the world that we are preparing ourselves to fight for that what is ours.
Dr Jakkie Potgieter, Risk Analyst: I do think that the conservative element of the white South African population is also trying to distance themselves from militant far right wing groups. The history of far right wing groups in South Africa has not been very kind. The actions of their leaders have not been very kind to fight far right wing politics. So, it’s an emotional thing. A lot of people listen to the emotions evoked by these people but when it comes to practical and leadership issues from the ground I don’t think there’s a lot of availability currently.
The days of mass rallies and public shows of force are clearly over. Does that mean right wing support has diminished?
Eugene Terre’blanche (subtitles): Judging by the enquiries the applications and the interest, there’s much more support than in the past. Now there’s not as much emphasis on membership as there was in the past with big marches.
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): We don’t give any figures and we don’t disclose the names of members as this exposes them to victimisation.
Andrew Ford: We’re big enough to be taken notice of. I think we’ll be able to free our republic from communism.
Willem Ratte: We are not totally alone.
Fred Rundle: We have just started forming friends of the Boer folk all over the world.
Jakkie Potgieter: In terms of numbers, I think it’s grossly over-rated. The militant right wing prior to1994 had about, potentially 5000 armed members that was willing to at against the political changes in South Africa at that stage,
Dr Potgieter: of which very little did. Since 1994 there was a significant decline in the numbers of armed militant support for the right wing and I don’t think that they can at this stage claim to have that amount of support. There seems little chance of a right wing extremist resurgence out of the tired and discredited old leadership. But there is a new face on the horizon. A new contender for the title Great White Hope. His name was first mentioned in connection with the arms thefts at 44 parachute battalion in May this year when the suspects named him as the leader of a new movement called Die Volk.
Johan Niemoller is a former regional commander of the army’s civil co-operation bureau in Namibia.
In a Ventu high court request, Judge Harold Libi named Niemoller an accomplice to the murder of Swapo leader Anton Lubowskie.
Dr Potgieter: He has been a member of the South African special forces in the past. He left the special forces long befoe1994, became a business man had a factory that manufactured military fabrics, equipment in terms of webbing and so on. He made a lot of money with that. And he’s, according to our information, quite a well off gentleman. He also has connections in Angola where he has some diamond concessions. And he is a very, according to our information, a good oral supporter of Metesawimbey’s movement.
Unlike most right wingers is that Neimoller is a secretive man. He refused to speak on camera but we did meet him at an elaborately staged rendezvous in this Johannesburg coffee shop.
Neimollers home is in the Northern Cape town of Poefider. But he is mostly on the move between Guatang, Angola and the Platland.
He addressed AWB leaders at Eugene Terre’blanche Fenterdorps home a few weeks ago. But slipped away before our cameras arrived.
Dr Potgieter: It’s known that he is moving around on the fringe of right wing politics, militant right wing politics. That he is trying to influence the farming communities, the white rural communities in South Africa to join up with his movement.
Interviewer (subtitles): Are you aware of an organisation called Die Volk?
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): Yes I am aware of it and am pleased to hear they are also adhering to a Boer foundation.
Interviewer (subtitles): Have there been any attempts to establish contact?
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): Only that I have known the leader of the movement for a long time. But there have been no formal talks.
Interviewer (subtitles): And is that Mr. Niemoller?
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): Yes, Mr. Johan Niemoller.
Interviewer (subtitles): Is there any possibility of co-operation.
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): Yes I think it will happen automatically. They share our objectives so we’ll inevitably come together.
Andrew Ford: I know him and have talked to him but have no relations. If he is serious and honest about his cause then I wish him well. I spoke to Mr Niemoller and I don’t know if Die Volk exists. Like most other extremists, Niemoller mixes religion, fundamentalism, nostalgia for the past and naked fear to whip up support.
He’s a founder of an obscure sect which proclaims the Boerevolk as the chosen people with a Holy identity. The church of remembrance aims to unit the four Boer republics into one white state called the republic of the Orange free state.
Neimoller clearly has delusions of being a new Messiah.
He clearly states in the church brochure the Boerevolk would not get its freedom through a popular democracy, but through a man of God, a man of steel untainted by negotiations.
In a letter to potential supporters he writes; “is there someone fit to be our leader. Our task is not to search for that person. Either God will give him to us or he will not come. Our task is to shape the sword that he will need when he comes. Our task is to provide the leader with a united Afrikaner nation, which is ready for him when he comes…”
Neimoller was not prepared to talk on the record but he sent his right hand man.
Roy Smith (subtitles): The perception is that Johan Niemoller is the leader. But we work on the basis of a multi-layered leadership. If something happens to him or if he has a change of heart, there is someone under him who will take his place. There will be other people who will just carry on.
The Niemoller group chose an emotional issue to rally around, farm murders. They are using this video with old police footage of murders on white people to anger and scare conservative people into action.
Some of the scenes are of attacks in 1986.
Roy Smith (subtitles): It started when people became concerned about the increase in farm murders as well as murders in the cities and black on black violence and aggression.
Dr Potgieter: The murders reported are invariably white farmers and the criminals are invariably black criminals. So people are playing very hard on the racial card when it comes to these farm murders. And that of course of is the ideal situation for any movement on the fringes of South African politics to start and work for a niche in the people that are feeling the threat the most.
Interviewer (subtitles): Are you specifically mobilising the commando’s?
Roy Smith (subtitles): No not specifically. But we tell people to come together under a command so that our minority can unite. And launch protests in an organised manner.
Eugene Terre’blanche (subtitles): The AWB’s commando system is geared towards protection. I don’t wasn’t to say anything explosive, but time is short and the AWB and other right wing groups are readying themselves to withstand the total onslaught from these politically inspired forces.
The difference between Niemoller’s inner circle and the so-called AWB generals is that many of Niemollers men are highly trained former SABF soldiers.Dr Potgeiter: If a right wing fringe group.
Dr Potgieter: succeeds in getting the support of these highly skilled and trained people they can be, they do have the potential to disrupt infrastructure for instance, in the country.
Roy Smith (Subtitles): We shall show resistance in all the ways that the ANC did. The formula is established.
Interviewer (Subtitles): Were you involved in arms thefts from military bases?
Roy Smith (subtitles): No, but I knew you were going to ask that.
Roy Smith (subtitles): Any soldier who has crossed the border into Angola or Mozambique will tell you there are tons of arms and landmines buried and if I remove 3000 anti-personnel mines, I have enough explosives to plunge this country into utter and unimaginable chaos.
And that is possibly the only real danger of Niemollers new group. Their potential to plant bombs and sew destruction.
For a genuinely popular leader he is simply too far on the lunatic fringe.
And the man they pinned their hopes on, former SADF Chief Constantelfune, suddenly signed a deal with Nelson Mandela.
and took part in the election. Contrary to all their expectations the elections were peaceful and successful. And South Africa was engulfed in a spirit of goodwill as Nelson Mandela became the first democratic president.
For the first two years, South Africa was living a dream called reconciliation.
The humiliation of the right wing was exacerbated with dozens of right wingers appearing before the truth commission, asking for forgiveness and blaming the right wing leaders for their plight.
But 2, 3 years later the euphoria of the new South Africa was wearing thin. Conservative whites felt increasingly marginalised as they saw all the symbols of power moving into black hands. The perception that Afrikaans was loosing ground and that affirmative action was threatening white jobs fueled this unhappiness. But it was this steady increase in brutal attacks on mostly white farmers and the use of this phenomenon by politicians that have recently stoked the fires of dissent.And in the last few months, there have been many rumors of a new right wing revival.
Eugene Terre’blanche, AWB, (subtitles): The situation is different than before the elections.
Robert van Tonder, Boerestaatparty: It’s an intolerable situation. It can’t continue like this.
Andrew Ford, Boereweerstandbeweging, (Subtitles): There are many ways of showing resistance. In all areas, our work places…right across the spectrum there are many ways to resist.
Willem Ratte: What we fought for during the Boer war, what we stood for, is those ideals are still very much still alive, we can’t just drop them just because it is convenient now just to forget about them.
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): Conditions are deteriorating faster than even we expected.
Fred Rundle, Freedom 200: Our first step, can obviously as we go along we can innovate and make decisions, but our first step is to inform the world and rally support, exactly what the ANC did, overseas against this government and we are even asking for sanctions.
Eugene Terre’blanche (Subtitles): The volatile situation is created by the inability of the current government. By its dishonesty and its intolerable communist methods.
The same old faces, The same old characateurs,and the same old rhetoric:
Eugene Terre’blanche: Tell the world that we are preparing ourselves to fight for that what is ours.
Dr Jakkie Potgieter, Risk Analyst: I do think that the conservative element of the white South African population is also trying to distance themselves from militant far right wing groups. The history of far right wing groups in South Africa has not been very kind. The actions of their leaders have not been very kind to fight far right wing politics. So, it’s an emotional thing. A lot of people listen to the emotions evoked by these people but when it comes to practical and leadership issues from the ground I don’t think there’s a lot of availability currently.
The days of mass rallies and public shows of force are clearly over. Does that mean right wing support has diminished?
Eugene Terre’blanche (subtitles): Judging by the enquiries the applications and the interest, there’s much more support than in the past. Now there’s not as much emphasis on membership as there was in the past with big marches.
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): We don’t give any figures and we don’t disclose the names of members as this exposes them to victimisation.
Andrew Ford: We’re big enough to be taken notice of. I think we’ll be able to free our republic from communism.
Willem Ratte: We are not totally alone.
Fred Rundle: We have just started forming friends of the Boer folk all over the world.
Jakkie Potgieter: In terms of numbers, I think it’s grossly over-rated. The militant right wing prior to1994 had about, potentially 5000 armed members that was willing to at against the political changes in South Africa at that stage,
Dr Potgieter: of which very little did. Since 1994 there was a significant decline in the numbers of armed militant support for the right wing and I don’t think that they can at this stage claim to have that amount of support. There seems little chance of a right wing extremist resurgence out of the tired and discredited old leadership. But there is a new face on the horizon. A new contender for the title Great White Hope. His name was first mentioned in connection with the arms thefts at 44 parachute battalion in May this year when the suspects named him as the leader of a new movement called Die Volk.
Johan Niemoller is a former regional commander of the army’s civil co-operation bureau in Namibia.
In a Ventu high court request, Judge Harold Libi named Niemoller an accomplice to the murder of Swapo leader Anton Lubowskie.
Dr Potgieter: He has been a member of the South African special forces in the past. He left the special forces long befoe1994, became a business man had a factory that manufactured military fabrics, equipment in terms of webbing and so on. He made a lot of money with that. And he’s, according to our information, quite a well off gentleman. He also has connections in Angola where he has some diamond concessions. And he is a very, according to our information, a good oral supporter of Metesawimbey’s movement.
Unlike most right wingers is that Neimoller is a secretive man. He refused to speak on camera but we did meet him at an elaborately staged rendezvous in this Johannesburg coffee shop.
Neimollers home is in the Northern Cape town of Poefider. But he is mostly on the move between Guatang, Angola and the Platland.
He addressed AWB leaders at Eugene Terre’blanche Fenterdorps home a few weeks ago. But slipped away before our cameras arrived.
Dr Potgieter: It’s known that he is moving around on the fringe of right wing politics, militant right wing politics. That he is trying to influence the farming communities, the white rural communities in South Africa to join up with his movement.
Interviewer (subtitles): Are you aware of an organisation called Die Volk?
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): Yes I am aware of it and am pleased to hear they are also adhering to a Boer foundation.
Interviewer (subtitles): Have there been any attempts to establish contact?
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): Only that I have known the leader of the movement for a long time. But there have been no formal talks.
Interviewer (subtitles): And is that Mr. Niemoller?
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): Yes, Mr. Johan Niemoller.
Interviewer (subtitles): Is there any possibility of co-operation.
Robert van Tonder (subtitles): Yes I think it will happen automatically. They share our objectives so we’ll inevitably come together.
Andrew Ford: I know him and have talked to him but have no relations. If he is serious and honest about his cause then I wish him well. I spoke to Mr Niemoller and I don’t know if Die Volk exists. Like most other extremists, Niemoller mixes religion, fundamentalism, nostalgia for the past and naked fear to whip up support.
He’s a founder of an obscure sect which proclaims the Boerevolk as the chosen people with a Holy identity. The church of remembrance aims to unit the four Boer republics into one white state called the republic of the Orange free state.
Neimoller clearly has delusions of being a new Messiah.
He clearly states in the church brochure the Boerevolk would not get its freedom through a popular democracy, but through a man of God, a man of steel untainted by negotiations.
In a letter to potential supporters he writes; “is there someone fit to be our leader. Our task is not to search for that person. Either God will give him to us or he will not come. Our task is to shape the sword that he will need when he comes. Our task is to provide the leader with a united Afrikaner nation, which is ready for him when he comes…”
Neimoller was not prepared to talk on the record but he sent his right hand man.
Roy Smith (subtitles): The perception is that Johan Niemoller is the leader. But we work on the basis of a multi-layered leadership. If something happens to him or if he has a change of heart, there is someone under him who will take his place. There will be other people who will just carry on.
The Niemoller group chose an emotional issue to rally around, farm murders. They are using this video with old police footage of murders on white people to anger and scare conservative people into action.
Some of the scenes are of attacks in 1986.
Roy Smith (subtitles): It started when people became concerned about the increase in farm murders as well as murders in the cities and black on black violence and aggression.
Dr Potgieter: The murders reported are invariably white farmers and the criminals are invariably black criminals. So people are playing very hard on the racial card when it comes to these farm murders. And that of course of is the ideal situation for any movement on the fringes of South African politics to start and work for a niche in the people that are feeling the threat the most.
Interviewer (subtitles): Are you specifically mobilising the commando’s?
Roy Smith (subtitles): No not specifically. But we tell people to come together under a command so that our minority can unite. And launch protests in an organised manner.
Eugene Terre’blanche (subtitles): The AWB’s commando system is geared towards protection. I don’t wasn’t to say anything explosive, but time is short and the AWB and other right wing groups are readying themselves to withstand the total onslaught from these politically inspired forces.
The difference between Niemoller’s inner circle and the so-called AWB generals is that many of Niemollers men are highly trained former SABF soldiers.Dr Potgeiter: If a right wing fringe group.
Dr Potgieter: succeeds in getting the support of these highly skilled and trained people they can be, they do have the potential to disrupt infrastructure for instance, in the country.
Roy Smith (Subtitles): We shall show resistance in all the ways that the ANC did. The formula is established.
Interviewer (Subtitles): Were you involved in arms thefts from military bases?
Roy Smith (subtitles): No, but I knew you were going to ask that.
Roy Smith (subtitles): Any soldier who has crossed the border into Angola or Mozambique will tell you there are tons of arms and landmines buried and if I remove 3000 anti-personnel mines, I have enough explosives to plunge this country into utter and unimaginable chaos.
And that is possibly the only real danger of Niemollers new group. Their potential to plant bombs and sew destruction.
For a genuinely popular leader he is simply too far on the lunatic fringe.