On 7 July 1973,
Eugène Terre'Blanche, a former
police officer, called a meeting of several men in
Heidelberg, Gauteng, in the then-
Transvaal Province of South Africa. He was disillusioned by what he thought were Prime Minister
B. J. Vorster's "liberal views" of racial issues in the White minority country, after a period in which Black majorities had ascended to power in many former colonies. Terre'Blanche also worried about what he characterised as
communist influences in South African society. He decided to form a group with six other like-minded persons, which they named the (; AWB), to promote Afrikaner and Christian nationalism. His associates elected him as head of the group, a position he held until he was killed on his farm in April 2010. Their objective was to establish an independent
Boerestaat ("Boer State") for
Boer-
Afrikaner people only. It was to be independent of
apartheid South Africa, which they considered too left-wing and liberal. The AWB was formed to try to regain the ground they thought lost after the
Second Boer War; the men intended to re-establish the independent Boer Republics of the past: the
South African Republic (
Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek) and the Republic of the
Orange Free State (
Oranje Vrystaat). The organization was strongly
antisemitic and advocated for the extermination of
South Africa's Jewish population. In the
Nick Broomfield documentary film,
His Big White Self (2006), he claimed the organisation reached a peak of half a million supporters in its heyday.
During the end of apartheid , in 1990 During the negotiations that led to South Africa's
first non-racial election, the AWB engaged in violence and murder. During the
Battle of Ventersdorp in August 1991, the AWB confronted police in front of the town hall where State President
F. W. de Klerk was speaking, and "a number of people were killed or injured" 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. Six AWB members were sentenced to death for the murder of four black people at a fake roadblock they set up to terrorise black travellers. It was not until 20 March of the following year that a series of attacks hit the city of
Ventersdorp, leaving only material damage. In 1988, the AWB was beset by scandal when claims that Terre'Blanche had had an affair with journalist
Jani Allan surfaced. In July 1989, Cornelius Lottering, a member of a breakaway AWB group
Orde van die Dood (Order of Death), attempted to assassinate Allan 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 sex with Allan, a claim she denied. This led to Allan taking libel proceedings against the documentary broadcaster
Channel 4 in 1992 at the London High Court. During the trial, several transcripts of their alleged unconventional sexual positions 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. In November 1993, the AWB signed a solidarity pact with the
Inkatha Freedom Party, with the AWB providing the IFP with military training and agreeing that "Boer and Zulu would fight together for freedom and land should they be confronted by a common enemy". Between 24 and 27 April 1994, AWB members committed a series of four bombings in
Johannesburg,
Pretoria and
Germiston in an attempt to disrupt the multi-racial elections. A total of 20 people were killed and 46 were injured. In the aftermath of the election, 36 AWB members were arrested in connection with the bombings. Nine men were convicted on charges relating to the bombing in 1996. In 1999, amnesty was granted to ten men tied to the bombings by the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission. On 28 April 1994, members of the AWB beat up African-American reporter Michael Allen of
The New York Times while covering an AWB mobilization in
Rustenburg. Despite the fact that the reporter was punched and kicked by several members of the AWB, his injuries were not serious.
Bophuthatswana crisis 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
Afrikaner Volksfront militiamen, entered the capital
Mmabatho on 10 and 11 March. The black policemen and soldiers of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force who were out in force to support President Mangope disappeared from the streets in protest at the AWB's actions and later turned on the militiamen at the airport at
Mafikeng. One AWB member was shot and killed when the convoy attempted to leave the airport and continue 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 11 March, three AWB members were summarily killed after they had been wounded in a firefight, by a rogue Bophuthatswana Defence Force member who defected to the ANC. Nearby photojournalists and television news crews recorded the incident, which proved to be a public relations disaster for the AWB, demoralising its White members. The AWB claimed that they were asked into the country and only entered trying to help the Bophuthatswana Government, but the Tebbutt Commission found the "evidence is overwhelming that they entered the area uninvited and that they were not welcome there".
Post-apartheid On 24 December 1996, members of the AWB
planted two explosive devices at a Shoprite supermarket in
Worcester, Western Cape, killing four civilians and wounding 60 more approximately. Only two of the four bombs that had been installed detonated. Despite this the explosion killed four civilians, including three children. It was not until September 2013 when the victims and the perpetrators of the attack spoke, thanks to an initiative of the Victim-Aggressor Dialogue Program. On 17 June 2001, Terre'Blanche was sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting a
petrol station employee, John Ndzima, to such an extent as to cause permanent brain damage, and the attempted murder of a security guard and former employee, Paul Motshabi. Terre'Blanche was released in June 2004 after serving three years in
Rooigrond Prison near
Mafikeng. During his time in prison, he became a
born-again Christian and claimed he had moderated many of his more ethno-nationalist views and preached reconciliation as 'prescribed by God'. In April 2007, AWB posters appeared 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. In March 2008, the AWB announced it was re-activating for 'populist' reasons, citing the encouragement of the public. Reasons for their 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 failed, taking up arms. In April 2008, Terre'Blanche was to be the speaker at several AWB rallies in
Vryburg,
Middelburg and
Pretoria. 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
Goshen in the far North-West and sections of the Free State. The South African press reported in 2016 that the AWB continued to use social media to recruit new members. In 2010, Terre'Blanche was murdered by an employee on his farm, and
Steyn von Rönge was announced as the new leader of the organisation. ==Leader==