Jan Taljaard
LIKE the Ancient Mariner forced to go on telling his tale with a burning heart, rightwinger and fort-occupier Commandant Willem RStte simply has to get his message out on the airwaves.
The man who led the occupation of two forts and the defence of the now- silenced Radio Pretoria, has launched a guerrilla radio station called Radio Donkerhoek, said to be transmitting on 106,2 Mhz FM from a caravan parked somewhere east of Pretoria.
News of the rebel radio station spread fast — but it’s difficult to find anybody who has actually heard any of his broadcasts. This week the issue even came up during a high powered executive meeting of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging.
Those who claim actually to have heard Radio Donkerhoek broadcast say a car radio with a lengthy aerial is the key.
The trick, apparently, is to drive east from Pretoria until you chance upon the broadcasts. But you have to do it between 6am and 8am or 3pm and 5pm.
On a good day, however, Donkerhoek’s signal will reach as far as Pretoria’s relatively affluent eastern suburbs — and, of course, Mamelodi.
In the light of all the difficulties involved in tuning in, some wags have renamed the radio station Radio Rot (rat), a play on Ratte’s German surname.