Afrikaner political leaders say they are concerned that the recent spate of bombings and the plot by extreme rightwingers to overthrow the government has wrongly resurrected outdated stereotypes of the disgruntled laager mentality steeped in violence.
Freedom Front leader Dr Pieter Mulder said that until a month ago he ”thought others had noticed our hard work” over the past eight years to bring Afrikaners into mainstream politics to play a constructive role — even though the process came at a high cost to people like former leader General Constand Viljoen, who was called a ”traitor”, among other things.
Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging (AEB) leader Cassie Aucamp said it was dishonest to link all Afrikaners to the acts of 30 to 40 people, a small, marginalised group acting ”not because of their Afrikanerhood but because of fanatic religious sentiments”.
”Everyone knows the AEB is not a radical group. We want to be part of the solution [for everyone in South Africa].”
The repercussions are also felt in other organisations like the trade union Solidarity. Even the Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU), which authorities say may be a breeding ground for rightwingers, is worried about all Afrikaners being tarred with the same brush.
”It’s like calling all Afrikaners skinheads,” said TAU manager Jack Loggenberg. ”I may have little or no hair on my head, but I’m not a skinhead.”
The two members of the TAUwho are suspected of links to the right-wing campaign have acted strictly in their individual, personal capacity and should be regarded as innocent until proven guilty, Loggenberg said, adding that ”the Boeremag has no links to the TAU”.