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Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader Eugene Terreblanche Photo by Anton Raath

Top 10 Sensational Facts about Eug猫ne Ney Terre’Blanche

Eug猫ne Ney Terre’Blanche was an Afrikaner nationalist who founded and led the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB; Afrikaner Resistance Movement in English). Prior to founding the AWB, Terre’Blanche served as a South African Police officer, was a farmer, and was an unsuccessful Herstigte Nasionale Party (Reconstituted National Party) candidate for local office in the Transvaal.

He was a major figure in the right-wing backlash against the collapse of apartheid. His beliefs and philosophy have continued to be influential amongst white supremacists in South Africa and across the world. Let’s take a look at some of the most sensational facts about him;

1.He was born on a farm in the Transvaal town of Ventersdorp on 31 January 1941

Terre’Blanche was born on a farm in the Transvaal town of Ventersdorp on 31 January 1941.He later attended Laerskool Ventersdorp and Ho毛r Volkskool in Potchefstroom, matriculating in 1962. While in school, he gave early expression to his political leanings by founding the cultural organisation Jong Afrikanerharte (Young Afrikaner Hearts).

He joined the South African Police, and was initially deployed in South West Africa (now Namibia), which had been given to South Africa under a League of Nations Trust mandate after World War I. Upon returning to South Africa, he became a Warrant Officer in the Special Guard Unit, which was assigned to members of the Cabinet.

2.His grandfather was a rebel while his father was a soldier

Terre’Blanche’s grandfather fought as a Cape Rebel for the Boer cause in the Second Boer War, while his father was a lieutenant colonel in the South African Defence Force and a leader of the local Commando.The name Terre’Blanche which means either ‘white land’ or ‘white earth’ in French originated in the region from a French Huguenot refugee. 

His name was Estienne Terreblanche from Toulon (Provence),who arrived at the Cape in 1704, fleeing anti-Protestant persecution in France. The Terreblanche name has generally retained its original spelling though other spellings include Terre’Blanche, Terre Blanche, Terblanche and Terblans. 

3.His first stap at politics was a failure

Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader Eugene Terreblanche Photo by Anton Raath

His first stab at politics was a failure as he lost terribly. He started his political career in the late 1960’s, when he increasingly opposed what he called the “liberal policies” of B. J. Vorster, then Prime Minister of South Africa.

After four years of service in the South African Police, he resigned to pursue a career in politics, running unsuccessfully for local office in Heidelberg as a member of the far-right Herstigte Nasionale Party.

4.He was also a poet 

Terre’Blanche was also a poet with several works to his name. Prior to the 1994 multi-racial elections, Terre’Blanche’s Afrikaans-language works were on the state syllabus of Natal schools. Upon his release from jail, he quoted Wordsworth’s poem I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud.

He had previously released a CD of his poetry collection and most recently a DVD. The DVD was named “Inktrane”, which is directly translated to English as “ink tears”. This DVD was released through 11.3% Motion Pictures (Pty) Ltd.

5.He was sentenced to six years in prison but served only three years 

On 17 June 2001, Terre’Blanche was sentenced to six years in prison, of which he served three years, for assaulting John Ndzima, a petrol station worker, and the attempted murder of Paul Motshabi, a security guard, in 1996. Terre’Blanche denied both accusations.

One of only three whites in the Rooigrond prison near Mafikeng, during his time in prison he claimed to have become a born-again Christian and to have moderated many of his racist views.The assault on Ndzima occurred after a confrontation over Ndzima’s testimony against two white boys who had broken into a pharmacy in Ventersdorp.

6.In September 2009, he addressed a three-day convention attended by 300 Afrikaners

In September 2009, he addressed a three-day convention attended by 300 Afrikaners which was intended to develop a strategy for “Boer liberation”. Terre’Blanche reinforced earlier claims for land in Northern Natal and the Eastern Transvaal.

In October 2009 several right-wing groups led by Terre’Blanche outlined their future plans at a Ventersdorp meeting.In an interview with the Mail and Guardian he said he wanted to unite 23 organisations under one umbrella, in order to take, as he had vowed, the fight of “the free Afrikaner” to the International Court of Justice.

7.His AWB movement clashed with South African security forces 

Paramilitary members of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) in South Africa. Taken at a rally held by the right-wing organisation in Pretoria in 1990 Photo by Anton Raath

AWB loyalists also clashed with South African security forces at the Battle of Ventersdorp, a bloody skirmish in 1991 where police opened fire on a white crowd for the first time since the Rand Rebellion, leaving three Afrikaners dead.

Immediately prior to South Africa’s first multiracial election, Terre’Blanche’s followers were linked to a number of bombings and assassinations targeting the South African Communist Party; armed AWB commandos participated in the crisis in Bophuthatswana in 1994.

8.He was charged under the Terrorism Act after weapons were found buried on the farm

In 1983 Terre’Blanche was one of four AWB members charged under the Terrorism Act after weapons were found buried on the farm of his brother Andries. Terre’Blanche was sentenced to two years jail (suspended for five years) for illegal possession of arms.

In the same year two former members of the AWB were jailed for 15 years for conspiring to overthrow the Government and assassinate black leaders. The men had resigned from the movement shortly before the start of the trial. One of them was Jacob Viljoen, a co-accused with Terre’Blanche in an earlier trial for possession of arms which the AWB leader maintained had been planted in his car boot by leftists.

9.There is an AWB monument built near his grave 

An AWB monument was also in 2011 moved from the town of Ventersdorp and rebuilt near his grave.”The monument consists of a central part, dedicated to three AWB鈥檚 men who lost their lives during the Battle of Ventersdorp, on 9th August 1991, when the Boer resistance clashed with the police of the 鈥渙ld鈥� Empire of the RSA, and of a surrounding area, dedicated to four AWB鈥檚 men who lost their lives during the mission in Bophuthatswana, betrayed and murdered, on March 1994.

The central part consists of a stone base on which rests a black granite base, from which rises a black obelisk. On the obelisk stands the AWB鈥檚 Three-Sevens, sacred symbol that represents the Heavenly Father, and the symbol of the Wenkommando, its main paramilitary force.”

10.He was hacked and beaten to death on his Ventersdorp farm

On 3 April 2010, he was hacked and beaten to death on his Ventersdorp farm, allegedly by two of his employees in a dispute over unpaid wages. Terre’Blanche, who had lived in relative obscurity since the decline of his organisation, was murdered on his farm Villana, just outside Ventersdorp.

He was beaten to death with pipes and pangas (machetes) whilst napping. His body was found on his bed with facial and head injuries. Two men we’re arrested and charged for his murder with one receiving a life imprisonment sentence while one was freed on bail.He is survived by his wife Martie Terre’blanche and daughter Bea Terre’blanche.