Kommandokorps

Last updated
Flag of Kommandokorps. Flag of Genootskap vir Afrikaner Simbole.svg
Flag of Kommandokorps.

Kommandokorps is an Afrikaner survivalist group active in South Africa. [3] The leader is Colonel Franz Jooste, who served with the South African Defence Force during the apartheid era. [4]

Contents

The group organises paramilitary camps, which are attended by youths between the ages of 13 and 19. [3] The teenagers are taught self-defence and how to combat a perceived black enemy. [4] Following an infantry-style curriculum, they are lectured on racial differences, such as a claim that black people had a smaller cerebral cortex than whites, and are made to use a modern South African flag as a doormat. [3] The camp is located in the veld outside the town of Carolina, Mpumalanga, about 230 km east of Johannesburg. [5]

Kommandokorps has been criticised by the Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum. [3] The Democratic Alliance called for the group to be closed, and its activities investigated by the Human Rights Commission. [6] A group of Kommandokorps volunteers attended the funeral of the former Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leader Eugene Terreblanche. [7] In 2011, the group signed a saamstaanverdrag (unity pact) with the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging and the Suidlanders, a large group which advocates for white rights in post-apartheid South Africa and publicizes its belief that there is an ongoing genocide against whites, in particular farmers, in the country. [5]

“Fatherland” is a full-length documentary produced and directed by Tarryn Lee Crossman that explores the experiences of young men in the Kommandokorps camps. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. W. Botha</span> Leader of South Africa from 1978 to 1989

Pieter Willem Botha,, commonly known as P. W. and Afrikaans: Die Groot Krokodil, was a South African politician. He served as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president of South Africa from 1984 to 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging</span> Paramilitary organisation in South Africa

The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, meaning "Afrikaner Resistance Movement", commonly known by its abbreviation AWB, is an Afrikaner nationalist, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist paramilitary organisation in South Africa. Since its founding in 1973 by Eugène Terre'Blanche and six other far-right Afrikaners, it has been dedicated to secessionist Afrikaner nationalism and the creation of an independent Boer-Afrikaner republic or "Volkstaat/Boerestaat" in part of South Africa. During bilateral negotiations to end apartheid in the early 1990s, the organisation terrorised and killed black South Africans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugène Terre'Blanche</span> Afrikaner nationalist (1941–2010)

Eugène Ney Terre'Blanche was an Afrikaner nationalist who founded and led the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging. Prior to founding the AWB, Terre'Blanche served as a South African Police officer, was a farmer, and was an unsuccessful Herstigte Nasionale 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orania</span> Afrikaner town in the Northern Cape, South Africa

Orania is an white-Afrikaner separatist town founded by Afrikaners in South Africa. It is located along the Orange River in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape province. The town is split in two halves by the R369 road, and is 871 kilometres (541 mi) from Cape Town and 680 kilometres (420 mi) from Pretoria. Its climate is semi-arid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ventersdorp</span> Place in North West, South Africa

Ventersdorp is a town of 4,200 in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality, North West Province, South Africa. It was the seat of the defunct Ventersdorp Local Municipality until 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herstigte Nasionale Party</span> Political party in South Africa

The Herstigte Nasionale Party is a South African political party which was formed as a far-right splinter group of the now defunct National Party in 1969. The party name was commonly abbreviated as HNP, evoking the Herenigde Nasionale Party, although colloquially they were also known as the Herstigtes. The party is, unlike other splinter factions from the National Party, still active but politically irrelevant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apartheid</span> South African system of racial separation

Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was characterized by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status, followed by Indians and Coloureds, then black Africans. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkstaat</span> Proposed state for Afrikaners of South Africa

The concept of a Volkstaat, also called a Boerestaat or Afrikaner Republiek, is a proposed extremist view to establish an all Afrikaans-speaking white ethnostate within the borders of South Africa, most commonly proposed as a fully independent Boer/Afrikaner nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1992 South African apartheid referendum</span> "Yes" vote by white South Africans to abolish apartheid

A referendum on ending apartheid was held in South Africa on 17 March 1992. The referendum was limited to white South African voters, who were asked whether or not they supported the negotiated reforms begun by State President F. W. de Klerk two years earlier, in which he proposed to end the apartheid system that had been implemented since 1948. The result of the election was a large victory for the "yes" side, which ultimately resulted in apartheid being lifted. Universal suffrage was introduced two years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afrikaner Volksfront</span> South African separatist organization

The Afrikaner Volksfront was a separatist umbrella organisation uniting a number of right-wing Afrikaner organisations in South Africa in the early 1990s.

His Big White Self is a 2006 documentary film made by Nick Broomfield. It is a sequel to his earlier documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife (1991). It was first shown as part of More4's Nick Broomfield week which began on 27 February 2006. The documentary follows Broomfield as he returns to South Africa 12 years after the final end of the apartheid regime. His previous film focused largely on JP Meyer, a driver for Eugène Terre'Blanche, and JP's wife, Anita.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White South Africans</span> Ethnic group in South Africa

White South Africans generally refers to South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original settlers, known as Afrikaners, and the Anglophone descendants of predominantly British colonizers of South Africa. In 2016, 57.9% were native Afrikaans speakers, 40.2% were native English speakers, and 1.9% spoke another language as their mother tongue, such as Portuguese, Greek, or German. White South Africans are by far the largest population of White Africans. White was a legally defined racial classification during apartheid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afrikaner nationalism</span> Political ideology in South Africa

Afrikaner nationalism is a political ideology that was born in the late nineteenth century among Afrikaners in South Africa. It was immensely influenced by anti-British sentiment which grew strong among the Afrikaners, especially because of systematic British war crimes during the Second Boer War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boerestaat Party</span> Political party in South Africa

The Boerstaat Party is a Boer nationalist South African political party founded on 30 September 1986 by Robert van Tonder. It was never officially registered as a political party because it was unable to rally 500 persons under one roof, a requirement under South African electoral law for official political party status. It was never represented in the South African Parliament, neither in the apartheid era nor after democratisation. In 1989, it joined the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) in declaring support for Jaap Marais, the leader of the Herstigte Nasionale Party and has worked with the HNP on occasion since. The party was a charter member of the Afrikaner Volksfront coalition group. It has also operated with the paramilitary group, the Boere Weerstandsbeweging led by Andrew Ford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 Bophuthatswana crisis</span> Crisis in South Africa

The 1994 Bophuthatswana crisis was a major political crisis which began after Lucas Mangope, the president of Bophuthatswana, a South African bantustan created under apartheid, attempted to crush widespread labour unrest and popular demonstrations demanding the incorporation of the territory into South Africa pending non-racial elections later that year. Violent protests immediately broke out following President Mangope's announcement on 7 March that Bophuthatswana would boycott the South African general elections. These escalated into a civil service strike and a mutiny in the local armed forces, which was complicated by the arrival of right-wing Afrikaner extremists ostensibly seeking to preserve the Mangope government. The chaos lasted about four days before the president bowed to pressure and agreed to allow participation in the upcoming elections. However, Mangope once again reversed his decision. The South African Defence Force (SADF) responded by deposing him and restoring order on 12 March.

Racism in South Africa has existed throughout the history of South Africa. Before universal suffrage was achieved in 1994, white South Africans, especially Afrikaners during the period of Apartheid, enjoyed various legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights which were denied to others. Examples of racism over the course of South Africa's history include forced removals, racial segregation, uneven resource distribution, and disenfranchisement. Racial politics remain a major phenomenon.

AfriForum is a South African non-governmental organisation focused mainly on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population. AfriForum has been frequently described as a white nationalist, alt-right, and Afrikaner nationalist group, a description rejected by the organisation's leadership, who refer to themselves as a civil rights group.

Boerehaat is an Afrikaans word that means "ethnic hatred of Boers" or Afrikaners as they became known after the Second Boer War. The related term Boerehater has been used to describe a person who hates, prejudices or criticises Boers or Afrikaners.

The Dakar Conference was a historic conference between members of the Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa (IDASA) and the African National Congress (ANC). It was held in Dakar, Senegal between 9 and 12 July 1987. The conference discussed topics such as strategies for bringing fundamental change in South Africa, national unity, structures of the government and the future of the economy in a free South Africa. The IDASA delegation from South Africa, participated in the conference in their private capacity and would later be condemned by the South African government for meeting a banned organization. The future indirect result of the conference was South African government talks with Nelson Mandela and his eventual meeting with P. W. Botha in 1989.

A White ethnostate is a proposed type of state in which residence or citizenship would be limited to white people, and would exclude non-whites, such as black people, Asian people, Jews and Native American people. In the United States, proposals for such a state are advanced by White supremacist and White separatist factions such as Ku Klux Klansmen and Neo-Nazis whether through claiming a certain part or the whole of the country to have a white majority.

References

  1. Kommandokorps: Racism Breeding Camp
  2. South Africa's DA wants Kommandokorps "hate camp" closed
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Kommandokorps denies racism". News24. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Afrikaner Blood". World Press Photo. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Inside the kommando camp that turns boys' doubts to hate". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  6. "Kommandokorps: Should racist thought be criminalised?". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  7. "South Africa: a separate homeland for Afrikaners?". Telegraph. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  8. "Controversial documentary explores South Africa's KK camps". Euronews. Retrieved 8 December 2013.