The text message woke me up. It was just before midnight on Saturday 3rd April. I grumpily grabbed my phone from next to the bed. It was my boss: “Eugene Terreblanche murdered on his farm, pls be in work at 7am.” So much for my relaxing long Easter weekend. I set my alarm for early in the morning and tried to go back to sleep.
Eugene Terreblanche was the leader of an Afrikaans group called the AWB (Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging). They class themselves as a cultural movement whose goal is to ensure the survival of “White tribe of Africa”. They are heavily armed and have a penchant for Nazi style uniforms and insignia.
Early in the morning we rushed to the scene of the crime at his farm just outside Ventersdorp in the Northwest Province. The local and international press were already camped outside the gates alongside many of his followers and a big Police presence. Myself and Reporter Karen Allen were up against it and filed this film for the BBC Evening bulletin.
The papers were filled with speculation that the murder could spark a resurgence of racial tensions in South Africa. The Daily Star in the UK even ran the headline “world cup machete threat” and claimed that “machete gangs were roaming the streets.”
Many whites in South Africa speculated that the murder was a direct result of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema singing the controversial song “Shoot the Boer”. It’s an apartheid era song that the ANC claims is an important part of its heritage.
In the rendition below Malema jokingly sings “Kiss the Boer” as the song has now been banned by the Courts here in SA.
On the Tuesday after the murder, the two accused were brought to the local Courthouse. A large crowd of AWB supporters were there to demonstrate their anger while a similar sized group of black residents came to show their solidarity with the accused. The Police were forced to separate the rival crowds after small scuffles broke out. Myself and colleague Jonah Fisher captured the atmosphere in this film for BBC News.
AWB spokesman Andre Visagie then went onto E news to take part in a debate that ended in a sinister though rather amusing showdown with the other members of the panel:
The next day, just to add to the growing storm Julius Malema got riled at at a Press Conference by my colleague Jonah Fisher. malema’s resulting outburst made it onto TV and radio around the world and temporarily made Jonah the most talked about man in SA:
Eventually on Friday 9th April Terreblanche was laid to rest in his local Protestant Church. Thousands of AWB supporters turned out to show their respect. I was there with Correspondent Karen Allen and after a very busy day we quickly put together this report for the BBC six o’clock news (Please bare in mind that most of the pictures were from Agency feeds as I was the only BBC crew there!) Below I’ve posted some of my shots of the funeral that unfortunately never got an airing on TV:
And if you look very closely at the photo below (from www.timeslive.co.za) you can just make me out filming the opening shot of our package:
It was strange to be surrounded by so many people proudly brandishing swastikas and giving the Nazi salute. It’s been a difficult story to cover. Feelings on both side of the racial divide have been high and I can only hope that with Terreblanche now buried South Africa can move on and again begin to close the still deep rift between communities.
