South African white far-right leader Eugene Terre’Blanche, who fought to prevent the end of apartheid in the early 1990s, was beaten and hacked to death at his farm on Saturday, his party said.
Police said two black workers in custody for the killing of Terre’Blanche, 69, appeared to have been angry over unpaid wages rather than having had a political motive for the killing.
‘KILL THE BOER’
But his Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) linked it to the recent singing of an apartheid-era song with the lyrics, “Kill the Boer,” by the head of the ruling ANC party’s youth league in a row that has drawn fears of growing racial polarization.
“That’s what this is all about,” said Andre Visagie, a spokesman for the AWB. “They used pangas [machetes] and pipes to murder him as he slept.”
Terre’Blanche, who described himself as a Boer, was the voice of hard-line opposition to the end of white minority rule, but had lived in relative obscurity since his release from prison in 2004 after serving a sentence for beating a black man nearly to death.
His party was revived two years ago and he had begun efforts to try to build a united front among white far-right parties to fight for a white homeland, but had gained little traction.
Terre’Blanche was a powerful orator in his Afrikaans language and was a distinctive figure, heavily built, with a thick gray beard and dressed in khaki. He often attended rallies on horseback during his fight to stop majority rule.
Police said the suspected killers were aged 16 and 21. Both had worked for Terre’Blanche.
“They apparently attacked the leader because they were not paid for work,” spokesperson Adele Myburg said, giving no details of how the killing was carried out.
Friction has come to the fore in the country over the singing of the “Kill the Boer” song by African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema last month, which the party has also defended despite its commitment to reconciliation.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance also drew a link between the killing of Terre’Blanche and the atmosphere in the country of 50 million where roughly 10 percent are white.
“This happened in a province where racial tension in the rural farming community is increasingly being fueled by irresponsible racist utterances by the ANCYL leader,” said Juanita Terblanche, of the main opposition Democratic Alliance.
She was not a direct relation.
ZUMA
There was no immediate comment from the ANC; however, South African President Jacob Zuma yesterday called for calm, saying the killing should not incite racial hatred.
“The president appeals for calm following this terrible deed and asks South Africans not to allow agent provocateurs to take advantage of this situation by inciting or fueling racial hatred,” his office said in a statement, SAPA news agency reported.
Zuma, who took office last year, has made special efforts to court white Afrikaners, assuring them they have nothing to fear from his government and that all South Africans must live together.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source