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Terre'Blanche murder threatens violent conflict
Never, since the slaying of struggle icon Chris Hani by right-wing extremists just days short of 17 years ago in April 1993, has South Africa been more in danger of descending into violent political conflict than after the murder this weekend of the leader of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), Eugene Terre'Blanche. To date, the reaction and commentary from most quarters has been remarkably restrained, but how well the country gets through this will depend largely on how well leaders of all persuasions succeed in keeping the rhetoric of hot-headed followers toned down.
In last week’s Bulletin, it was reported that provocative pronouncements from ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, his PAC counterpart Pitso Mphasha and loose cannon singer Steve Hofmeyr have taken the “political temperature to dangerous levels”. We further reported on a letter by ex-state president FW de Klerk, warning about a volatile atmosphere in “our national debate”, creating a situation “in which any additional intemperate statement or action might spark an unfortunate incident.”
Whether it was purely a “wage dispute”, as is widely reported, which sparked the murder of Terre'Blanche, remains to be clarified by the due process of law. It would, however, be naive to expect that the murder would not be linked to the highly provocative way in which Malema in recent times has been using the old struggle song “Dubula iBhunu” to whip up emotions.
Perhaps it was fortuitous that Malema was outside the country when the murder occurred, although he used the opportunity outside South Africa's borders to mock the judicial system on the issue of the song. Security and intelligence experts warn that the way in which the ANC and President Jacob Zuma in particular manage what has become known as the "Malema situation", will be crucial in avoiding an escalation of tension and restoring calm.
At this stage, they have been impressed impressed with the calm, swift and responsible way in which Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has responded to the situation. The Terre'Blanche family also has come in for some praise for the calm and dignified way in which they have handled the situation.
Wide reaction
While some of the exchanges on the social networks and in the comments sections of electronic news reporting have been heated and expose the still deep racial divides on all sides in the South African society, public utterances have been very restrained and balanced in general.
The murder received very extensive international media coverage. Within 48 hours after the event Google News listed almost 2 000 news reports worldwide. Most of the reports referred to Terreblanche as a “white supremacist” leader and many highlighted the danger of escalating conflict on the eve of the Fifa Soccer World Cup (WC) taking place in the country.
How the government and other prominent political players handle developments in the days ahead, will play an important role in determining the impact of the incident on international attendance at the WC. Many commentators on social media networks and in comment sections of news sites are referring to the unfortunate timing of the incident so shortly before the start of the WC.
In the main, all organisations and prominent commentators have condemned the murder, notwithstanding the political differences they might have had with Terre'Blanche, and have called for calm.
Hofmeyr, an apparent self-appointed spokesperson for Afrikaners, again has been a notable exception, saying about Malema and Terre'Blanche: “He must be buried at the Peter Mokaba Stadium to remind everyone about the man who is responsible for the chant 'Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer'.”
Some observers have been expressing surprise that the human rights group Afriforum has allowed Hofmeyr to jump onto its bandwagon to the extent that he has in recent weeks. Others have suggested that it may help to bring some balance into the public debate on hate speech if someone took Hofmeyr to court on that count for some of the racist remarks on his blog.
President Zuma immediately appealed for calm “following this terrible deed", and asks South Africans not to allow provocateurs to take advantage of this situation by inciting or fuelling racial hatred. “In any dispute, especially in a country like South Africa where we uphold the rule of law, no one is allowed to take the law into his own hands,” Zuma said.
“It is against this background that the murder of Terre’Blanche must be condemned, irrespective of how his killers think they may have been justified. They had no right to take his life.” Zuma said he “condemns in the strongest possible terms” the killing of Terre’Blanche and also offered condolences to his family.
But there were also false notes from elsewhere. ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu, while appealing for “calmness and non-provocation at this time because the police are hard at work dealing with this matter”, found it necessary to defend Malema: he was not to blame for polarisation, or the singing of the controversial “shoot the boer” song.
“Julius has not acted in a manner that promotes polarisation. The song is not a Julius song... it is an ANC song. If you have problems with the song, we say put it to the ANC... If this song is creating problems, tell the ANC... and they will look at it.”
However, AWB general-secretary Andre Visagie said the party blamed Malema for the murder and threatened revenge. In a telephone interview with the "Weekend Post", he is reported to have said: “We are going to finish with funeral arrangements and thereafter have a summit conference on May 1 in Pretoria, where all our leaders and members of AWB will come together and decide what actions we will take to revenge Terre’Blanche’s death."
It will call for wise heads and guards in front of many a mouth in the days and weeks ahead to avoid tensions escalating out of hand.
