Eugène Terre'Blanche

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Eugène Ney Terre'Blanche (born January 31, 1941) is a Boer-Afrikaner who founded the white supremacist Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging during the apartheid era in South Africa.

1 Ancestry
2 Opposition to government policies
3 Conviction and prison sentence
4 Amnesty
5 Documentaries
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Ancestry

The progenitor of the Terre'Blanche name ('white land' in French) in the region was a French Huguenot refugee named Estienne Terreblanche from Toulon (Provence), France, who arrived at the Cape in 1704.^[1] The Terreblanche name has generally retained its original spelling though other spellings include Terre'Blanche, Terre Blanche, Terblanche and Terblans.^[2] Terre'Blanche's grandfather fought for the Boer cause as a Cape Rebel in the Second Boer War, and his father was a lieutenant colonel in the South African Defence Force. Born in Ventersdorp, Terre'Blanche later became an officer in the South African Police.

[edit] Opposition to government policies

During the late 1960s, Terre'Blanche increasingly opposed what he called the "liberal policies" of B. J. Vorster, the then Prime Minister of South Africa. In 1970, Terre'Blanche, along with six other Afrikaners, founded the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, more commonly known as the AWB. His oratory skills earned him much support amongst the white right wing in South Africa; the AWB claimed 70,000 members at its height.^[3]

Terre'Blanche viewed the end of apartheid as a surrender to communism, and threatened full scale civil war if President FW de Klerk handed over power to Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress. When De Klerk addressed a meeting in Terre'Blanche's hometown of Ventersdorp, Terre'Blanche led a protest, and the Battle of Ventersdorp ensued between the AWB and the police, with a number of people killed. Terre'Blanche also led an armed invasion of the World Trade Centre in Kempton Park while negotiations were in progress.

The AWB was defeated while invading Bophuthatswana to prop up the autocratic leader of the bantustan in 1994 and, subsequently, Terre'Blanche did not follow up on his earlier threats of war.

[edit] Conviction and prison sentence

On June 17, 1997 Terre'Blanche was sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting a petrol station worker and the attempted murder of a farm worker. One of only three whites in the Rooigrond prison near Mafikeng, Terre'Blanche was released in June 2004.^[4] During his time in prison he became a born-again Christian and claims he has moderated many of his more racist views. However, the AWB website still claims these court cases and other scandals involving him were fabricated by the 'Black Government and the left wing media'.^[3]

[edit] Amnesty

Following the end of apartheid, Terre'Blanche and his supporters sought amnesty for the storming of the World Trade Centre, the 'Battle of Ventersdorp', and other acts.^[5]^[6] Amnesty was granted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.^[7]