Africans resistance movement

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Africans resistance movement
president Steyn von Rönge
Founded 7th July 1973
Place of foundation Heidelberg , South Africa
Headquarters Ventersdorp , South Africa
newspaper The sweepslag
Members 5,000 (2016)
parole "God, Volk, Vaderland" (Afrikaans)
Website www.awb.co.za
Demonstration of the AWB in Pretoria (1990)

The Afrikaner Resistance Movement ( AWB , "Resistance Movement of the Boers ") is a right-wing extremist Boer movement in South Africa . In 2016 it was reported that the organization had around 5,000 members and used social media to recruit.

history

It was founded in 1973 by Eugène Terre'Blanche and tried violent actions to prevent the end of apartheid . In 1991 the AWB took part in the Battle of Ventersdorp (Battle of Ventersdorp), in the course of which the police shot white South Africans. Here three members of the AWB died. In 1993 AWB supporters stormed the World Trade Center in Kempton Park , where negotiations were taking place over the democratic future of South Africa, and carried out several bomb attacks . In 1994 the movement tried in vain, together with the then head of state of the homeland of Bophuthatswana , Lucas Mangope , to prevent the upcoming free elections . AWB members shot dead some passers-by in Mmabatho , the capital of Bophuthatswana.

The number of members of the organization, which once had more than 70,000 supporters, was only estimated at a few hundred in 2003, but they were considered to be violent. The Führer cult and the symbol of the organization, a triskele based on the swastika flag , are reminiscent of the German National Socialists . Terre'Blanche remained head of the AWB until his murder on April 3, 2010. Steyn van Ronge became his successor.

symbolism

Triskele of the AWB

The AWB flag consists of three black sevens forming a triskele in a white circle on a red background, similar to the flag of the Third Reich . According to the AWB, the seven is "the number of the final victory" (translated from "final victory"; not related to the Holocaust), "which stands opposite the number of the Antichrist , 666 ". Red should represent the blood of Jesus and the struggle of Christians, while black represents bravery. The inner white circle symbolizes “purity” and “eternal life”.

The AWB also uses the "Vierkleur", the original flag of the once independent South African Republic , the flag of the Orange Free State and the flag of South Africa, which was used from 1928 to 1994, but without the British flag, which is usually depicted on the left of the flag is.

Flag of South Africa (1928–1994) without the British flag

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ilze-Marie Meintjies: AWB denies claims a member was found with weapons, paraphernalia . 2nd January 2016.
  2. ^ The Guardian
  3. ^ Symbols and Emblems . AWB. Archived from the original on April 6, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  4. ^ South Africa's White Supremacist Training Camps on Youtube