|
|
|
|
DESPITE his advancing years and his stint in prison for assault, Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leader Eugene Terre'Blanche is still an imposing figure.
"The rest of my life belongs to my culture, my language, my God and my nation," he said in an interview. For years he was loved and hated by the media in equal measure: where ET was, there would be a story. He had a sense of the dramatic, making entrances on his black Friesian stallion, Attila. He had a gift for oration, with a voice that could mesmerise and inflame. At his home in the little North West town of Ventersdorp I met a man changed, a man who, by his own admission, "met God" while in prison. "I have always been a religious man," he said. "But like many Christians, God was my back-up, not my rudder. That changed while I was in prison." Terre'Blanche said there's little in his life that he regrets. "I asked for forgiveness, and I was forgiven. So why must I have regrets?" He says he does not even regret his time in prison. "If I look back on the four-and- a-half years I spent in prison so many things could have happened to me. I worked on the prison farm; I worked with cattle; I rode young, wild horses. Nothing happened to me, I didn't fall once." He worked on the prison farm for three years, after starting his time behind bars, weeding an area of no man's land around the prison. He was called to help after a number of the prison cattle died of gas gangrene. That, Terre'Blanche says, signalled a change in his whole prison experience. "I was out in the veld most of the day. Alone. I worked with horses and there was no one who wanted to ride with me; they were all too scared. So no one guarded me." The thought of escaping did cross his mind, he says. But he did not do it.
Before he went to prison, Terre'Blanche had to sell his farm because he feared civil claims against him. After his release on parole he took up motivational speaking to make a living and to buy back his farm.
He managed to get back the family farm, about 15km from the town, but nevertheless still owes lots of money.
"While I was on parole, it was actually quite nice. I didn't suffer ... I could only be at home, in town, or on my farm. So I spent most of my time on the farm, working, rebuilding. Of course, everything was more or less ruined while I was in prison."
He survived his time in prison by writing poetry.
A DVD of his prison poetry, including a poem about his horse, will be released in Centurion in late September.
Terre'Blanche says his opinion about black people has not changed. "I have always been made out as a racist, someone who hates black people. I don't hate them. I grew up with them. I just know there are many differences between whites and blacks and I will always believe it."
Terre'Blanche says he will spend the rest of his life trying to advance the Afrikaner culture, his language, and to lead his nation back to God and to freedom.
"From now on until December 16 I'll hold a number of meetings. Then, on December 16, I'll have a big meeting at Church Square in Pretoria.
"Then I want to appeal to the Afrikaner nation to humble themselves before God and to ask for forgiveness.
"I will then get a mandate from the nation whether they want the AWB to continue as an organisation, or whether they want it to become part of a bigger movement."
He is proud of being an Afrikaner. "Our nation is unique. We grew out of a desire to worship God in a certain way; we grew from a number of other nations who were being prosecuted because of their faith."
"We have a wonderful culture, a wonderful, vibrant language. I want my people to be proud of who they are again."
He believes the Afrikaner has the right to self-determination and self-rule. "We have everything a nation needs, except a land to call our own." - Sapa
Chiel Letters to the Editor Leader Page Today's Columns Features Motoring Farming Arts & Entertainment Television Radio Weather Tides Tenders Aircraft |