White supremacist leader killed in S Africa

Terre'Blanche, 69, was the fiery leader of the Afrikaner Weerstand Beweging, or the Afrikaner Resistance Movement, that was in favour of the minority apartheid rule in South Africa, and later pushed for an Afrikaner secessionist state.

Two employees of Terre'Blanche have been arrested on allegations of hacking him to death on his farm near the town of Lichtenburg in Northwest Province last night in what appeared to be a disagreement over wages.

Provincial Police spokesman Captain Adele told the Afrikaans weekly Rapport that an argument had arisen over alleged non-payment for work done between Terre'Blanche and the workers, aged 16 and 21.
The murder has evoked condemnation from leaders across the political spectrum, with President Jacob Zuma of the African National Congress receiving the news with "shock and horror", his spokesman Vusi Mona said.

Mona said Zuma condemned all hate speech against farmers, just as he did hate speech against blacks or any other groups and appealed for calm.The murder sparked outrage and many said racially charged struggle songs such as "Shoot the Boer" should no longer be tolerated.

The South African government dismissed suggestions that the murder of Terre'Blanche, was linked to the current fury about the repeated singing of the struggle song "Kill the Farmer, Kill the Boer", declared hate speech by a court.

"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.

Terre'Blanche founded the AWB in 1970 to oppose what he saw as the liberal policies of the white apartheid government as it started making minor concessions to other race groups.

A strong orator, he quickly whipped up emotions, especially among rural white farmers as the country prepared for the release of Nelson Mandela and the advent of democracy less than two decades later.

Terre'Blanche even threatened full-scale war if Mandela was released.
At one stage, he led a small team into the neighbouring Bophuthatswana, one of the supposedly free Bantustans within the borders of apartheid-era South Africa in a failed attempt to take it over.

Terre'Blanche also served out a six-year jail sentence from 1997 for assault and attempted murder on a petrol station attendant.