Right-wing extremists are terrorists, not freedom fighters

Upon the murder of their leader Eugene Terre’Blanche, the AWB confirmed they would be meeting with government on a new Volkstaat where they could be the authors of their own destiny.

While there was anger and emotion in the days following the brutal killing, the movement displayed a maturity that somehow seemed to have eluded them during the times that Terre’Blanche was at the head

Now they appeared more dignified and armed with a clear plan of action.

After meeting with the minister of police where they put forward their concerns about the attacks on farmers and the singing of “shoot the boer”, the AWB are setting about putting their proposal for an independent state on the table for consideration.

That is the way to go about business in a democracy.

Terrorism
Musa Zondi, spokesperson for the special investigations unit, confirmed on Friday that seven white extremists had been charged with terrorism in connection with a plot to blow up black townships ahead of the Soccer World Cup in June. He further confirmed that charges against two of the seven had then been withdrawn.

News broke on Thursday that South African police had foiled the plot by right-wing extremists — with arrests being made across the country — during which they seized caches of firearms, including explosives, illegal guns and ammunition.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said that “they were planning to go test some of their explosives in any black township. It’s not one group of people who’ve been arrested around this period. It’s quite a number of them.” Zweli Mnisi, a police ministry spokesperson, said the five suspects were arrested in Pretoria and in Worcester, north-east of Cape Town, and had a “strong linkage to right-wing operations”.

There are 21 right-wingers still on trial for trying to overthrow the government in 2002 through several attacks, including an explosion on a railway line in Soweto outside Johannesburg that killed a woman.

This is clearly not the right way to do business in a constitutional democracy.

Terrorist versus freedom fighter
When the ANC and others resisted apartheid, they were fighting a system that excluded them from voting by law.

As such, the only means at their disposal to bring about change in South Africa was by violence. They could not use the ballot paper or the courts to try and bring about a better system or enforce their rights because they were excluded by the system itself.

In the case of far-right extremists in South Africa today, they have every forum and platform at their disposal to make their point of view known and to try to bring about the changes they want. If the people don’t want to follow them, then that is down to a matter of policies rather than being excluded by an oppressive regime.

Accordingly, any claim which equates resistance to apartheid to fighting a constitutional democracy are risible.

The only similarity is the use of violence, but the context in which it takes place is worlds apart: one can be justified while the other has no basis whatsoever.

In terms of being justified, that is a reference to attacking the machinery of the system rather than blowing up restaurants with innocent people — which can never be legitimised for me — let alone the basis for being made a police commissioner.

How much worse then is the idea of blowing up innocent people in townships because you want to make some political point? To call that conduct unacceptable is the understatement of the year. Had it succeeded I would be leading the call for the return of the death penalty.

Those who would suggest that these terrorists — for that is what they are in choosing violence — are freedom fighters, are obviously so blinded by their cause that they are unable to comprehend reality.

What, for example, is stopping them forming a party, getting funding, advertising in the media, campaigning across the country, going to court where their right to express themselves are restricted and so on and so forth?

The truth is: absolutely nothing.

Accordingly, if they have conspired to blow up innocent people in the name of whatever cause they think justifies this conduct, then the sooner they join the prison population the better.