TheAfrikaner Broederbond (AB) or simply theBroederbond was an exclusivelyAfrikanerCalvinist and malesecret society in South Africa dedicated to the advancement of theAfrikaner people. It was founded byH. J. Klopper,H.W. van der Merwe,D. H. C. du Plessis and theRev. Jozua Naudé[1] in 1918 asJong Zuid Afrika (Dutch:Young South Africa) until 1920, when it was renamed the Broederbond.[2][3] Its influence within South African political and social life came to a climax with the 1948-1994 rule of thewhite supremacistNational Party and its policy ofapartheid, which was largely developed and implemented by Broederbond members. Between 1948 and 1994, many prominent figures of Afrikaner political, cultural, and religious life, including every leader of the South African government, were members of the Afrikaner Broederbond.[2]
Described later as an "inner sanctum",[4] "an immense informal network of influence",[5] and byJan Smuts as a "dangerous, cunning, politicalfascist organization",[6] in 1920Jong Zuid Afrika, now restyled as the Afrikaner Broederbond, was a group of 37 white men of Afrikaner ethnicity, Afrikaans language, andCalvinist faith, who shared cultural, semi-religious, and deeply political objectives based on traditions and experiences dating back to the arrival of Dutch white settlers, FrenchHuguenots, and German settlers at theCape in the 17th and 18th centuries, and including the dramatic events of theGreat Trek in the 1830s and 1840s. Ivor Wilkins and Hans Strydom recount how, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, a leadingbroeder (brother or member) said:
for understandable reasons it was difficult to explain [our] aims…[I]n the beginning people were allowed in…who thought it was just another cultural society.
— Wilkins & Strydom, 1980, p.45
The precise intentions of the founders are not clear. Some considered that the group was intended to counter the dominance of theBritish Empire and theEnglish language,[7] whilst others considered that the purpose was to redeem the Afrikaners after their defeat in theSecond Anglo-Boer War.[8] Another view is that it sought to protect culture, build an economy and seize control of the government.[9] The remarks of the organisation's chairman in 1944 offer a slightly different, and possibly more accurate interpretation in the context of the post-Boer War and post-World War I era, when Afrikaners were suffering through a maelstrom of social and political changes:[10]The Afrikaner Broederbond was born out of the deep conviction that the Afrikaners had been planted in the country by the Hand of God, destined to survive as a separate people with its own calling.[citation needed]
The traditional, deeply piousCalvinism of the Afrikaners, apastoral people with a difficult history in South Africa since the mid-17th century, supplied an element of Christianpredestination that led to a determination to wrest the country from the English-speaking population of British descent and place its future in the hands of theAfrikaans-speaking Afrikaners.[citation needed] To the old thirst forsovereignty that had prompted theGreat Trek into the interior from 1838 on, would be added a new thirst for total independence and nationalism. These two threads merged to form a "Christian National"civil religion that would dominate South African life from 1948 to 1994.[citation needed]
The emergence of the Broederbond took place amidst the backdrop of a rise inAfrikaner nationalism as a result of theSecond Boer War (1899–1902), which saw the British annex theSouth African Republic and theOrange Free State. During the conflict, the British deployedscorched earth tactics against the Boers, destroying Boer farms and interning captured Boer non-combatants inconcentration camps, where roughly 27,000 Boers died. The war was brought to end by theTreaty of Vereeniging, which though generous in its terms was seen by the Boers as deeply humiliating. Theanglicisation policies of British administratorLord Milner was also a major source of resentment amongst the Afrikaners. These developments led to an increase in nationalistic sentiments amongst Afrikaners, leading to the formation of the Broederbond and theNational Party.[11]
The National Party had been established in 1914 by Afrikaner nationalists. They first came to power in 1924. Ten years later, its leaderJ. B. M. Hertzog and Jan Smuts of theSouth African Party merged their parties to form theUnited Party. This angered a contingent of hardline nationalists underD. F. Malan, who broke away to form thePurified National Party. By the timeWorld War II broke out, resentment towards the British had not subsided. Malan's party opposed South Africa's entry into the war on the side of the British; some of its members wanted to supportNazi Germany. Jan Smuts had commandedBritish Army forces in theEast African theater of theFirst World War and was amenable to backing the Allies a second time. This was the spark Afrikaner nationalism needed. Hertzog, who was in favour of neutrality, resigned from the United Party when a narrow majority in his cabinet backed Smuts. He started theAfrikaner Party which would amalgamate later with D.F. Malan's "Purified National Party" to become the force that would take over South African politics for the next 46 years, untilmajority rule andNelson Mandela's election in 1994.[3]
In 1945, Smuts denounced the Broederbond as a fascist organization and ordered South African civil servants and state schoolteachers to either forfeit their Broederbond membership immediately or resign from their jobs.[12]
Everyprime minister andstate president in South Africa from 1948 to the end of apartheid in 1994 was a member of the Afrikaner Broederbond.[2]
Once theHerenigde Nasionale Party was in power...English-speaking bureaucrats, soldiers, and state employees were sidelined by reliable Afrikaners, with key posts going to Broederbond members (with their ideological commitment to separatism). The electoral system itself was manipulated to reduce the impact of immigrant English speakers and eliminate that of Coloureds.
The Herenigde Nationale Party was the product of the reunion of the Purified National Party and the United Party in 1940.
The Afrikaner Broederbond continued to act in secret, infiltrating and gaining control of the few organisations, such as the South African Agricultural Union (SAAU), which had political power and were opposed to a further escalation of apartheid policies.[2]
Members of political parties right of the National Party were not welcome and 200 members were expelled by 1972.[3]: 7
In 1983 when theConservative Party was founded withAndries Treurnicht as a leader, all Broederbond members who belonged to the newly formed party were no longer welcome in the Broederbond. Treurnicht, C.W.H. Boshoff and H.J. Klopper, previous chairmen, left the organization. Other members likeH. J. van den Bergh left too.
In 1985 the Afrikaner Broederbond realised that change needed to take place in South African politics. Although the government did not talk openly with the bannedAfrican National Congress (ANC), it was decided by the organization they should start negotiating. On 8 June 1986 J.P. de Lange, the then-chairman metThabo Mbeki in New York for a five-hour meeting held at a conference organised by the Ford Foundation. The meeting was just between de Lange and Mbeki, but at the conference other ANC membersMac Maharaj, Seretse Choabi,Charles Villa-Vicencio, and Peggy Dulany were present.[13]
P.W. Botha also left the Broederbond after his retirement.
The chairmen of the Broederbond were:[3]: p48
| Name | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Klopper, H. J. | 1918 | 1924 | Left the organization |
| Nicol, W. | 1924 | 1925 | |
| Greijbe, J. H. | 1925 | 1928 | |
| Potgieter, J. W. | 1928 | 1930 | |
| du Plessis, L. J. | 1930 | 1932 | Left the organization |
| van Rooy, J. C. | 1932 | 1938 | |
| Diederichs, N. | 1938 | 1942 | |
| van Rooy, J. C. | 1942 | 1952 | |
| Thom, H. B. | 1952 | 1960 | |
| Meyer, P. J. | 1960 | 1972 | |
| Treurnicht, A. P. | 1972 | 1974 | Left the organization |
| Viljoen, G. | 1974 | 1980 | |
| Boshoff, C. W. H.[14] | 1980 | 1983 | Left the organization |
| de Lange, J. P.[14] | 1983 | 1993 | |
| de Beer, T. L.[15] | 1993 | 1994 |
Although the press had maintained a steady trickle of unsourced exposés of the inner workings and membership of the Broederbond since the 1960s, the first comprehensive exposé of the organisation was a book written by Ivor Wilkins andHans Strydom,The Super-Afrikaners. Inside the Afrikaner Broederbond, first published in 1978. The most notable and discussed section of the book was the last section which consisted of a near-comprehensive list of 7,500 Broederbond members.[3] The Broederbond was portrayed asDie Stigting Adriaan Delport (The Adriaan Delport Foundation) in the 1968 South African feature filmDie Kandidaat (The Candidate), directed byJans Rautenbach and produced byEmil Nofal.
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