AWB 'will take action'
2010-04-04 11:00
Cape Town - The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging on Sunday said it will avenge Eugene Terre'Blanche's killing but urged members to remain calm and not react immediately.
"Contrary to what the members want, we call upon them to stay calm for the moment," AWB secretary-general Andre Visagie told AFP, saying the group would meet on May 1 to plan the way forward.
"We will decide upon our actions to avenge Mr Terre'Blanche's death. We will take action and the specific action...will be decided upon at our conference."
Police arrested two workers, one a teenager, for the killing after Terre'Blanche's body was found on his north-west farm on Saturday evening. Police told local media that the pair said they had argued over a pay dispute.
"He was killed with pangas and water-pipes. He was beaten to death," said Visagie.
The group believes the killing was politically motivated, and linked it to a song urging "kill the boer" (Afrikaans for farmer) adopted by ANCYL leader Julius Malema, he said.
Two court rulings recently banned the use of the song, which has outraged opposition parties and interest groups, who argue it incites violence against whites.
Terre'Blanche's supporters, who wear khaki uniforms and the organisation's swastika-like symbol, violently opposed South Africa's all-race democracy and campaigned for a self-governing white "boer" state.
'Immediate violence'
Their campaign included deadly bomb attacks ahead of the 1994 polls, which ended apartheid.
Members had contacted the movement throughout the night after the Afrikaner's slaying, with calls for "immediate violence" among the reactions, Visagie said.
"We do take cognisance of all our people who want to react immediately. We also call on them to stay calm for the moment," he said.
President Jacob Zuma has urged calm after the killing, saying that it should not be used to incite racial hatred.
A one-time police officer, Terre'Blanche was jailed in 2001 for having tried to kill a black security guard. He was released in 2004.