Boeremag could still sting
2003-05-08 22:18
Cape Town - With enough support, the far-rightwing can continue a sabotage campaign in South Africa, harm the country's international reputation and spoil race relationships.
Martin Schonteich of the Institute for Security Studies says the "Boeremag" (Boer Force) can do significant damage to South Africa's fragile economy through a number of powerful bombs.
"Alternatively, the assassination of a few cabinet ministers and popular black political or spiritual leaders will take the country to the brink of a racial war," Schonteich says.
Police and intelligence agencies initially underestimated the Boeremag, but by the end of 2002, this group posed the biggest security risk in the country.
"The Boeremag is driven by a philosophy based on extreme nationalistic ideas and a God-given goal. This is a deadly combination, considering the damage religion-inspired terrorism has caused in the rest of the world," Schonteich says.
Sabotage campaign
The Boeremag probably operates through cells and police might not have exposed all of them. The number of far-rightwingers who are prepared to resort to violence is probably low, but a handful of people can run sabotage campaign and cause instability over the long term.
Schonteich says the Irish Republican Army, for instance, had only a few hundred active members, but many supporters provided logistic support.
The high crime rate, unfair affirmative action, marginalising of Afrikaans, land appropriations in Zimbabwe and high unemployment among whites can cause conservative Afrikaners to become sympathetic towards far-rightwing organisations.
And if police tortured some of the arrested Boeremag members, it would have turned them into martyrs.