Boeremag 'still going strong'
2003-01-12 22:59
Johannesburg - The suspected leaders of the Boeremag (Boer Force) who were arrested last year have already been replaced and the organisation is carrying on with its "activities".
Willem de Wet, a member of the Boeremag in North West, said on Sunday the organisation had not been "crushed" by the arrest of its leaders.
De Wet said he had permission to, for the first time, put the case and position of the Boeremag.
However, he did not want to elaborate on the work of the Boeremag because "it could be linked to crime".
De Wet's home and those of several others were searched on Christmas Eve and his cellphone records were analysed.
He is very unhappy about the way this was done and plans legal action against government.
Goals
He said the activities of the Boeremag were aimed at reaching the goal of an own language, culture, schools, religion and a "volkstaat" (home land).
"Government knows what we want. We are not willing to talk to them while they are allowing whites to be murdered, raped and oppressed.
He said the Boeremag was very unhappy about the way its leaders were being treated in prison. Some of them were seriously ill, De Wet said.
De Wet said the names of several reporters and editors of newspapers featured on their list of traitors.
They and other traitors, which include some politicians, "will be dealt with when the Boers get back their freedom".
Police
Director Sally de Beer, spokesperson for police chief Commissioner Jackie Selebi, said in response the police's investigations into Boeremag activities had not yet been completed.
Intensive investigations were still being carried out.
Doctor Jackie Cilliers, head of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said the Boermag was not seen as a national threat, but rather as an organisation that could damage certain aspects, such as tourism, through its statements.