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Afrikaner Broederbond

This page refers to the Afrikaner Broederbond.

For its later incarnation see Afrikanerbond . For 

the political party formed in 1881 by Rev S.J.

du Toit  , see Afrikaner Bond . For the unrelated 

company, see Brøderbund .

The Afrikaner Broederbond  (AB) (meaning  Afrikaner 

Brotherhood ) or   Broederbond   was a secret, exclu-

sively male and Afrikaner Calvinist organization in South

Africa dedicated to the advancement of Afrikaner inter-

ests. It was founded by H. J. Klopper,  H. W. van derMerwe, D. H. C. du Plessis  and Rev.   Jozua Naudé[1] in

1918 and was known as  Jong Zuid Afrika  (Young South

Africa) until 1920, when it became the Broederbond.[2][3]

Its large influence within South African political and

social life, sometimes compared to that of   Masons   in

Freemason conspiracy  theories, came to a climax with

the rise of apartheid, which was largely designed and im-

plemented by Broederbond members. Between 1948 and

1994, many prominent figures of South African political

life, including all leaders of the government, were mem-

bers of the Afrikaner Broederbond.[2]

1 Origins

Described later as an “inner sanctum”,[4] “an im-

mense informal network of influence”,[5] and by   Jan

Smuts   as a “dangerous, cunning, political fascist

organization”,[6] in 1920 Jong Zuid Afrika now restyled as

the Afrikaner Broederbond, was a grouping of 37 white

men of Afrikaner ethnicity, Afrikaans language, and the

Calvinist Dutch Reformed   faith, who shared cultural,

semi-religious, and deeply political objectives based on

traditions and experiences dating back to the arrival ofDutch white settlers, French Huguenots, and Germans at

the Cape 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 oc-

casion of its 50th anniversary, a leading broeder  (brother

or member) said:

(Wilkins & Strydom, 1980, p. 45)

The precise intentions of the founders are not clear.

Was the group intended to counter the dominance of

the British and the English language,[7] or to redeem the

Afrikaners after their defeat in the Second Anglo-Boer

War?[8] Perhaps it sought to protect a culture, build aneconomy and seize control of a government.[9] The re-

marks of the organisation’s chairman in 1944 offer a

slightly different, and possibly more accurate interpreta-

tion 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]

In other words, the traditional, deeply pious Calvinism of

the Afrikaners, a pastoral people with a difficult history

in South Africa since the mid-17th century, supplied an

element of Christian  predestination  that led to a deter-

mination to wrest the country from the English-speaking

British and place its future in the hands of the Afrikaans-

speaking Afrikaners, whatever that might mean for thelarge black and mixed-race population. To the old thirst

for sovereignty that had prompted the Great 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.

This was the historical context in which the Broeder-

bond emerged. The scorched earth policy of the British

during the second  Boer War   devastated   Boer   (that is,

rural Afrikaner farmer) lands. In British  concentration

camps, 27 000 Boer women and children had died. The

Boer surrender at   Vereeniging, though pragmatic, wasdeeply humiliating. Lord Milner's inflammatory policy of

Anglicization simply rubbed salt into Afrikaner wounds,

and a backlash was inevitable. The National Party and

ultimately the Broederbond were the long-term and pow-

erful results.[11]

The   National Party   had been established in 1914 by

Afrikaner nationalists. It first came to power in 1924.

Ten years later, its leader J.B.M. Hertzog and Jan Smuts

of the South African Party merged their parties to form

the  United Party. This angered a contingent of hard-

line nationalists under D. F. Malan, who broke away to

form the ’’Purified National Party’’. By the time WorldWar II broke out, resentment of the British had not sub-

sided. Malan’s party opposed South Africa’s entry into

the war on the side of the British; some of its members

wanted to support Nazi Germany.   Jan Smuts had com-

manded the British Army in East Africa and was under-

standably amenable to backing the Allies a second time.

This was the spark Afrikaner nationalism needed. Her-

zog, who was in favour of neutrality, quit 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 forthe next 46 years, until majority rule and Nelson Man-

dela's election in 1994.[3]

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2   6 NOTABLE MEMBERS 

2 The Broederbond exposed

Although the Press had maintained a steady trickle of un-

sourced exposés of the inner workings and membership

of the Broederbond since the 1960s, the first comprehen-

sive exposé of the organisation was a book written by Ivor

Wilkins and Hans Strydom,   The Super-Afrikaners. In-

side 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 7500 Broederbond members.[12] The Broederbond

was portrayed as 'Die Stigting Adriaan Delport' [The

Adriaan Delport Foundation] in the 1968 South African

feature film ""Die Kandidaat"" [The Candidate], directed

by Jans Rautenbach and produced by Emil Nofal.

3 Leaders

The chairmen of the Broederbond were:[3](p48)

4 The Broederbond and Apartheid

Every Prime Minister and State President in South Africa

from 1948 to the end of Apartheid in 1994 was a member

of the Afrikaner Broederbond.[2]

Once the Herenigde Nasionale Party   was

in power...English-speaking bureaucrats, sol-

diers, and state employees were sidelined by

reliable Afrikaners, with key posts going to

Broederbond members (with their ideological

commitment to separatism). The electoral sys-

tem itself was manipulated to reduce the im-

pact of immigrant English speakers and elimi-

nate that of Coloureds.

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]

5 Companies with Broederbond

credentials

•   ABSA, formed by amalgamation of United, Allied

and Volkskas banks, the latter of which was estab-

lished by the Broederbond in 1934 and whose chair-

man was also the Broederbond chairman at the time.

•   ADS[domain is parked], formerly Altech Defence Sys-

tems

•   Remgro, formerly Rembrandt Ltd., former holding

company of Volkskas.

6 Notable members

•  D. F. Malan Former Prime Minister.

•  H. F. Verwoerd Former Prime Minister.

•  J. G. Strijdom Former Prime Minister.

•   B. J. Vorster, Former Prime Minister and State Pres-

ident.

•   Dr J. S. Gericke, Vice-Chancellor Stellenbosch Uni-

versity

•   Pik Botha, former Minister of Foreign Affairs

•   H. B. Thom, historian and former Rector of

Stellenbosch University.

•   Tienie Groenewald, retired Defence Force general.

•  Barend Johannes van der Walt, former ambassador

to Canada.

•  P. W. Botha, former Minister of Defence and Prime

Minister.

•   Anton Rupert, billionaire entrepreneur and busi-

nessman; a member in the 1940s, but eventually dis-

missed it as an “absurdity”, and allowed his mem-

bership to lapse.[15]

•   Marthinus van Schalkwyk, former member of the

youth wing of the Broederbond, the last leader of

the National Party and former minister of tourism

in the ANC government of Jacob Zuma.

•  Tom de Beer, recruited 30 years ago, now chairman

of new Afrikanerbond.

•   Nico Smith, Dutch Reformed Church missionary

who, as a former insider, wrote retrospectively about

the Afrikaner Broederbond in a book[16]

et al.

•  F. W. De Klerk  Former South African State Presi-

dent and leader of the National Party

•   “Lang” Hendrik van den Bergh The South African

head of state security apparatus during theApartheid regime, and close friend of former South

African Prime Minister B. J. Vorster.

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7 References

[1]  “Mormonen voor vrede en gerechtigheid – Robert Poort

– April 2006”.

[2]   “Jong Suid Afrika – founded in June 1918”.

[3] Wilkins, Ivor; Strydom, Hans (1980),   The Super-

Afrikaners. Inside the Afrikaner Broederbond   (Paperback

ed.), Braamfontein, Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball

[4]  “The Security Man”, Time, 23 September 1966

[5] O'Meara, D (1983), Volkskapitalisme: Class, capital and 

ideology in the development of Afrikaner Nationalism

1934–1948 , Cambridge, England: Cambridge University

Press, p. 64

[6] Jemison, EL (2004), “The Nazi influence in the formation

of apartheid in South Africa” (PDF), The Concord Review

15  (1): 75–103

[7]   “Broederbond’s Big Brother Act”,   Time, 21 November

1977

[8] Walton, C (2004),  “Bond of broeders: Anton Hartman

and music in an apartheid state”, Musical Times , Summer

[9]  http://africanhistory.about.com/library/glossary/

bldef-broederbond.htm

[10] Schönteich, M; Boshoff, H (March 2003), "'Volk' Faith

and Fatherland. The Security Threat Posed by the White

Right”, Institute of Security Studies. Monograph., No 81

[11] Bunting, B. (1969).  “The Rise of the South African Re-ich”. African National Congress. Archived from the orig-

inal on 18 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-12.

[12] Wilkins,I & Strydom, Hans. (1978).   The Super-

Afrikaners – Inside the Afrikaner Broederbond . First edi-

tion. ISBN 0552115169

[13] van Wyk, AH (2005).  “Die rol van die verligtes in die

Nasionale Party in die politieke ontmagtiging van die

Afrikaner, 1966–1994 (Afrikaans)" (PDF). University of

Pretoria. Retrieved 2007-06-09.

[14]  “Die Nuwe Afrikaner-Broederbond”  (–  SCHOLAR SEARCH),

Beeld , 30 November 1993: 13

[15]   The Guardian. Monday 23 January 2006. Obituary: An-

ton Rupert.

[16] Smith, N. (2009) Afrikaner Broederbond: Belewings van

die binnekant. Lapa Uitgewers. Pretoria  ISBN 978-0-

7993-4496-7

8 Further reading

•  On the Afrikaner youth today and the Broederbond

crutch – Afrikaans

•   On the Native Club and the Broederbond

•   Membership numbers 6800 to 12000 with 450

branches

•   Tom de Beer on formation of new Afrikanerbond.

Dr JS Gericke/Kosie Gericke Vice-Chancellor Stellen-

bosch University

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4   9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 

9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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