Legacy of racial intolerance left by AWB still lingers in Ventersdorp
The apartheid-era political party was an Afrikaans white nationalist organisation that headquartered in Ventersdorp, whose charismatic leader, Eugene Terreblanche, advocated for a country divided through racial and ethnic lines.
The voting station in Ventersdorp Extension 10, North West, on 3 February 2024. Picture: Thabiso Goba/Eyewitness News
VENTERSDORP - The North West town of Ventersdorp is still dealing with the legacy of racial intolerance left behind by the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), also known as the Afrikaner Resistance Movement.
The apartheid-era political party was an Afrikaans white nationalist organisation, headquartered in Ventersdorp.
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Its charismatic leader, the late Eugene Terreblanche, advocated for a South Africa divided through racial and ethnic lines.
There isn’t any physical reminder left of the AWB in Ventersdorp - their old offices now form part of a shopping complex, and monuments of Terreblanche have long been taken down.
However, the memory of Terreblanche on a horse riding through town followed by his armed private militia is still fresh in the minds of residents.
A registered voter, Dion, said it’s taken a long time for Ventersdorp to heal the racial divisions sowed by the AWB.
“I think we have moved on and it has sort of given it a stigma still but there are a lot of people here who are hopeful for the future, a lot of change, and a lot of integration as well.”
Another registered voter, Henny Laubscher, said tough the democratic government had a lot of issues, a segregated society was never going to work.