Boerestaat Party

The Boerstaat Party is a right wing South African political party founded in 1986 by the late Robert van Tonder. It was never represented in the South African Parliament, neither in the apartheid era nor after the democratization. In 1989, it joined the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging in declaring support for Jaap Marais, the leader of the Herstigte Nasionale Party [ [http://www.jstor.org/view/0022278x/ap010115/01a00060/19?frame=noframe&userID=[e-mail]/01cce4406400501be8f48&dpi=3&config=jstor Brian M. du Toit] , 'The Far Right in South Africa', "The Journal of Modern African Studies", Vol. 29, No. 4. (Dec., 1991), p. 646] and has worked with the HNP on occasion since. The party was a charter member of the Afrikaner Volksfront coalition group. It has also operated its own paramilitary group, the "Boere Weerstandsbeweging" (Boer Resistance Army).

The BSP were the first group in South Africa to openly advocate the restoration of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State and call for the secession of these territiories from the Union of South Africa. This policy was later taken on board by the AWB and other rightist movements. The BSP further argued that the Boer citizens of these nineteenth century republics should be considered as a distinct nation from the Afrikaners [ [http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/Monographs/No81/Chap3.html Aricle on South African Far Right] M. Schönenteich & H. Boshoff, "Volk Faith and Fatherland: The Security Threat Posed by the White Right"] .

The BSP has been noted for adopting controversial views on AIDS and came out in support of the views on the subject expressed by Thabo Mbeki [ [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v404/n6781/full/404911a0.html Letter fuels South Africa's AIDS furore] ] . The party has also taken an active role in ensuring that the Voortrekker Monument is cared for, with current leader Coen Vermaak a leading advocate in this campaign [ [http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/2003/05/09/news/n21_09052003.htm Afrikaner Symbol Moves Into New Sa] ] .

Coen Vermaak has become noted for his controversial statements, arguing that it is official policy to drive white people to extinction through the widespread availability of contraceptives whilst he has further argued that 'I am convinced the abortion law is aimed at getting rid of white babies'. Vermaak has also claimed that AIDS was a hoax designed to promote the use of condoms among whites claiming that 'no Boer [Afrikaner] ever had Aids. It doesn't exist. It's the biggest scam that can take place'. [ [http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_2049013,00.html 'White Far-Right Wants its Say'] ]

Whilst the party does not actively call for voting rights to be restricted to whites only, it firmly rejects the post-apartheid doctrine of universal suffrage. For Vermaak, it is ridiculous that a doctor and a vagrant should have an equal say in how the country is governed. He has argued that 'any logical person should understand [that] some people's votes should count more than others' [ [http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=294585&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/ Far Right Looks to Political Mainstream] from the Mail & Guardian] .

External links

* [http://www.boerestaatparty.co.za/ Official site]

References