A term associated with an elite group of Afrikaners. Dark hearted white people. They benefited most from the apartheid regime. A bunch of narcissists & chauvinist pigs. Most were closely related to the dutch Reformed Church. Students were taught about the duty to serve the country and why the appartheid government was to be supported in this. In their final year at Sunday School church the chapter was: Ons vir jou Suid Afrika. A pathetic attempt by the church to make young men believe their conscription into the army of the apartheid regime was a Godly duty. Often biblical verses were twisted and quoted to support this concept. As these whites consider themselves to be the chosen nation, like the Israelites. That this country was given to them by God. We were brainwashed to believe that it was our duty to be conscripted to protect the country against Die Rooi en Swart gevaar. The Red (communist) and Black dangers. The broederbond had levels of membership similar to other organisations like the FreeMasons .

Bayers Naude , as a member of the ANC and a Dutch Reformed minister, opposed this belief of the church and was expelled. I had the privilege to meet him in the Netherlands in person. One of the major influencers in my life. Here follows two incidents that describe the misconception people have. It is part of a longer story and I am the character Peter:

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During the height of PW Botha’s reign, just after he delivered the infamous Rubicon Speech, Peter was hiking along the road between Bloemfontein and Bethlehhem. He was wearing his defence force uniform with a Ride Safe Sign hanging over his shoulder. He was not a soldier, and not too proud to wear that miserable uniform.

Peter could not shoot, he used to miss the target by miles. He would rather have shot at some of the permanent force pigs that tried to brainwash them all. He was obediently following orders but within two weeks of torture and shouting corporals verballly abusing everyone’s mothers and sisters, that all changed. These young men were supposedly protecting this precious country.

A car stopped, at first Peter thought they were plain clothes policemen. But they may have been farmers, although their vehicle was not a fancy thing like the rich farmers of that area. I jumped in on the back seat behind the passenger seat..

It was early evening and they were going to Bethlehem. Peter was on his way to Durban where his girlfriend lived. Somewhere on the road they suddenly stopped, there was an old Sotho man on a bicycle. He was heading in the opposite direction. They asked a few questions, then they started hitting the old man, kicking his bicycle and bent the wheel.

They got back into the car chuckling.

Read the second part of this ironic story at Harrismith