Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging ( " Afrikaner Resistance Movement " ) ( AWB ) is a South African far right separatist political and former paramilitary organisation , since its creation dedicated to secessionist Afrikaner nationalism and the creation of an independent Boer - Afrikaner republic or " " " " in part of South Africa . In its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s , the organisation received much publicity both in South Africa and internationally as a white supremacist and neo - fascist group . It was formed in 1973 by Eugène Terre ' Blanche , who remained the leader until he was murdered on his farm in 2010 . Terre ' Blanche was succeeded as leader by Steyn van Ronge . History . The AWB was formed on 7 July 1973 in a garage in Heidelberg , a town southeast of Johannesburg , in the then Transvaal Province of South Africa . Eugène Terre ' Blanche , a former police officer , became disillusioned by then - Prime Minister B . J . Vorster ' s " liberal views , " as well as what he viewed as communist influences in South African society . Terre ' Blanche decided to form the AWB with six other like - minded persons , and was elected leader of the organisation , a position he held until his death in April 2010 . Their objective was to establish an independent " Boerestaat " ( " Boer State " ) for Boer - Afrikaner people only , existing separately from South Africa , which was considered too left wing and liberal by Terre ' blanche . The AWB was formed in an attempt to regain the ground lost after the Second Boer War : they intended to re - establish the independent Boer Republics of the past – the South African Republic ( " Zuid - Afrikaansche Republiek " ) and the Republic of the Orange Free State ( " Oranje Vrystaat " ) . Apartheid era . During the 1970s and 1980s , the AWB grew from the original seven to several thousand white South Africans . They opposed the reform of apartheid laws during the 1980s , harassing liberal politicians and holding large ( and often quite rowdy ) political rallies . Terre ' Blanche used his flamboyant oratorial skills and forceful personality to win converts . He railed against the lifting of many so - called " petty apartheid " laws such as the law banning interracial sex and marriage ( the race relations act ) , mixing of the races ( group areas act ) as well as the allowance of limited political rights to Indians and Coloureds ( Mixed race individuals ) . During the State of Emergency ( 1984 to 1986 ) there were many reports of AWB violence and even murders against unarmed non - whites . The AWB was especially in opposition to the then - banned African National Congress . The ruling National Party considered the AWB to be little more than a fringe group , so while not officially endorsed , they were able to operate relatively unhindered . However in 1986 , white police officers took the unprecedented step of using tear gas against Terre ' Blanche and the AWB when they disrupted a National Party rally . The organisation was estimated to have had support amongst 5 to 7 percent of the White South African population in 1988 . In the Nick Broomfield film " His Big White Self " , he claims that the organisation reached a peak of half a million supporters in their heyday . Volkshulpskema . In the mid - 1980s , the AWB instituted a Voedingskema ( feeding program ) , later called the Volkshulpskema ( people ' s help scheme ) , to help the very poorest Afrikaner families . The scheme delivered a meal every day to 14 , 000 poor Afrikaner children in Pretoria . Certain farmers also donated vegetables on an almost weekly basis , and in the final three months of 1986 alone 300 tons of food was donated . In the winter , bedding was donated as well . Sympathetic mine owners and farmers arranged jobs for unemployed Afrikaners on the farms and mines . Afrikaans singer Bles Bridges held a concert on 3 March 1987 in Pretoria and gave the 10 , 000 Rand raised to the project . During the end of apartheid . During the negotiations that led to South Africa ' s first multiracial elections , the AWB threatened all - out war . During the Battle of Ventersdorp in August 1991 , the AWB confronted police in front of the town hall where President F W de Klerk was speaking , and " a number of people were killed or injured " in the conflict . Later in the negotiations , the AWB stormed the Kempton Park World Trade Centre where the negotiations were taking place , breaking through the glass front of the building with an armoured car . The police guarding the centre failed to prevent the invasion . The invaders then took over the main conference hall , threatening delegates and painting slogans on the walls , but left again after a short period . In 1988 , the AWB was beset by scandal when claims that Terre ' Blanche had had an affair with journalist Jani Allan surfaced . In July 1989 , Cornelius Lottering , a member of a breakaway AWB group Orde van die Dood ( Order of Death ) , attempted to assassinate Allan by placing a bomb outside her Sandton apartment . Nick Broomfield ' s 1991 documentary " The Leader , His Driver and the Driver ' s Wife " claimed that Terre ' Blanche had sex with Allan , a claim she denied . This led to Allan taking libel proceedings against the documentary broadcaster Channel 4 in 1992 in the London High Court . During the trial , several transcripts of their alleged unconventional sexual positions appeared in the South African and British press . Terre ' Blanche also submitted a sworn statement to the London court denying that he had had an affair with Allan . Although the judge found that Channel 4 ' s allegations had not defamed Allan , he did not rule on whether or not there had been an affair . AWB members provided training to members of the Inkatha Freedom Party to help them defend themselves against the ANC and fight for a Zulu homeland . Bophuthatswana coup . In 1994 , before the advent of majority rule , the AWB gained international notoriety in its attempt to defend the dictatorial government of Lucas Mangope in the homeland of Bophuthatswana . The AWB , along with a contingent of about 90 Afrikaner Volksfront militiamen , entered the capital Mmabatho on 10 and 11 March . The black policemen and soldiers of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force who were out in force to support president Mangope disappeared from the streets in protest at the AWB ' s actions and later turned on the militiamen at the airport at Mafikeng . One AWB member was shot and killed when the convoy attempted to leave the airport and continue on to Mmabatho . When in Mmabatho , the AWB and the Afrikaner Volksfront found themselves under continuous siege from both the Bophuthatswana Defence Force and Mmabatho citizens . When attempting to retreat from Mmabatho on 11 March , three AWB members were summarily executed by a Defence Force member who had gone over to the ANC after they had been wounded in a firefight . Nearby photojournalists and television news crews recorded the incident , which proved to be a public relations disaster for the AWB , demoralising its white members . The AWB claimed that they were asked into the country and only entered trying to help the Bophuthatswana government , but the Tebbutt Commission found the " evidence is overwhelming that they entered the area uninvited and that they were not welcome there " . Post - apartheid . On 17 June 2001 Terre ' Blanche was sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting a petrol station worker , John Ndzima , to such an extent as to cause permanent brain damage , and the attempted murder of a security guard and former employee , Paul Motshabi . Terre ' Blanche was released in June 2004 after serving 3 years in Rooigrond Prison near Mafikeng . During his time in prison he became a born - again Christian and claimed he had moderated many of his more racist views and preached reconciliation as ' prescribed by God ' . In April 2007 , AWB posters appeared at the 13th Klein Karoo National Arts Festival in Oudtshoorn . Several posters made reference to the Bok van Blerk song ' De la Rey ' , an Afrikaans hit record about the Boer General as well as to South Africa ' s former coat of arms . Organisers were quick to remove the posters . In March 2008 , the AWB announced it was re - activating for ' populist ' reasons , citing the encouragement of the public . Reasons for the return include the electricity crisis , corruption across government departments and rampant crime . Plans include a demand for land that they claim is legally theirs in terms of the Sand River Convention of 1852 and other historical treaties , through the International Court of Justice in The Hague if necessary , and if that failed , taking up arms . In April 2008 , Terre ' Blanche was to be the speaker at several AWB rallies in Vryburg , Middelburg and Pretoria . Several areas in South Africa have been earmarked as part of a future Volkstaat according to three critical title deeds . The areas include ; Vryheid in KwaZulu - Natal , the old republics of Stellaland and Goshen in the far North - West and sections of the Free State . Amidst a Facebook race row concerning North West University students , the South African press revealed that the AWB have been using the social networking site to recruit members . The " Mail and Guardian " newspaper revealed that the AWB group has over 5000 members , and appeals to 18 - to 35 - year - olds to join the organisation ' s youth wing . Steyn van Ronge was recently announced as the permanent leader of the organisation . Logos . The AWB flag is composed of three black seven s ( forming a triskelion ) in a white circle upon a red background . According to AWB , the sevens , ' the number of JAHWEH ' , ' stand to oppose the number 666 , the number of the anti - Christ ' . Red is considered to represent Jesus ' blood , while black stands for bravery and courage . The inner white circle symbolises the " eternal struggle " , or according to other sources " eternal life " . The flag bears a resemblance to the Swastika flag used by the Nazi Party and Nazi Germany . The AWB also uses the " Vierkleur " , the original flag of the once independent South African Republic , and the flag of the Orange Free State . In fiction . The organisation is a popular antagonist amongst writers of alternate history literature . Several members of a fictionalised AWB are important characters in Harry Turtledove ' s American Civil War alternate history novel " The Guns of the South " . The AWB also features prominently in Larry Bond ' s novel of a Cold War - era civil war / international conflict in South Africa , " Vortex " .