Boerestaat Party
LeaderCoen Vermaak
FounderRobert van Tonder
Founded30 September 1986
IdeologyBoer nationalism
Volkstaat
Political positionRight-wing[1]
Party flag
Website
www.boerestaatparty.co.za/[dead link]

The Boerstaat Party (English: Boer State Party) is a Boer nationalist South African political party founded on 30 September 1986 by Robert van Tonder. It was never officially registered as a political party because it was unable to rally 500 persons under one roof, a requirement under South African electoral law for official political party status. It was never represented in the South African Parliament, neither in the apartheid era nor after democratisation. In 1989, it joined the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) in declaring support for Jaap Marais, the leader of the Herstigte Nasionale Party[2] 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 with the paramilitary group, the Boere Weerstandsbeweging (Boer Resistance Movement) led by Andrew Ford.

The BSP were the third 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 territories from the Union of South Africa. Other groups advocated this notion in the past, with the Maritz Rebellion of 1914 and the Ossewa Brandwag of the 1940s being the most notable . 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, known as a Boerestaat.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5]

The current leader, Coen Vermaak, has become noted for his conspiratorial beliefs in white genocide. He has argued that the South Africa government is using contraceptives and abortion to stall white population growth. He stated: 'I am convinced the abortion law is aimed at getting rid of white babies'. Vermaak also believes that AIDS is hoax to encourage the use of condoms among white South Africans.[6]

The party rejects universal suffrage, although it has said that voting rights should not be limited to whites. Vermaak believes that social status should determine voting power and that, for instance, doctors and homeless people should have different amounts of voting power.[7] In 2015, 33.0% of medical students were white,[8] despite making up only 8.4% of the population.[9]

References

  1. ^ "CONSERVATIVE PARTY (CP)". The Heart of Hope. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  2. ^ Du Toit, Brian M. (1991). "The Far Right in Current South African Politics". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 29 (4). Cambridge University Press: 627–67. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00005693. ISSN 1469-7777. JSTOR 161141. S2CID 154640869.
  3. ^ Article on South African Far Right Archived 13 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine M. Schönenteich & H. Boshoff, Volk Faith and Fatherland: The Security Threat Posed by the White Right
  4. ^ Cherry, Michael (2000). "Letter fuels South Africa's AIDS furore". Nature. 404 (6781): 911. doi:10.1038/35010218. PMID 10801091.
  5. ^ Afrikaner Symbol Moves Into New Sa
  6. ^ 'White Far-Right Wants its Say' Archived 15 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Far Right Looks to Political Mainstream Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine from the Mail & Guardian
  8. ^ van der Merwe LJ, van Zyl GJ, St Clair Gibson A, Viljoen M, Iputo JE, Mammen M, Chitha W, Perez AM, Hartman N, Fonn S, Green-Thompson L, Ayo-Ysuf OA, Botha GC, Manning D, Botha SJ, Hift R, Retief P, van Heerden BB, Volmink J (16 December 2015). "South African medical schools: Current state of selection criteria and medical students' demographic profile". South African Medical Journal. 106 (1): 76–81. doi:10.7196/SAMJ.2016.v106i1.9913. hdl:10019.1/100617. PMID 26792312.
  9. ^ "Africa :: SOUTH AFRICA". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2 November 2022.

External links

Politics of South Africa
Political parties in South Africa
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