The Death Of A Titan

The picture above represents the social tensions that exist in many African countries that occur in other places. Though the different reactions to the death of Eugene Terreblanche this picture gives an image of an Africa that is not dull. The people there go through problems that are familiar to many of us; there is racial tension, and there are different responses to these problems. This image shows how a single person can show the division that underlies in a society that appears to be peaceful and harmonious. The picture takes in the same space two opposite reactions to his death. There is hate and indifference as well as love represented side by side, all surrounded by violence.

Eugene Terreblanche, whose nickname was “the white supremacist”, was a political figure of South Africa that has always fought for segregation and dominance of the white minority over the rest of the population, mainly black. He was the founder and leader of the AWB, a political group that defended the apartheid regime and the creation of a new white-only country, the Independent Boer State. He and this group objected not only to black people, but also to Colored people (mixed races) and South Africans of Indian, English, Asian or Arabic descent. Terreblanche was killed by two of his farm workers because of unpaid wages. He was found dead in his farm, with his body half-naked and sexually molested. Another explanation to his nudity is that he sexually abused one of the murderers before he died, which was never proved. But what would one expect from a life and death surrounded by so much violence?

For many people his death was a breath of fresh air for a united South Africa. For them, his death represented the fall of yet another barrier to a more equal society. And, because his death and life were so twisted in violence and hate, there could have been be a violent reaction, even though showing happiness to his death. His farm, family, and many parts of the city he lived in had to be guarded by the military and police for fear of vandalism, violent protests, attacks and confronts between his followers and the opposition.

But, at the same time, contrary to what many outside South Africa would expect, his death was mourned by thousands of people, mainly Afrikaners (Caucasians). Many people found in this man a leader, a true South African, a gentleman. The many flowers and cards put outside his farm by many of his followers represent this affection that they have for this man. And an even bigger sign of adoration came from the over three thousand people that traveled to the small town of Ventersdorp to attend his funeral. The presence of guards around his property also shows his followers’ love for him, in protecting his family, his belongings, and his memory.

Another aspect of this image, even though I think was unintentional is that it shows how people in Africa are similar to western societies. The makeshift memorial outside Terreblanche’s farm is a way of commemorating a remarkable death that is very common in the United States and in Europe. It is just another small reminder that people in Africa are not different from people in the West.