The Afrikaner Volksfront (AVF; ) was a separatist umbrella organisation uniting a number of right-wing Afrikaner organisations in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the early 1990s.

History

The AVF was formed by General

Constand Viljoen General Constand Laubscher Viljoen, (28 October 1933 – 3 April 2020) was a South African military commander and politician. He co-founded the Afrikaner Volksfront (Afrikaner People's Front) and later founded the Freedom Front (now F ...

and three other generals from the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

(SADF), and launched on 7 May 1993. The other three generals were Major General Tienie Groenewald, a former chief of military intelligence, Lieutenant General Koos Bischoff, former chief of operations of the SADF, and Lieutenant General Cobus Visser, a former head of investigations of the

South African Police The South African Police (SAP) was the national police force and law enforcement agency in South Africa from 1913 to 1994; it was the ''de facto'' police force in the territory of South West Africa (Namibia) from 1939 to 1981. After South Af ...

. The AVF President was Dr Ferdi Hartzenberg, leader of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, and the chief secretary was Colonel Piet Botha. The AVF existed as an umbrella group for right wing groups rather than a party in itself. Other groups involved included the

Boerestaat Party The Boerstaat Party ( en, 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 person ...

, the

Herstigte Nasionale Party The Herstigte Nasionale Party (Reconstituted National Party) is a South African political party which was formed as a far-right splinter group of the now defunct National Party in 1969. The party name was commonly abbreviated as HNP, evokin ...

, and the Oranjewerkers. The AVF aimed to disrupt the 1994 elections. The AVF established a ''Volksrepubliek werkkomitee'' ("People's Republic working committee") to gather information and put the ideal of Afrikaner self-determination into practice. In September 1993 this committee recommended a ''

Volkstaat The concept of a Volkstaat (, "People's State"), also called a Boerestaat, is a proposed view to establish an all-white Afrikaner homeland within the borders of South Africa, most commonly proposed as a fully independent Boer/Afrikaner natio ...

'' solution incorporating

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

, parts of the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

, and northern Kimberley and Northern

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, which would exist as a state with the right to secede from a federal South Africa; in November 1994 a new proposal was suggested for a smaller state with just autonomy.van Rooyen, Johnann. ''Hard Right: The New White Power in South Africa'' I.B. Tauris (1994) pp114-115 The negotiations held with the ANC displeased hardliners within the AVF, with Hartzenberg demanding nothing less than an independent Afrikaner homeland. After negotiations failed Viljoen's position in the AVF was undermined by the hardliners; Viljoen left and subsequently formed the

Freedom Front The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus; af, Vryheidsfront Plus, ''VF Plus'') is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed (as the Freedom Front) in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald. Its current stated policy positions include ...

. The AVF rejected the

interim constitution A provisional constitution, interim constitution or transitional constitution is a constitution intended to serve during a transitional period until a permanent constitution is adopted. The following countries currently have,had in the past,such a c ...

of South Africa which was passed in November 1993. In 1994 the AVF sought to have the Boers recognised as an indigenous people by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

but were unsuccessful after 82 other indigenous peoples signed a petition against the AVF's participation. The AVF also participated in the

1994 Bophuthatswana crisis The 1994 Bophuthatswana crisis was a major political crisis which began after Lucas Mangope, the president of Bophuthatswana, a South African bantustan created under ''apartheid'', attempted to crush widespread labour unrest and popular demonstr ...

in which several members of the

Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging The Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (), meaning "Afrikaner Resistance Movement", commonly known by its abbreviation AWB, is an Afrikaner nationalist paramilitary organisation in South Africa. Since its founding in 1973 by Eugène Terre'Blanche and ...

were killed. The AVF was disbanded in November 1996.

References

External links

First Report of the Volk's Republic Works Committee of the Afrikaner Volksfront
{{Authority control 1993 establishments in South Africa 1996 disestablishments in South Africa Afrikaner nationalism Boer nationalism Defunct political parties in South Africa Far-right politics in South Africa Nationalist parties in South Africa Organisations associated with apartheid Political parties disestablished in 1996 Political parties established in 1993 Political party alliances in South Africa