One Settler, One Bullet was a rallying cry and slogan originated by the

Azanian People's Liberation Army The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly known as Poqo, was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, an African nationalist movement in South Africa. In the Xhosa language, the word 'Poqo' means 'pure'. After attacks on ...

(APLA), the armed wing of the

Pan Africanist Congress The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...

(PAC), during the struggle of the 1980s against

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

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

. The slogan parodied the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

's slogan 'One Man, One Vote', which eventually became 'One Person, One Vote'. It is not to be confused with the controversial protest song " Dubul' ibhunu" (Shoot the Boer).

History

The slogan was never officially endorsed by the PAC but often used by party members during rallies. After the dismantling of apartheid in 1994, PAC officials have repeatedly distanced themselves and the party from the slogan and called it a "war cry from its armed wing" incompatible with its "current reconcillatory stand". By 1991, when the fight against apartheid neared its end, PAC General Secretary Benny Alexander attempted to redefine a

settler A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settl ...

: he called it a white or Asian person participating in the oppression of indigenous people. He classified people into three groups, "indigenous" people, Whites and Asians whose sole allegiance is to the nation and who have no home elsewhere, and "settlers". However, even after 1991, grassroots sympathizers of the PAC at times interpreted the slogan as a call for attacks on whites in general and certain attacks on whites, such as the 1993 killing of US Anti-Apartheid activist Amy Biehl, were seen as directly motivated by the slogan. In 2015, student activist group

Rhodes Must Fall Rhodes Must Fall was a protest movement that began on 9 March 2015, originally directed against a statue at the University of Cape Town (UCT) that commemorates Cecil Rhodes. The campaign for the statue's removal received global attention and ...

and other affiliated movements revived the slogan by chanting "One Settler One Bullet" at rallies at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

and by statements on social media.

Variants

* "Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer" - competing slogan reportedly originated by

Peter Mokaba Peter Mokaba, OLG (7 January 1959 – 9 June 2002) was a member of the South African parliament, deputy minister in the government of Nelson Mandela and president of the South African governing party's youth wing, the ANC Youth League. The P ...

of the ANC at the April 1993 funeral of assassinated South African Communist party leader

Chris Hani Chris Hani (28 June 1942 – 10 April 1993), born Martin Thembisile Hani , was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of uMkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a fierce ...

.The Extreme White Right: A Security Threat? - 'Volk' Faith and Fatherland, The Security Threat Posed by the White Right - Monograph No 81 March 2003
/ref> * "One Merchant, One Bullet" - used by People Against Gangsterism and Drugs, an Islamist

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

group in post-apartheid South Africa. ("Merchant" refers to

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...

s.) * "One Prawn, One Bullet" - line spoken by the mercenary character Koobus (who is ironically an Afrikaner himself) of the movie ''

District 9 ''District 9'' is a 2009 science fiction mockumentary film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zea ...

''.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=February 2019 20th century in South Africa South African political slogans African and Black nationalism in Africa Anti-imperialism in Africa Anti-white racism in Africa