Editing Boeremag

{{Short description|Far-right South African terrorist organization}}

{{Infobox militant organization
| name             = Boeremag
| flag             = 
| logo             = Boeremag Flag.png
| caption          = A Boeremag flag with an [[Winged Odal]] SS-rune on it. The flag was discovered in the aftermath of the [[2002 Soweto bombings]].
| leader           = [[Mike du Toit]]
| partof           = [[Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging| AWB political ideology]]
| dates            = 2001 - 2002
| area             = [[South Africa]] (primarily in [[Gauteng]])
| ideology         = {{bulleted list|[[Afrikaner nationalism]]|[[White supremacy]]|[[White separatism]]|[[Far-right|Far-rightism]]|[[Neo-Nazism]]}}
| status           = Designated as a [[Terrorism|terrorist group]] by the [[Government of South Africa]]
}}

The '''Boeremag''' ({{IPA|af|ˈbuːr.ə.maχ|}}, "Boer Power") was a [[far-right]] [[white supremacist]] [[terrorist organisation]] in South Africa. The South African government described them as a [[South Africa]]n right-wing terrorist organization with [[White separatism|white separatist]] aims.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2013-10-29 |title=South Africa: Nelson Mandela coup plotters sentenced |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-24725177 |access-date=2013-10-29 |work=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> The Boeremag were accused of planning to overthrow the ruling [[African National Congress]] [[Government of South Africa|government]] and to reinstate a new Boer-administered republic reminiscent of the era when [[Boer republics|Boers administered independent republics]] during the 19th century after the [[Great Trek]].<ref>{{cite news |date=16 July 2012 |title=Boeremag accused loses bail bid |url=http://www.citizen.co.za/citizen/content/en/citizen/local-news?oid=294080&sn=Detail&pid=334&Boeremag-accused-loses-bail-bid |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130422002321/http://www.citizen.co.za/citizen/content/en/citizen/local-news?oid=294080&sn=Detail&pid=334&Boeremag-accused-loses-bail-bid |archive-date=22 April 2013 |newspaper=[[The Citizen (South Africa)|The Citizen]] |language=en-ZA}}</ref>

South African law-enforcement officials charged the Boeremag for being responsible for the [[2002 Soweto bombings]] and arrested twenty-six men, alleged to be members of the Boeremag, in November and December 2002, reportedly seizing over 1,000 kilograms of [[explosive]]s in the process. Further arrests followed in March 2003.
[[Image:Boeremag Filling Station Soweto.jpg|thumb|A [[filling station]] in [[Soweto]], [[South Africa]] said to have been bombed by the Boeremag. As of December 2005 it remains closed and unrepaired.]]{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}{{Apartheid}}
The first trial of Boeremag suspects began under tight security in [[Pretoria]] during May 2003. Twenty-two men were charged with forty-two counts of [[treason]], [[murder]], and illegal weapons possession. Six pleaded not guilty, two did not enter pleas, one refused to plead, and thirteen challenged the court's jurisdiction, alleging that the post-apartheid constitution and government of South Africa are illegitimate. During the trial plans to blow up South African actor [[Casper de Vries]] together with eight other individuals were revealed. The group is quoted as saying that the reason for this plan was because De Vries "was not on the right path".<ref>{{Cite news |date=2004-10-08 |title=Boeremag planned 'new nation |url=http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1570696,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317164348/http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0%2C%2C2-7-1442_1570696%2C00.html |archive-date=2008-03-17 |work=[[News24 (website)|News24]] |language=en-ZA}} 
</ref>

In October 2004 the Pretoria High Court heard testimony from a witness, Deon Crous, who stated under oath that he had assisted two of the accused, Kobus Pretorius and Jacques Jordaan, to manufacture 1500&nbsp;kg of explosives. Crous testified that five amounts of 300&nbsp;kg were reserved for five separate bombs. One of the planned bomb attacks was cancelled as there was too high a risk of white civilians being injured. The bombs were to be detonated on December 13, 2002, with various attacks planned to follow the bombings.<ref>{{cite news |date=2004-10-29 |title=Boeremag: 'We made explosives' |url=http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1613034,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929045005/http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0%2C%2C2-7-1442_1613034%2C00.html |archive-date=2008-09-29 |access-date=2008-01-30 |work=[[News24 (website)|News24]] |language=en-ZA}}</ref>

In early May 2006 Herman van Rooyen and Rudi Gouws, two of the leading members being tried, escaped from custody.<ref>{{cite news |date=2006-05-04 |title=Prisons minister blames police for escape fiasco |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-05-04-prisons-minister-blames-police-for-escape-fiasco/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929033124/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2006-05-04-prisons-minister-blames-police-for-escape-fiasco |archive-date=2008-09-29 |access-date=2006-05-26 |work=[[The Mail & Guardian]] |language=en-ZA}}</ref> The two men were recaptured on 20 January 2007.<ref>{{cite news |date=2007-01-20 |title=Boeremag escapees in court under tight security |url=http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/crime1justice/0,2172,142223,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929124426/http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/crime1justice/0%2C2172%2C142223%2C00.html |archive-date=2007-09-29 |access-date=2007-01-21 |work=[[SABC News]] |language=en-ZA}}</ref>

In late October 2013, [[Mike du Toit]], the ringleader of a plot to assassinate [[Nelson Mandela]] and expel Black people out of South Africa, was convicted of treason and sentenced to 35 years in prison. Twenty other members of Boeremag were also sentenced to prison terms of between five and 35 years. Herman van Rooyen and Rudi Gouws, two of the co-conspirators of Du Toit, were given longer sentences of 25 years imprisonment for their role in planting bombs in their attempt to assassinate Nelson Mandela.<ref name=":0" />

These men have been imprisoned since 2002. The trial lasted 11 years.

==See also==
*[[Nan Hua Temple#Bomb explosion|Nan Hua Temple bomb explosion]]
*[[Siener van Rensburg]]

== References ==
{{reflist|35em}}

==External links==
*{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2440463.stm|title=Right-wing group claims Soweto blasts|date=2002-11-11|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=2006-05-26}}
*{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2522579.stm|title=Blast on South African Bridge|date=2002-11-28|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=2006-05-26}}
*{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2845017.stm|title=SA police seek 'extremists'|date=2003-03-12|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=2006-05-26}}
*{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3013938.stm|title=S African whites face treason trial|date=2003-06-23|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=2006-05-26}}
*{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2440463.stm|title=Right-wing group claims Soweto blasts|date=2002-11-11|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=2006-05-26}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/Monographs/No81/Chap4.html |title=Rise of the Boeremag: A Case Study |work=Monograph 81: 'Volk' Faith and Fatherland &mdash; The Security Threat Posed by the White Right |author=Martin Schönteich and Henri Boshoff |date=March 2003 |access-date=2006-05-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060411190412/http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/Monographs/No81/Chap4.html |archive-date=2006-04-11 }}
{{Politics of South Africa navbox}}
{{Political history of South Africa}}
[[Category:Afrikaner nationalist rebellions]]
[[Category:Boer nationalism]]
[[Category:Fascist revolts]]
[[Category:Rebel groups in South Africa]]
[[Category:Coups d'état and coup attempts in South Africa|2002]]
[[Category:White separatist groups]]
[[Category:Separatism in South Africa]]
[[Category:People convicted of treason against South Africa]]
[[Category:Treason trials]]
[[Category:Trials in South Africa]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazi organisations in South Africa]]