I decided to dash off to Pretoria on saturday, 4 March 2006, to take some photos of the Boer Women’s march. Apparently they’ve held this before. The aim is to hand over a document to the ANC stating that the Afrikaners are a nation and should be recognised as such.

It has been many years since I was last in Pretoria. I moved out of Pretoria 21 years ago, to live in Johannesburg. So it was interesting also walking around and taking photos of my old haunts.

There were some Afrikaner men on horseback when the group gathered by Church square, by the statue of President Paul Kruger. This square is the heart of Pretoria. Paul Kruger went into exile after the Afrikaners surrendered to the British at the end of the Anglo-Boer war which was fought a century ago. Pretoria has changed somewhat since I was there last. These men on horseback represent the Boer Commandos from the Boer war.

All those flags you see are from the past. I don’t recognise all the flags. Some are of the old Transvaal Republic and from the Orange Free State.

The sign on the vehicle reads: “Genoeg is genoeg”. Translation: “Enough is enough”. Most of the signs had this slogan. There was a woman who gave a speech. I did not listen to all of it. But one piece I heard was her talking about Johanna Brand.

Johanna Brand was a woman who had a vision in the 1920’s. The Afrikaners have had two psychics who have had a big influence on them. The main one is Van Rensburg who went along with the Boer troops during the Boer war and also in the rebellion of 1914. Van Rensburg had an uncanny influence on soldiers and even their generals. It is said that he used his powers to lead them to safety and to escape from the British many times.

Johanna Brand apparently had a vision from God. She was instructed to pass on a message to the black people of S.Africa from God. The message was this: If the blacks were to ever be offered the opportunity to rule themselves they must refuse it. If they don’t then God will destroy them.

I have never read the full story of the vision she saw. But if anyone has it, I would like to. Better still, if anyone has an english translation of it, then I’d like to post it on my website.

The lady who gave the speech also mentioned the many farm murders. That is why the “Enough is enough” banner is so prominently displayed. They really are sick to death with the murder of White farmers. And I agree.

Here is one of the statues of Boer men which surround the statue of Paul Kruger.

I noticed some black men standing around watching the proceedings. And that was an interesting part of the exercise as you will see later in this photo essay. As I was walking around, I began to take special note of the black people who were watching this event. Let it be said for the blacks, that I never saw them behaving in any negative way whatsoever. I noted that they just stood and watched the proceedings. They did not mock the proceedings or make negative remarks. They were quite expressionless. They just watched. No positive reaction. No negative reaction. They just looked. Whatever they were thinking they kept strictly to themselves.

I walked around the group taking photos from every angle.

There were 3 Police cars parked nearby which later escorted them through the streets of Pretoria to the Government buildings. There was even one ambulance – perhaps in case some of the older people experienced medical problems.

Here you can see them gathered around the statue of Paul Kruger.

I went walking through my old haunts, reliving memories of 20(43)+ years ago when I arrived in S.Africa from a newly independent Zimbabwe which had just elected Robert Mugabe. My father had passed away. I was 17 years old, and I left school a year early (technically I’m a high-school dropout!) I came to S.Africa. What a strange place it was for me. I was very unhappy here. I walked through streets that I had not walked in 20 years. If I get a chance, I’ll post some of those photos too.

I went in search of Naval Headquarters where I had been stationed at one time. The building was now to let. And while I was standing there, the procession came by me.

The guy on the right has a sign reading: “Geen Boer, geen kos”. Translation: “No Farmer, No food”. How true.

I don’t understand the meaning of this sign I saw next to the flag. The Afrikaans translates as: “Pretoria, Capital of Republic 15”. Pretoria used to be the capital of the Transvaal Republic. I’d never heard of “Republic 15” before. Maybe someone can explain that to me. I assume that Republic 15 is the Transvaal.

Here the procession is receding in the distance. I watched the blacks as some gathered on the sidewalks to look at these whites. I heard some black men talking loudly and one remarked “Orania”. There is no question that the blacks knew and understood what was going on. Most blacks in S.Africa can speak Afrikaans. So they know exactly what is happening. Orania is the small Afrikaner homeland – a small town – where white Afrikaners are making a go of things by themselves without the blacks. (The ANC hates that with a passion!) But, other than those words which I heard, I saw a few dozen blacks just looking at the Whites passing by with their banners. The blacks mostly didn’t even talk to one another. They just looked at the whites, expressionless, saying nothing.

Behind the procession they caused something of a traffic jam. There were many “black” minibus taxis and they hooted with great impatience. They made a lot of noise.

I did not follow the procession to the Union Buildings where the S.African Govt is housed. My digital camera was almost full. It had been an interesting thing to watch. I’m sure the ANC will ignore it all.

But these things are good for the historical record. It is always good for people to express their views in public and in writing so that one day nobody can feign ignorance.