After my discussions with PW Botha regarding the Broederbond and what it stood for and its role in S.Africa I find myself wondering about the popular book written by Ivor Wilkins and Hans Strydom in the late 1970’s. Is there something PW Botha either does not know or does not want to tell? Or… is this book sensationalised… is part of it rubbish?

I sat and pondered the matter. If any other members of the Broederbond can give me input I would appreciate it.

The book may itself provide a clue to its own origins. Hans Strydom was the News Editor and the Editor of the highly respected Sunday Times in Johannesburg. Ivor Wilkins was also a respected journalist.

The book starts with them saying that in January 1977 they received a letter offering them insights into the highly secretive Broederbond. They met a former Broeder (Brother) who told them the story.

I am sitting here wondering to myself if this expose on the Broederbond wasn’t perhaps part of an intelligence game? Could the CIA, MI6 or even the KGB have played some sort of role in getting someone to come forward with this information? What is interesting is that the book has an appendix with the names of over 7,500 Afrikaners who were members of the Broederbond.

The book claims that the Broederbond was the secret Afrikaner force which went on to create the National Party and which went on to rule S.Africa. PW Botha told me that the National Party existed BEFORE the Broederbond. And that seems to be a key fact perhaps showing that this book might be a sensationalised fabrication… perhaps attributing more power to the Broederbond than was the case…

What is interesting is the book’s portrayal of the Broederbond as very similar to the way communist cells work. Is that perhaps also a clue? The book claims that these Afrikaners created this secret society and then took over every aspect of S.Africa. It claims they created Afrikaner equivalents of everything right down to universities and the Boy Scouts. The Afrikaner equivalent of the Boy Scouts are the Voortrekkers I think.

They also claim that Afrikaners took over S.African Railways, and later infiltrated into the Government and even the SABC (S.African Broadcasting Corporation) and that Afrikaners took over everything that was critical and crucial to controlling the country.

They say that the creation of the FAK and Rand Afrikaans University were Broederbond projects. That banks like Volkskas and others were also Broederbond creations. It even mentions Dr Anton Rupert being a Broederbonder.

Take a look at some pages from my very tattered copy.

Here is the front cover.

The book was first published in 1978, and this copy of mine was printed in 1980.

Here is the inside cover:-

About the authors…

Now look at page 47 on the right. It contains statistics of the growth of the Broederbond, how many cells it had. It even notes 5 cells of it existed in Rhodesia. By 1977 it says there were 810 cells with a staggering membership of 12,000 Afrikaners.

In 60 years, the Broederbond only had 12 chairmen. I drew an arrow next to Dr Andries Treurnicht’s name. He used to lead the Conservative Party in S.Africa prior to his death. I actually once wrote a letter to him once and he wrote a lovely reply. If I can ever find it one day, I will put it on the web. I quite liked Dr Treurnicht. He hated the communists a lot – which is why I liked him!

Page 208 is interesting. I included it because it shows that according to the book, the Broederbond was thinking about building black housing and having a transportation system from the black homelands to the “white cities”. This is, as I say how Apartheid was envisioned. Blacks have their country but they work in “the white country” and go home. Blacks were second-rate citizens in the White country, but first rate citizens in their own country. All the Liberals and people outside S.Africa forget this aspect of Apartheid. It was not as one-sided as people portray it. Anyhow, I chuckled at the plan below, from so many decades ago. Look at the 2nd paragraph from the top, on the left. It shows the black population growth and estimates up to the year 2000. The Afrikaners estimated that it would cost R17 billion to build housing for blacks in the white areas. I was looking at that and wondering if the Afrikaners would not have built more houses for the blacks than the ANC ever would have?

On page 378 it mentions the oath which the Broeders would take.

Now look in the appendix on page A22. I marked the entry for PW Botha. It does appear the book does not claim that PW Botha was senior in the organisation. Vorster (Prime minister), and Dr Treurnicht however are exceptions. They did seem to hold high positions. It also mentions the split in Afrikaner ranks which let to Treurnicht breaking away.

I looked to see if FW De Klerk had been a broeder. The arrow I drew on page A50 seems to be for him. I suspect he was indeed Minister of Posts and Telecommunications at one time.

And here is the back cover.

So where did they get a staggering list of 7,500 names from? I am wondering if this leak of this information to the highly respected Sunday Times wasn’t perhaps some kind of CIA/MI6 intelligence game at the time? Is that possible? The information on the Broederbond in the book is so detailed that it appears to me it could only have come from some kind of spy organisation.

And if so… did they deliberately sensationalise and distort the Broederbond’s role?? Or … was the Broederbond really such a fantastic creation? In the book it even cites Broederbond stationery as having the slogan, “Our Strength lies in Secrecy”. This apparently comes from a circular dated 3/9/1968. Apparently, this leak of thousands of Broederbond names was the biggest ever. Prior to that, almost no information about the Broederbond was leaked.

There is an aspect of this book which suggests to me that such voluminous information could NEVER have been gathered, even accidentally by an ordinary member of the organisation. Only professional spies could have ever accumulated this type of info in such detail. But how correct is this info? Or is some of this information really disinformation of a kind?

Prior to discussing the Broederbond with PW Botha I have unfortunately never actually questioned any of my other Afrikaner Military/Intelligence contacts about the Broederbond.

PW Botha told me in another discussion that the Broederbond was merely a cultural organisation.

Maybe… nobody trusts me… because I’m such a damned blabbermouth?

But in previous years, I had always believed that what was in The Super Afrikaners was indeed true. And so I wondered many years ago whether the KGB had perhaps penetrated the Broederbond and had worked on the Broeders and had split them apart. But now that I know more about the CIA/MI6 role I wonder if they too didn’t play their own games in the Broederbond?

But… maybe it is all just sensationalised disinformation… which I have been suckered into believing? Maybe I’ll have to leave the mystery there for others to ponder. Jan