Carel Willem Hendrik Boshoff (9 November 1927 – 16 March 2011) was a South African professor of theology and

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

Biography

Boshoff was born in Nylstroom in the

Transvaal Province The Province of Transvaal (), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Transvaal" refers to the province's ...

as the second child of Willem Sterrenberg Boshoff and Anna Maria "Annie" Boshoff. Boshoff's mother, Anna, was the second wife of his father; together they had seven children in addition to the six from his father's first marriage. Boshoff spent much of his youth at his father's ranch in the Waterberg District in the northern Transvaal, attended the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

and attained his doctorate in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in 1951 after doing missionary work throughout the old Transvaal Province. He spoke the Sepedi (

Northern Sotho Sepedi, also known as Northern Sotho, is one of South Africa’s twelve official languages and belongs to the Bantu language family, specifically the Sotho-Tswana group. The language is spoken mainly in Limpopo Province, and to a lesser exten ...

) language fluently and served as Secretary of Missions for the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

. Boshoff's wife (also named Anna), whom he married in 1954, was the daughter of

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966), also known as H. F. Verwoerd, was a Dutch-born South African politician, scholar in applied psychology, philosophy, and sociology, and newspaper editor who was Prime Mini ...

who served as prime minister of South Africa (1958-1966) and became known as the architect of

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

. They had seven children; she died in 2007. Boshoff led the Voortrekker movement from 1981 to 1989. Further, he served as chairman of the

Afrikaner Broederbond The Afrikaner Broederbond (AB) or simply the Broederbond was an exclusively Afrikaner Calvinist and male secret society in South Africa dedicated to the advancement of the Afrikaner people. It was founded by H. J. Klopper, H. W. van der Merw ...

from 1980 to 1983. He had to leave the Broederbond in 1983, when members of the newly formed Conservative Party were not welcome any more. He chaired the Freedom Front in

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

from 1994. Boshoff established the ''Afrikaner Volkswag'' in May 1984 with the ostensible purpose of defending Afrikaner culture, although in practice it was mainly involved in opposing the liberalising of some racial laws under P.W. Botha. Boshoff had attempted to affiliate his group to the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge soon after its foundation but the application was rejected due to the political nature of the ''Volkswag''. The following year he was involved in the setting up of the ''Vereniging Bybel en Volk'', an opposition group within the

Reformed Churches in South Africa The Reformed Churches in South Africa () is a Christian denomination in South Africa that was formed in 1859 in Rustenburg. Members of the church are sometimes referred to as ''Doppers''. History of the Gereformeerde Kerke in South Africa I ...

established after the church leadership endorsed a motion of condemnation of apartheid passed by the Reformed Ecumenical Synod. In 1988 he founded AVSTIG or ''Afrikaner Vryheidstigting'', although he is mainly known as the founder in 1990 of

Orania Orania () is a Volkstaat, white separatistSources for "white separatist": * * * Additional sources for "whites-only": * * * South Africa, South African town founded by Afrikaners. It is located along the Orange River in the Karoo region o ...

, an

settlement intended as the beginning of a

Volkstaat A Volkstaat (, ), also called a Boerestaat, is a proposed white ethnostate, White homeland for Afrikaners within the borders of South Africa, most commonly proposed as a Afrikaner nationalism, fully independent Boer/Afrikaner nation. The propos ...

. Boshoff admitted his disappointment that Orania had only 810 residents rather than the 60,000 he had anticipated. In 2004 Orania issued its own currency, the Ora. The area is noted for its

Koeksister A koeksister (; ) is a traditional Afrikaner confectionery made of fried dough infused in syrup or honey. There is also a Cape Malay version of the dish, which is a fried ball of dough that is rolled in desiccated coconut called a koesister. ...

monument. Boshoff was the president of the Orania movement ('Orania beweging') until 2007. After he became disabled due to illness, his son, Carel Boshoff IV, took over all the above positions.

Death

Boshoff died aged 83 from cancer at his home on 16 March 2011.

Chairmanships

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boshoff, Carel 1927 births 2011 deaths Afrikaner Broederbond members People from Modimolle Local Municipality South African Protestant missionaries Members of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) Freedom Front Plus politicians Dutch Reformed Church missionaries Protestant missionaries in South Africa University of Pretoria alumni Academic staff of the University of Pretoria Deaths from cancer in South Africa Orania, Northern Cape

Biography

Death

Chairmanships

See also

References

External links