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 ...
survivalist
Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists, doomsday preppers or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, and other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, ...
group active in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. The leader is Colonel Franz Jooste, who served with the
South African Defence Force
The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...
during the
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 ...
era.
The Kommandokorps organises
paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
camps, which are attended by youths between the ages of 13 and 19. The teenagers are taught self-defence and how to combat a perceived black enemy. Following an infantry-style curriculum, they are lectured on racial differences, such as a claim that black people had a smaller
cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of Neuron, neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays ...
than whites, and are made to use a modern South African flag as a doormat. The camp is located in the
veld
Veld ( or , Afrikaans language, Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch: ''veld'', field), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide-open, rural landscape in Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrubland, scrub, ...
outside the town of
Carolina, Mpumalanga
Carolina is an urban-rural area situated at the intersection of the R33 (South Africa), R33, R36 (South Africa), R36 and R38 (South Africa), R38 routes in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The town lies in the grass and wetlands region of M ...
, about 230 km east of
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
.
''Kommandokorps'' has been criticised by the Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum. The Democratic Alliance called for the group to be closed, and its activities investigated by the
Human Rights Commission
A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights.
The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...
. A group of Kommandokorps volunteers attended the funeral of the former
Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
The (, meaning 'Afrikaner Resistance Movement'), commonly known by its abbreviation AWB (), is an Afrikaner nationalism, Afrikaner nationalist, white supremacist, and Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi political party in South Africa. Founded in 1973 by Eug ...
leader Eugene Terreblanche. In 2011, the group signed a ''saamstaanverdrag'' (unity pact) with the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging and the Suidlanders, a large group which advocates for white rights in post-apartheid South Africa and publicizes its belief that there is an ongoing genocide against whites, in particular farmers, in the country.
“Fatherland” is a full-length documentary produced and directed by Tarryn Lee Crossman that explores the experiences of young men in the Kommandokorps camps.
See also
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Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
The (, meaning 'Afrikaner Resistance Movement'), commonly known by its abbreviation AWB (), is an Afrikaner nationalism, Afrikaner nationalist, white supremacist, and Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi political party in South Africa. Founded in 1973 by Eug ...