Herstigte Nasionale Party
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The Herstigte Nasionale Party van Suid-Afrika (Reconstituted National Party of South Africa) was formed as a right wing splinter group of the South African National Party.
Formation
The party was formed in 1969 by Albert Hertzog (son of former Prime Minister General JBM Hertzog) as response to a perceived easing of apartheid by the National Party government, as well as the dropping of
Hertzog and some of his closest supporters from the cabinet. The name was chosen to reflect the initials of the earlier
Herenigde Nasionale Party (Reunited National Party), the name used by the
National Party in the fateful election of 1948. Seeking a return to Calvinism as the basis of South Africa, the party also advocated a white
Emergence in the 1980s
Under the leadership of Jaap Marais, who replaced the retiring Hertzog in 1977[3], the party emerged as a reasonable force amongst white South Africans. Despite eventually obtaining a non-negligible amount of support (13.1% in 1981 elections), the HNP never managed to gain seats in the South African parliament at a general election (although they registered a by-election success at Sasolburg in 1985[4]), and soon became a voice of external opposition. The HNP effectively became the chief voice of the far right opposition at this time, particulalry in 1989 when both the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging and the Boerestaat Party declared their support for Marais[5].
On the international stage the HNP built up a number of contacts with far right groups in Europe and for a time during the 1980s were responsible for funding the United Kingdom-based League of Saint George[6]. Ray Hill, who was close to the League at the time, had previously spoke at a number of HNP rallies in the 1970s whilst assoicated with the South African branch of the British National Front[7]
Post-Apartheid
They joined the Afrikaner Volksfront of General Constand Viljoen in 1991 although the front collapsed in 1994 when many of the members refused to participate in South Africa's first multi-racial elections[8]. The HNP drifted away from Viljoen and did not join his Freedom Front. As a result they have become something of a marginal force in contemporary South Africa, arguing for the self determination of the white Afrikaners, and a return to Verwoerdian Apartheid. Their official party organ, Die Afrikaner, is still published regularly. The party motto is "Dié Land is ons Land" (This land is our land).
They re-emerged in 2004 when the party lodged an official complaint against SABC 3 when they broadcast a play entitled 'ID' which satirized the killing of Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd. Although the HNP argued that it portrayed Verwoerd and his supporters unfairly the complaint was rejected by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa[9].
Ideology
The party reject the concept of a volkstaat, claiming all of South Africa for the Afrikaner instead. They believe that the interests of the black population will be sufficiently met in the former homelands. The HNP have no clear plan as to how the return to Verwoerdian South Africa could be achieved.
The party does not recognise the new order in South Africa, and as a result, encourage people not to vote as part of their policy of resistance. However, this also makes it impossible to determine the exact support levels the party enjoys.
Namibia
Given that South Africa administered Namibia until 1988 the HNP was active in the country in opposition to independence and black rights. The party contested the first mutli-ethnic election on 1978, capturing 1.8% of the vote in what was a landslide win for the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance of Namibia (albeit with the main black opposition parties, the South West Africa People's Organization and the Namibia National Front, excluded from the ballot[10].
References
- ^ Brian M. du Toit, The Far Right in South Africa, p. 638
- ^ A.W. Stadler, 'The 1974 General Elction in South Africa', African Affairs, Vol. 74, No. 295. (Apr., 1975), pp. 209-218
- ^ du Toit, op cit, p. 638
- ^ du Toit, op cit, p. 639
- ^ de Toit, op cit, p. 646
- ^ R. Hill & A. Bell, The Other Face of Terror, London: Grafton, 1988, pp. 255-6
- ^ Hill & Bell, op cit, pp. 52-73
- ^ 'South Africa Freedom Front'
- ^ Full judgement of the case
- ^ 'Elections in Namibia'
External link
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