Ventersdorp
| Ventersdorp | |
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 Ventersdorp
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Ventersdorp
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| Coordinates: 26°19′S 26°49′E / 26.317°S 26.817°ECoordinates: 26°19′S 26°49′E / 26.317°S 26.817°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | North West |
| District | Dr Kenneth Kaunda |
| Municipality | Ventersdorp |
| Founded | 1866 |
| Area[1] | |
| • Total | 7.25 km2 (2.80 sq mi) |
| Population (2001)[1] | |
| • Total | 3,212 |
| • Density | 443/km2 (1,150/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2001)[1] | |
| • Black African | 21.5% |
| • Coloured | 8.7% |
| • Indian/Asian | 2.2% |
| • White | 67.7% |
| First languages (2001)[1] | |
| • Afrikaans | 75.2% |
| • Tswana | 15.8% |
| • English | 3.9% |
| • Xhosa | 1.9% |
| • Other | 3.2% |
| Time zone | SAST (UTC+2) |
Ventersdorp is a town situated in North West Province of South Africa.
The town's population is just 2,000 while the nearby township of Tshing has a population of around 15,000.
Contents |
[edit] History
The town grew around a Dutch Reformed Church that was established in 1866.[2] [3] The town was named after Johannes Venter who owned the land the church was built on.[2]
[edit] AWB legacy
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Afrikaner nationalist Eugène Terre'Blanche was born in Ventersdrop.[4] The town is the base of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), a far right secessionist political organisation and former paramilitary group, which Terre'Blanche founded. Many of the AWB's major figures live in Ventersdorp, including Terre'Blanche's former driver JP Meyer. Eugene Terre'Blanche's security firm was rented out to the town council for a long time as an almost private police force.[citation needed] In 2000 the new black Mayor of Ventersdorp terminated this contract.[citation needed] Shortly thereafter he disappeared, never to be seen again and his car was found in a nearby field.[citation needed] The Mayor's cousin was found guilty of his murder, but some people, particularly black people, believed that Terre'Blanche had ordered the murder and that the AWB influenced the outcome of the trial.[citation needed]
However, separately, Terre'Blanche was sentenced to six years in prison on June 17, 2001, of which he served three years, for assaulting a petrol station worker and the attempted murder of a security guard in 1996.[citation needed] One of only three whites in the Rooigrond prison near Mafikeng, during his time in prison he became a born-again Christian and later claimed to have moderated many of his more racist views.[5] Terre'Blanche was released on June 11, 2004[6] and the AWB website claims these court cases and other scandals involving him were fabricated by the 'Black Government and the left wing media'.[7]
Terre'Blanche, who had lived in relative obscurity since his release from prison, was murdered in his sleep on his farm Villana just outside of Ventersdorp on April 3, 2010. He was reportedly beaten to death with pipes and pangas by two black men, one of them a minor, allegedly over "a wage dispute". Terre'Blanche's body was found on the bed with facial and head injuries.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Ventersdorp police said two suspects were taken into custody over his killing.[15]
[edit] Racial segregation
The township of Tshing houses most of the town's blacks and coloureds. The township's secondary school of 1,000 pupils is still 100% black without a single white teacher.[citation needed]
The Ventersdorp High School has changed quite dramatically, with non-white students attending since 1995. These students are mostly Afrikaans speaking coloured residents of the smaller township Toevlug.
The Tshing township has a diamond mine nearby: a town councillor owned it in the early 1990s.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d "Main Place". Census 2001. http://census.adrianfrith.com/place/61704.
- ^ a b www.routes.co.za/nw/ventersdorp
- ^ www.tourismnorthwest.co.za/southern/ventersdorp
- ^ www.boerevolk.com
- ^ "Terre'Blanche tells of prison, his love for God and plans for AWB's future". Dispatch. 2005-08-27. http://www.dispatch.co.za/2005/08/27/SouthAfrica/blanch.html.
- ^ Carroll, Rory (2004-06-10). "Terre'Blanche returns to a new world". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0,13262,1235281,00.html. Retrieved 2006-01-04.
- ^ "AWB Leader: Eugène Ney Terre'Blanche". AWB. Archived from the original on 2007-01-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20070117005533/http://www.awb.co.za/leier_e.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
- ^ "Eugene Terre'Blanche murdered"
- ^ "Terre'Blanche killed over 'wage dispute'"
- ^ "Terreblanche killed for unpaid wages - police"
- ^ "Terreblanche killed for unpaid wages - police". Independent Online. April 3, 2010. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=iol1270328759389T614.
- ^ "Eugene Terre'Blanche murdered". News24. April 3, 2010. http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/9099cbce944245f3bfefc51557252256/03-04-2010-11-02/Eugene_Terreblanche_murdered.
- ^ (Dutch)"Extreemrechtse Afrikanerleider Zuid-Afrika vermoord"
- ^ South Africa's Terreblanche hacked to death.
- ^ "Two held for AWB head Terre'blanche's murder"
[edit] External sources
- The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife, a Nick Broomfield film (1991)
- His Big White Self, a Nick Broomfield film (2006)
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