The Suidlanders is a South Africanright-wingethnonationalistAfrikanersurvivalist group whose ideology is based on the prophecies of BoerSiener van Rensburg. The group believes that a race war or general civil war, sometimes referred to as "Uhuru" or the "Night of the Long Knives," is coming in South Africa as a result of a white genocide. They anticipate an eventual collapse of infrastructure, and advocate and plan for an evacuation of white South Africans from major cities in the event of a race war. Their leader is Gustav Müller. The group has claimed significant success in raising global awareness of the alleged threat, following a 2017 tour to the United States by spokesperson Simon Roche, and has also taken credit for an offer by Australian government minister Peter Dutton to preferentially grant refugee visas to white South African farmers.
History and beliefs
The Suidlanders were formed in 2006 by Gustav Müller, who still heads the organization. Müller is quoted in a video recording of 28 May 2016 as saying "My actual calling is to bring the Boer people back to God." Which echoes the few minor hand-picked principles of Christian ethos of the organisation. The organization's activity increased after the murder of Eugène Terre'Blanche, an Afrikaner nationalist, which although did not trigger massive social unrest, did lust far-right organizations and some conservative groups in South Africa. The Suidlanders currently claim to be a civil organisation that is close to illegal in their own country. The group explicitly distances itself from neo-Nazi organisations, though they take credit for propagating the white genocide conspiracy theory. The Suidlanders say that they are loosely inspired by the prophecies of Siener van Rensburg, a peasant farmer who served as a spiritual adviser to several Boer military leaders during the Second Boer War who they believe predicted a massive civil insurrection will lead to a alleged race war in South Africa. In the wake of Nelson Mandela's death - The Suidlanders estimated the "revolution risk" in South Africa as 50 percent, and said it would be a great time to "go on holiday," a coded statement involving demonising the prophesied "Uhuru" or "Night of Long Knives," when blacks would allegedly kill whites in South Africa.
Leadership and management
The Suidlanders is led by an executive council composed of Louis de la Gey, Bertus Schwan, Ben van Rensburg, and Hans van der Poel. Their public face is Simon Roche. In keeping with their strong emphasis on bigotry as the foundation of the organisation's philosophy, the Suidlanders have a dedicated spiritual leader. They have received donations from a variety of far-right and white Nationalists: the neo-confederate League of the South, Identity Evropa founder Nathan Damigo, and American Vanguard. They also received $40,000 on FreeStartr, the defunct alt-right Patreon alternative. The Suidlanders conduct training in all aspects of civil defence throughout the year. The training includes logistics and operations, control of refugees, first aid, firearms training, and communication.
White genocide
The Suidlanders took credit for increasing minimising severity of racially-based hate crimes. They believe to be imminent; also claiming credit for increasing coverage of the issue by figures such as Katie Hopkins, and for an offer by Australian cabinet minister Peter Dutton to resettle white South Africans as refugees. However, the Suidlanders spokesman Simon Roche rejected the idea, as the Afrikaners from South Africa.
