HOME FRONT may lead to the creation of what one might call “online communities”. “Some websites, discussion forums and social networks flourish as a result of this niche network of people. Online communities are formed when a person creates a platform where people with shared interests and agendas can easily communicate with one another,” she says. The right-wing online presence In August the Sunday Times caused uproar when it published a photograph of a white man dressed in army clothes and armed with a rifle, posing over what appeared to be the body of a black child. The photo had been sampled from the Facebook profile of a “Eugene Terrorblanche”. Although the Sunday Times may have committed a blunder in presenting the photograph as a topical scoop, it succeeded in setting in motion a national (and even international) discussion about a right-wing presence on social networking sites. Facebook itself is home to a myriad of racist, right-wing groups and fan pages. Some of these serve as support groups for loyalists of the “old South Africa”; others are aimed at stopping “the genocide of the white minority in South Africa”. These pages, in turn, have several links to blogs and websites focusing on similar topics. The abundance of such racism should hardly come as a surprise to anyone who has read a few articles on News24.com. The comments section that accompanies all articles on this breaking news website has over the past few years become a breeding ground for hate speech and hot debates. However, according to News24.com’s Community Editor, Peet van Aardt, there has been a decrease in racist commentary on the website ever since it became compulsory for users to register on the website before being able to comment. What’s more, there are systems in place monitoring all posted comments. News24.com users can also report racist or defamatory comments, which will then be removed. “It often happens that someone writes racists commentary and once we have enough complaints about a specific user, we ban their
profile,” Van Aardt explains. “It should be added though that a person can create a new profile using his Facebook, Gmail address, Twitter or News24.com account and can start commenting again. But at least it means more work for that person and hopefully they learn their lesson and stop going on like that.” What can we expect? One cannot help wondering if the digitisation of right-wing politics poses a threat to post-apartheid South Africa. After all, this year alone has witnessed the internet — and particularly social media — being used as a platform for political mobilisation. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter have all played an important role in the instigation of revolutions and uprisings in Egypt, Spain and, most recently, the United Kingdom. According to Engelbrecht, these new developments are hardly surprising. She feels the medium is the perfect platform for mass participation and action. “As social networks become more popular, people will start using it for political mobilisation. So many people are now part of social networks and have access to the internet via computers and their phones,” she says. Will we perhaps see South Africa following the same pattern as up North? Is the growing online presence of right-wing groups cause for fear? According to political scientist Anthony Leysens, the chances of significant right-wing mobilisation are slim. He provides several reasons for this. Firstly, the number of people who associate themselves with the Afrikaner right-wing are spectacularly small, numbering between 30 000 and 40 000 by Leysens’ estimates. Secondly, the Afrikaner right is hardly unified or cohesive. It consists of a variety of different groups and organisations that — despite a common ideological foundation — do not always see eye to eye. Except for a threatening militant fringe that makes up about six percent of the right-wing, Leysens does not feel there is any immediate threat. “In terms of what is happening in South Africa today, the argument in favour of a white, Afrikaner nation state has started to sound more
Right-wing fan pages and groups on Facebook •
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A fan page for Die ou Suid Afrika currently has 90 792 fans. There is a group on Facebook called Unite Against The White “Farmer” Genocide In South Africa. This group aims to bring attention to
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attacks and murders of white South Africans, a topic which this group feels is largely ignored in the mainstream media. Former AWB leader Eugene Terre’Blanche has 121 Facebook fans.
appealing. A lot of people are fed up with the pronouncements of Malema, with crime and farm murders and the fact that the government seems to be going the ‘African Model’ (route). The whole political climate draws sympathy for the white, Afrikaans-speaking demographic,” says Leysens. But this does not necessarily mean they will take up arms against the state and cause upheaval as witnessed elsewhere. “They are all middle-class people with vested interests in paying the mortgage and living a middle-class life,” Leysens explains. “Besides, the right-wing has also been incorporated into the current political system. Just look at the Freedom Front Plus. They’re in the system. The New National Party has been absorbed into the African National Congress. Government also regularly has talks with these non-threatening right-wing groups.” Keep them close Leysens, however, cautions against the vilification of right-wing groups. If these groups are demonised in the media, this may lead to them becoming more extreme and moving closer to the fringe. This could rapidly diminish South Africa’s political middle ground and irreparably damage its democracy. “The last thing you want to do is suppress the moderates. We need to incorporate them into the mainstream political discourse of the day rather than clamping down on them and driving them underground ... to their websites,” Leysens argues. So what should the South African media do about the racist, right-wing presence online? Should they silence these voices or let them be heard? “It’s not the role of the media to monitor these people. It’s the role of the state to keep an eye on them,” says Leysens. “The media should let their voices and agendas be heard. It is the responsibility of the intelligence apparatus of a liberal democratic state to monitor their activities. That’s what a liberal democracy is all about. Former American President Lyndon B Johnson once said of the FBI Director J Edgar Hoover: ‘It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.’ ”
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The group Ek is wit, en ‘n trotse Suid Afrikaner also focuses on the issue of “white genocide”. A fan page dedicated to Die Huidige Volksmoord van Afrikaners currently has 464 fans.
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