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{{Short description|1991 violent incident in Ventersdorp, South Africa}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Ventersdorp
| partof = the [[
| date = 9 August 1991▼
| place = {{flagdeco|South Africa|1982}} [[Ventersdorp]], [[Transvaal (province)|Transvaal]], South Africa
| territory = ▼
|caption=AWB Rally, Church Square, Pretoria in 1990.▼
| result = South African government victory
▲|date=9 August 1991
| combatant1 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Afrikaner-Weerstandsbeweging.svg}} [[Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging|AWB]]▼
| combatant2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the South African Police.svg}} [[South African Police]]▼
▲|territory=
| commander1 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Afrikaner-Weerstandsbeweging.svg}} [[Eugène Terre'Blanche]]▼
▲|combatant1={{flagicon image|Flag of the Afrikaner-Weerstandsbeweging.svg}} [[Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging|AWB]]
| strength1 = 2,000▼
▲|combatant2={{flagicon image|Flag of the South African Police.svg}} [[South African Police]]
| strength2 = Unknown▼
▲|commander1={{flagicon image|Flag of the Afrikaner-Weerstandsbeweging.svg}} [[Eugène Terre'Blanche]]
▲|commander2={{flagicon|South Africa|1928}} [[Hernus Kriel]]
| casualties2 = 6 wounded
▲|strength1=2,000
| casualties3 = 1 civilian killed, 29 civilians wounded
▲|strength2=Unknown
| casus =
▲|casualties1=3 dead<br>13 injured
}}
The '''Battle of Ventersdorp''' was a violent confrontation on 9 August 1991 in the [[South
==Background==
▲[[File:AWB Rally, Church Square, Pretoria.jpg|thumb|
The confrontation took place outside the Ventersdorp town hall where then [[State President of South Africa|State President]] [[Frederik Willem de Klerk|F.W. de Klerk]] was scheduled to hold a public address. Ventersdorp was then a political stronghold of the right-wing [[Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging]] (AWB), which had opposed de Klerk's decision to recognise the [[African National Congress]] and release [[Nelson Mandela]] the previous year. The town was inundated by angry AWB supporters the day of de Klerk's speech, including some carrying arms. The [[South African Police]] responded by setting up roadblocks and confiscating weapons. Tensions were running high between the police and the AWB due to a previous incident on 11 May 1991, when a group of policemen wounded four AWB militants attempting to drive black squatters off a Ventersdorp farm.
==Confrontation==
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2007}}
The AWB supporters numbered 2,000.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dubow|first=Saul|title=Apartheid|publisher=OUP Oxford|year=2014|pages=271}}</ref> They were armed with hunting rifles and pistols and wore protective items to shield them from the effects of an inevitable tear gas attack by the riot police. The police equalled the AWB in number, but were considerably better trained and equipped.
Many unconventional tactics were employed by the AWB. They allegedly wore plaster of Paris on their limbs to protect them from police dogs. Video footage shows AWB members locking arms and carrying rags and vinegar to lessen the effects of tear gas.
Once the AWB cut the electricity and fired on the police, the police were ordered to shoot to kill. Three policemen were wounded, none of them fatally, while the police killed one AWB member. The AWB also fired into a police minibus. Two AWB members were killed and 13 were injured when the police returned fire from the minibus.
Terre'Blanche made a point of appearing in front on television cameras and said (in Afrikaans), "Where is De Klerk? I want to talk to him. He came here armed. Here lies a man on the ground and over there lies a man" (referring to injured policemen).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://insidestory.org.au/ventersdorp-and-the-future-of-afrikaner-radicalism/|title=Ventersdorp and the future of Afrikaner radicalism|work=Inside Story|date=15 April 2011 |accessdate=2024-02-06}}</ref>▼
In all, three AWB members and one passer-by were killed. Six policemen, 13 AWB members, and 29 civilians were injured.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=199108090021|title=GTD ID:199108090021|work=Global Terrorism Database|accessdate=2023-07-12}}</ref>
▲Terre'Blanche made a point of appearing in front on television cameras and said (in Afrikaans), "Where is De Klerk? I want to talk to him. He came here armed. Here lies a man on the ground and over there lies a man" (referring to injured policemen).
==Aftermath==
The growing conflict between right-wing groupings and the government has been identified as one of the most significant developments in the course of 1991, with the Battle of Ventersdorp as its high point.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Graeme Simpson |author2=Janine Rauch |
The events in Ventersdorp, as well as gains by the right-wing opposition in white by-elections, led De Klerk to call a [[South African referendum, 1992|referendum
Following the end of apartheid, Terre'Blanche and his supporters sought amnesty for the Battle of Ventersdorp and other acts. Amnesty was granted by the [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]]|title=Amnesty decision AC/99/0221|year=1999|url=http://www.doj.gov.za/trc/decisions/1999/ac990221.htm|accessdate=11 October 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]]|title=Amnesty hearing|date=11 May 1999|url=http://www.doj.gov.za/trc/amntrans/1999/99051011_klk_990511kl.htm|accessdate=25 April 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.doj.gov.za/trc/media/1999/9905/p990510a.htm|title=Terre'Blanche calls for De Klerk to answer at his amnesty hearing|publisher=SAPA|date=11 May 1999}}</ref>
The three dead AWB members, A. F. Badenhorst, G. J. Koen and J. D. Conradie, were honoured at an AWB ceremony in October 1994, in Ventersdorp. A monument still remembers their death.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/10/southafrica.rorycarroll|title=Terre'Blanche returns to a new world|
==References==
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[[Category:Events associated with apartheid]]
[[Category:1991 in South Africa]]
[[Category:Killings by law enforcement officers in South Africa]]
[[Category:Riots and civil disorder in South Africa]]
[[Category:Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging]]
[[Category:Frederik Willem de Klerk]]
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