Between Nationalism and Oppression

The Afrikaner Broederbond (AB), or simply the Broederbond, was a resolutely Afrikaner Calvinist and exclusively male secret society, singularly devoted to the upliftment of the Afrikaner people - by any means necessary. Founded in 1918 by H. J. Klopper, H. W. van der Merwe, D. H. C. du Plessis, and the Rev. Jozua Naudé under the rather idealistic name Jong Zuid Afrika (Young South Africa), it quickly rebranded itself in 1920 as the more imposing Broederbond - because nothing says “fraternity of nationalist zeal” quite like an ominous and clandestine title.
    The society would soon entrench itself within South Africa’s political, cultural, and religious elite, reaching the apex of its influence between 1948 and 1994, during the rule of the National Party and the iron-fisted implementation of apartheid, a policy largely conceived, nurtured, and enforced by Broederbond members. Every single South African head of state during this period bore the proud distinction of Broederbond membership - because democracy, clearly, is best served when confined to a select inner circle and equity is reserved only for 'certain. people'.

Divine destiny demands it
Described in retrospect as an “inner sanctum” and “an immense informal network of influence” - or, if one preferred Jan Smuts’ more direct phrasing, a “dangerous, cunning, political fascist organisation”—the Broederbond began in 1920 with 37 white Afrikaner men, bound by ethnicity, language, and Calvinist dogma. They shared a common ambition: to shape South Africa in their image. As Ivor Wilkins and Hans Strydom recount, even within its ranks, there was some ambiguity about its true purpose: "For understandable reasons it was difficult to explain [our] aims…[I]n the beginning people were allowed in…who thought it was just another cultural society."

    The founders’ exact intentions remain open to speculation. Some believe they aimed to counteract British imperial dominance and the spread of the English language; others suggest it was a mission to restore Afrikaner dignity after their crushing defeat in the Second Anglo-Boer War. A third, arguably more candid, interpretation suggests a grander vision: securing economic power, cultural supremacy, and political control for the Afrikaners. As the organisation’s chairman confidently declared in 1944:

"The Afrikaner Broederbond was born out of the deep conviction that the Afrikaners had been planted in the country by the Hand of God, destined to survive as a separate people with its own calling."

Divine providence, it would seem, had drawn up a strategic plan for Afrikaner nationalism.

A Purified Party
The Broederbond’s emergence coincided with a surge in Afrikaner nationalism, fuelled by the trauma of the Second Boer War (1899–1902), during which British forces, through their enlightened policy of scorched earth and concentration camps, ensured that roughly 27,000 Boers perished. The British victory, sealed by the Treaty of Vereeniging, left a deep scar on the Afrikaner psyche, exacerbated by Lord Milner’s relentless Anglicisation campaign. This climate of cultural and political grievance proved fertile ground for the formation of the Broederbond and, subsequently, the rise of the National Party. In terms of ideology, the fast-rising National Party took many of its idea from America's infamous Jim Crow laws - sound familiar yet?
    Founded in 1914, the National Party first tasted power in 1924 before momentarily merging with Jan Smuts’ South African Party in 1934 to form the United Party. This centrist betrayal outraged the party’s hardliners, prompting D. F. Malan (that's him to the right) to break away and establish the Purified National Party. By the time World War II erupted, Afrikaner resentment toward the British remained undiminished. Malan and his followers opposed South Africa’s entry into the war on the side of the Allies, and some were rather more inclined toward Nazi Germany.
    Smuts, who had commanded British forces in East Africa during World War I, naturally aligned with the Allies, a decision that fanned the flames of Afrikaner nationalism. In 1945, Smuts, likely sensing where things were heading, denounced the Broederbond as a fascist organisation and issued an ultimatum: civil servants and state schoolteachers had to renounce their Broederbond membership or resign. It was a noble effort - but it came too late.

Engineering Apartheid
From 1948 onward, the Broederbond assumed its rightful place at the helm of the South African state. Every prime minister and state president until the demise of apartheid in 1994 was a proud card-carrying member. Once ensconced in government, the Herenigde Nasionale Party (a fusion of Malan’s Purified National Party and remnants of Hertzog’s Afrikaner Party) embarked on a systematic project to reshape the country in accordance with their ideological convictions.
English-speaking bureaucrats, soldiers, and civil servants found themselves politely sidelined in favour of loyal Afrikaners - preferably those vetted and approved by the Broederbond. The electoral system itself was strategically manipulated to diminish the influence of English-speaking immigrants and outright eliminate that of Coloured voters.
    Yet even within this fortress of Afrikaner supremacy, ideological purity was paramount. The Broederbond maintained a meticulous vetting process, expelling some 200 members by 1972 for being insufficiently committed to the cause. Even members of political parties further to the right of the National Party were deemed unwelcome. One had to be precisely the right kind of nationalist.

The Great Unmasking
For decades, the press had whispered about the Broederbond’s shadowy influence, publishing sporadic, unsourced exposés. But the real reckoning came in 1978, when journalists Ivor Wilkins and Hans Strydom released The Super-Afrikaners: Inside the Afrikaner Broederbond, a book that not only detailed the group’s inner workings but also provided a near-complete membership list of 7,500 members. The Broederbond, for so long an omnipotent yet nebulous force, suddenly found itself staring into the spotlight. The revelation was met with both outrage and morbid fascination, confirming what many had long suspected: the Broederbond was no mere cultural fraternity but a secretive, ideologically driven vanguard that had shaped the course of South African history.

A Legacy Etched in Controversy
Whether viewed as a protector of Afrikaner heritage or the architect of one of the most infamous racial policies of the 20th century, the Broederbond exemplifies the power of organised, wealthy, ideologically driven elites in shaping nations - and as we watch the Great American Experiment falter beneath a similar kind of brutality - with a South African at the helm - perhaps the greatest irony is that the 'land of the free' that so condemned .