Terre Blanche killed

Eugene "ET" Terre Blanche's violent life came to a brutal end last night . He was hacked and bludgeoned to death on his farm near Ventersdorp, in the North West province, allegedly by farmworkers during an argument over R600.

In 1970 Terre Blanche founded the fringe right-wing Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), "with 6 other kindred souls", and spent three decades championing white supremacy.

His murder sparked outrage - with many saying racially charged struggle songs such as "Shoot the Boer" should no longer be tolerated - while the right wing has vowed to avenge his death.

Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr said his "heart was broken".

The Sunday Times has established that the incident happened between 5pm and 6pm.

The two farm workers claim that Terre Blanche refused to pay them their monthly salaries of R300 each. The AWB say the "blacks" smashed open a window to gain access to Terre Blanche's home and attacked him in his bed.

One of the two farm workers, aged 16 and 21, phoned the Ventersdorp police station to report that they had killed Terreblanche during a fight over their salaries.

A police source said the two suspects allege that Terre Blanche had threatened to kill them when they went to his Villanna Farm to demand their salaries.

The police officer said: "They claim that they killed him in self defence."

When police arrived at the farm, they found the suspects armed with a knobkerrie and a panga, which they allegedly used to kill Terre Blanche.

Terre Blanche's bloodied body was found on his bed.

The police officer added: "The suspects didn't run away after they killed him, they waited for the police to arrive at the farm as they alleged that he was killed in self defence.

"They also alleged that Terre Blanche was a bad boss who used to physically and verbally abuse them. They claim that he pushed them too far."

Police spokeswoman Captain Adelle Myburgh said: "The two suspects were arrested and will appear in court on Tuesday in Ventersdorp. The 16-year-old is from a nearby village called Tsing, the 21-year-old is from Itsoseng."

The AWB has vowed to avenge Terre Blanche's death, but has called for its supporters to remain calm.

Spokesman Andre Visagie said: "The only comment we can make is that we will try to do the best to keep our people under control... en dat ons wil volstaan met die komentaar dat sy dood gewreek sal word (and that we want to stand by the statement that his death will be avenged)."

Last night Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) spokesman Patrick Craven said the trade union federation condemned the murder of Terre Blanche. "Despite our major disagreements with him there can be no justification of what happened to him," said Craven.

"As Cosatu we condemn any acts of violence against anyone."

Craven said in his view there was no connection between Terre Blanche's murder and ANC Youth League president Julius Malema's singing of a struggle song, "Dubul' ibhunu", which means "shoot the Boer".

The Democratic Alliance in the North West expressed its outrage and called the murder a "farm attack".

"This happened in a province where racial tension in the rural farming community increasingly is being fueled by irresponsible racist utterences by .... Julius Malema and the North West Cosatu Secretary, Solly Pheto."

DA MP Juanita Terblanche, said: "An attack of this nature can be regarded as an attack on the diverse components of the South African democracy. The DA calls for people to remain calm and on the ANC to strongly condemn racist utterances which has become synonymous with Malema and his ilk."

Singer and activist Hofmeyr, who was playing with his band in Oudtshoorn, in the Western Cape, said last night they were devastated by Terre Blanche's murder.

"We are flabbergasted, we are depressed by the news of his murder," said Hofmeyr.

"My heart is broken. From my side as an Afrikaner I am going to have to pacify other Afrikaners who have been provoked in the last two months by twits like Julius Malema. I had an appointment with him to talk about cultural matters in a few weeks time. This is a trying time for Afrikaners."

"He must be buried at the Peter Mokaba Stadium to remind everyone about the man who is responsible for the chant Kill the Boer Kill the Farmer."

ID leader Patricia De Lille said: "One life lost is one life too many to crime in our country - especially a farm murder where people tend to be a lot more vulnerable.

"The only thing we can appeal for is calm."

She warned that "we need to be very careful about this kind of hate speech (shoot the Boer) and of what we are saying because some people can just take it literally."

Freedom Front Plus spokesman Pieter Groenewald was shocked as he had been trying to contact Terre Blanche last night. He said: "I tried to call Eugene's home number but it was busy all the time. I only just received a message that he was killed."

ANC treasurer Mathews Phosa said: "It is a shocking incident. His death must be fully and properly investigated and the law must take its course."

Dave Steward, spokesman for former president FW De Klerk said he was "shocked and outraged" at news of the murder. "Though we have no sympathy for the political views expressed by Mr Terre Blanche, South Africa's democracy is built on tolerance."

He said though he knew nothing of the circumstances of the murder, it was difficult to view the incident without reference to Malema's recent comments to the "shoot the Boer" song.