Abstract:
A secret society with the professed aim of the ‘promotion of all the
interests of the Afrikaner nation’, the Afrikaner Broederbond (hereafter
the A.B. or Bond) has long been the bogeyman of South African politics. Its
operations are attacked as detailed and lurid conspiracies, and defended as the innocent, confidential actions of public-spirited men. In the process, though much authoritative data on the Bond exists, its nature, functions and role have been thoroughly mystified. At the outset it must be stated that the A.B. has exerted a profound influence at all levels of South African politics. This paper attempts the beginnings of a demystification of the Bond's operations and an assessment of its role up till 1948. Given its secret nature, this is necessarily sketchy and schematic. Yet such an assessment requires more than an examination of conflicting claims about the Broederbond, but demands its situation within the broader context of Afrikaner Nationalism in South Africa.
