Unbanned Bible Publications

Defending God’s Truth in Church Doctrine and Political History – Renette Vermeulen

JAN SMUTS, WORLD WAR ONE, AND THE 1914 AFRIKANER REVOLT

Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914. The incredible destruction of the First World War had erupted. During this war, the so-called “‘Central Powers,’ (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, [the Islamic/Arabic Caliphate,]) fought against the British Allied Superpowers, (Britain, Russia, Japan, France, Italy and later, the United States of America.) In 1918, the Allied forces defeated the Central Powers.” The Ottoman (Muslim) Empire, was destroyed and at the formation of the League of Nations or the first formation of the One World Government, its territories were divided into countries such as Turkey, Iraq, and Bulgaria.

At the formation of the Defense Force of the British Union of South Africa in 1910, Jan Smuts promised NOT to use volunteers in foreign military service to aid Britain in the war. However, when the war began, Louis Botha and Smuts pledged to join Britain in her quest against Germany. To the dismay of most men and especially of their loved ones, Smuts drafted 60,000 soldiers to assist British invasions of foreign soil. Both in principle and of necessity, (being so dreadfully poor already,) Botha and Smuts’ eagerness to fight for Britain enraged the war-worn Afrikaners.

In parliament, JBM Hertzog, De Wet and De la Rey stood firmly for neutrality in the war “unless the Union was attacked.” These Old Boers fiercely withstood Louis Botha and Defense Minister Jan Smuts’ plan to involve the Union in the fight for Britain and her European Allies – once again abusing the Union’s finances, forces, resources, and more importantly, her impoverished people.

Botha and Smuts forbade De La Rey to Mobilize Afrikaners

The uncertain political climate and caustic economic conditions extremely upset the Afrikaners. General Koos de la Rey called a mass meeting with them at Treurfontein in Transvaal to clear confusion about what happened during the strike and what could possibly be done to reason with Smuts and Botha. Afrikaners felt endangered by Britain’s World War, betrayed by the government, and robbed of their livelihood by industrial despots. And so, angry male voices were thundering “coup d'état!” Anti-war convictions ran so high that De la Rey had to use all his tact to prevent an armed insurrection, as the Boers had become most intolerant of Jan Smuts and Louis Botha’s toadyish service to Britain and her blood-sucking industrialists.

Meanwhile, Botha and Smuts heard about the threats against their government and summonsed De La Rey to Botha’s office. No one will ever know how the two did it, but they persuaded De la Rey not to inflame Afrikaner resistance against Government involvement in World War One. Botha and Smuts knew that united, these Old Boers had the power to start another war in South Africa – this time, a national civil war. They also knew that Britain would not be pleased with them for allowing such an ‘absurd’ thing to happen in their gold-and-diamond rich colony.

Soon afterwards, fueled by the press, Afrikaners began to sense De la Rey’s reluctance towards Afrikaner needs and feelings. Understandably, the public did not take well to De la Rey’s compromising attitude, and many De la Rey supporters began to side with Hertzog and De Wet. De la Rey continued to lose respect and political support amongst his own people.

Once again, Smuts had used De la Rey to create mistrust and division in Afrikaner quarters. Many Afrikaners believed, not only the Botha-Smuts government but De la Rey too, handed them to the British instead of cushioning them against another foreign onslaught on their lives.

A dark, dangerous atmosphere loomed over the British Union of South Africa.

On the other hand, Generals Hertzog and De Wet were clear on this matter. Hertzog stated publically, “Afrikaner politicians such as Louis Botha and Jan Smuts sold out Afrikanerdom to protect the interests of the British-controlled gold-mining corporations. We must take back our country – even if it meant fighting against men we once regarded as brothers.”

Þ In 1915, JBM Hertzog, Old President Steyn of the Orange Free State, and General Christiaan De Wet founded the National Party to withstand the Smuts-Botha coalition of totalitarian British rule in the Union of South Africa.

Ignoring Afrikaner treats to topple the Government, Botha and Smuts spread the story that the Germans were ready to invade the Union from German South West Africa. They demanded the ‘right’ to defend the Union against German aggression and declared, “The time to act has come!”

Intending to claim another colony for Britain’s global colonization, Botha and Smuts prepared to attack the German forces that occupied South West Africa. They expected to drive them all back to Germany without much loss of life and great financial expense. Accordingly, these two pro-Brit generals summoned the cream of Transvaal’s military officers to plot their invasion of South West Africa — today known as Namibia. Among these top officers were Old Generals Christiaan Beyers and Manie Maritz, whom, in 1914, they appointed with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

“GENERAL DE LA REY WAS ASSASSINATED TO DEBUNK THE REBELLION,” MANY SAID

A few days later, the Old Boer Generals and their officers decided there was no other way to stop the Botha-Smuts war machine; they had to set their secret plan in motion to take over the government. Most people believe, without announcing it publically, Senator Koos de la Rey too, did not support Botha and Smuts’ war mania. They suspected he secretly sided with General Beyers, who was on his way to meet with Major Jan Kemp and his armed forces in Potchefstroom. It is likely that the Old Boers and their allies all knew of this meeting, and they believed much good could come from it, but Botha and Smuts had their spies everywhere. The Deadly Duo knew of the rising hostility towards their corrupt government.

‘Illustrated History of South Africa – the Real Story’ explained, “It was decided that Major Jan Kemp would summon the army to Potchefstroom in readiness for the arrival of General De la Rey, who, together with General Beyers, would raise the old Transvaal Republic flag, the ‘vierkleur,’ or ‘four-color” flag. Kemp and De la Rey would then spread the revolt to the western Transvaal while Beyers and major J.J. Pienaar were to seal off the railway line and occupy Krugersdorp before marching on to Roberts Heights, (later known as the Military Base Voortrekker Hoogte in Pretoria,) where they would release German prisoners.

“Meanwhile, General Christiaan de Wet would take control of the Orange Free State while Manie Maritz, from his base in Upington, was to liaise with the Germans. The government’s decision to accede to a British request to invade German South West Africa was the signal for [a simultaneous resignation of all the senior officers in protest at the attack of German South West Africa.]

“Late on the night of 15 September Generals Beyers and De la Rey set off for Potchefstroom from Pretoria, [as far as I could fathom, in their official government car,] to put their plans in place.

“At Langlaagte railway police station [in the outskirts of Johannesburg,] police had set up a roadblock, [allegedly] to intercept a notorious band of robbers known as the Foster gang. They had been ordered to shoot on sight at any cars that failed to stop. [Although, as reported in the Star Newspaper, the Foster gang mostly used motor bikes to make their getaways.] Spotting the roadblock ahead and believing they were being sought, the two generals ordered their driver to crash the police barrier. [Other accounts state that they crashed two other roadblocks as well, but no one apparently recognized their car, or the two generals.]

“A policeman fired at the rear wheel of the car. The bullet “ricocheted” and [struck De la Rey in his back, piercing his] heart.”

As accurately as a sharpshooter would have done it, the shot from the firearm of Constable Charles Drury, who allegedly fired a bullet at the wheel of the car, struck the general in his back, killing him instantly!

Most Afrikaners believed that a bullet bouncing off the wheel of the car (if that were possible) would have entered De la Rey’s body from the side, not from the back.

The Foster Gang was known as the ‘Motorcycle Bandits’

The Star Newspaper named the notorious Foster Gang the “Motorcycle Bandits,” as they did use a getaway car, but usually made their escape on motor bikes; among these, a motor bike with a side car. The ruthless four-gang members were William Foster, his wife Peggy, John Maxim and Carl Mezar. However, that fatal night when General De la Rey was shot in the back, all the police officers in Johannesburg suddenly expected the gang to escape in a car. Many De la Rey supporters later alleged that the “incited fear” of the Foster Gang was a media cover up for a well-planned political assassination. If General De la Rey had been travelling in an official government car, it would have been impossible to mistake the car for a motorcycle or a getaway car, but I could not find evidence to support this notion. Nevertheless, the Foster gang was never in the vicinity of Langlaagte on the night of 15 September 1914. They were hiding out behind the Primrose cemetery in a cave in Kensington Hills, way on the other side of Johannesburg.

At De la Rey’s funeral, some Afrikaners refused to believe that De la Rey was part of the planned rebellion. They said Jan Smuts was his personal friend and he would not have broken his promise to Prime Minister Botha and Smuts. Even so, the majority of Afrikaners remained adamant that De la Rey was assassinated because the Botha-Smuts coalition hoped they could use him to restrain the Afrikaners, but realized they could never control a strong, free-spirited man like De la Rey. They knew that if he joined an Afrikaner rebellion, they would have a civil war on their hands.

All evidence points to the fact that Generals Beyers and De la Rey were setting the planned revolution in motion that night when De la Rey was killed. Moreover, Botha and Smuts knew of the generals’ journey to Potchefstroom. Yet, only a ringleader of the Old Boers would have been able to inform the Smuts alliance. This meant that there was an informant among the officers – a cold-hearted Afrikaner traitor that infiltrated the planned rebellion from the Botha-Smuts camp.

This prompted the leaders of the revolt to go into action. General Manie Maritz, who was already heading a commando in South West Africa, joined the occupying German forces. He then issued a proclamation, declaring the independence of all four provinces of South Africa.

In effect, General Maritz declared civil war on the British Union of South Africa and war against Great Britain if they remained unwilling to grant South Africa her independence.

General Beyers “was drowned” in the Vaal River, some alleged

Once again, the demon of war was baptizing the sons of South Africa “in fire and blood.” Again, as when Smuts declared martial law against the miners, it was ordinary ‘Burgher’ (or citizen) against government troops. Afrikaner against Afrikaner.

The thousands of government troops heavily outweighed the Afrikaner rebels. By 1915, Botha and Smuts had callously crushed the rebellion.

In another strange coincidence, General Beyers, (the general that accompanied General De la Rey on his way to Potchefstroom that fatal night when a ‘ricochet’ bullet ended his friend’s life,) was fleeing on horseback with Smuts’ soldiers in pursuit, when the calm and collected general Beyers “accidently drowned himself” in the murky waters of the Vaal River.

This too, was such “a strange coincidence” to most Afrikaners that they feared General Beyers knew something, which the government did not want him to reveal. Some even said, maybe the Botha/Smuts government simply did not want to make him into a martyr by charging him with high treason, and executing him by firing squad at the Old Fort prison in Johannesburg.

Major Jan Kemp surrendered after assisting Manie Maritz in capturing Upington on 24 January 1915. General Manie Maritz managed to escape to Angola. The son of General J.C. Fourie, Jopie Fourie, who became a leader during the Afrikaner rebellion, was caught and, as he did not resign his commission before the rebellion, was convicted of high treason.

Four days later the hero Jopie Fourie was hastily removed from society by Jan Smuts’ firing squad.

Smuts called Christiaan De Wet “a Prince and a Great Man”

During the rebellion, General Christiaan De Wet first lost his son Dawie de Wet in a skirmish with government troops and eventually, Smuts’ swarming troops captured the old Boer general.

Botha and Smuts charged De Wet with high treason and, like Jopie Fourie and many others, De Wet faced a hasty execution. Strangely, although De Wet was found guilty of high treason, he was sentenced to only six years imprisonment, with a fine of 2,000 pounds. He was moved from Bloemfontein to serve his sentence at the Old Fort in Johannesburg on Hospital Hill, (now Constitution Hill.) It seemed that, at least for the moment, the underhanded masonic brotherhood, which steered the Smuts government, did not wish to make De Wet into another iconic figure by executing him, assassinating him, or keeping him imprisoned for life.

While Smuts held the enigmatic General De Wet in Bloemfontein prison awaiting trial, De Wet refused to wear prison clothes and loudly protested the ghastly prison rations. After De Wet’s supporters paid his fine, Smuts presented his former brother-in-arms an ultimatum. After pledging never to become involved in the political affairs of South Africa again, De Wet served only one year of his six-year sentence. However, freedom offered little consolation for the dynamic De Wet. Little more than a year before his trial, he was leading a rebellion against the government. But by the time the General was released from prison, most historical sources say he was ill and had become a defeated old lion. One can only speculate what really happened between the Botha-Smuts coalition and De Wet at his release from prison.

General De Wet “returned to his farm Allanvale on parole. He sold Allanvale and after settling for a few years at Puntjesfontein near Edenburg, he returned to Dewetsdorp district where he settled on Klipfontein in the Orange Free State” - [sahistory.org.]

Christiaan de Wet kept to his promise and never returned to politics.

In 1922, the Old General died.

Then, Smuts, who never said or did anything without a sinister motivation, did something unusual. In flamboyant language, Smuts telegraphed De Wet’s widow saying, “A prince and a great man has fallen today.” Smuts could not have been more correct in all his life. Yet, I wonder why that old masonic snake would speak so gallantly of his enemy Christiaan De Wet. Then, in another turn of events, Jan Smuts, the then the Prime Minister of the British Union of South Africa, actually bequeathed De Wet, who was found guilty of high treason against the Union, a state funeral!

At this point, I suspected that De Wet might have been a mason after all. It is masonic custom to honor masonic brothers in funeral notices and with showy language. General De Wet’s (and De la Rey and his wife Nonnie’s) ability to elude British troops for nearly three years during the “Boer” War is also puzzling. It is believed that Nonnie followed De la Rey’s commando with their servants and herds, and throughout the course of the war, she remained very friendly with the British that (supposedly) pursued them. To my mind, this would have been impossible without the help and protection of British masonic ‘gentlemen.’ Many other people throughout the years were also prompted to ask masonic lodges whether Generals Christiaan de Wet and Koos De la Rey were “on the square.” The lodges and even masonic records deny this vehemently. Nonetheless, this could have been a deliberate diversion, as masonic orders would deny freemasonry if they were illuminati, Ossewa Brandwag, Rosicrucian, and so forth.

I searched books and the internet thoroughly but could not find evidence that De Wet and De la Rey belonged to masonic orders. I would sincerely like to believe that.

de wet freemason 2.jpg de wet freemason.jpg de wet freemason 3.jpg

[Acknowledgement to those who published the images of General Christiaan De Wet in this study]

Yet, now that I look at De Wet’s photographs again… I cannot deny that his awkward postures might scream “masonic order!” Is it coincidence that he so frequently displayed the ‘lion’s paw or devil’s claw’ sign on his chest; posing his arms and legs to signify the compass and square sign? In addition, Smuts’ last message to General De Wet’s widow kept on churning in my mind.

Þ Then I discovered what Smuts actually said in his telegraph to De Wet’s widow. His words came from the Bible not from masonic flamboyancy. In similitude to Afrikaner politics after the ‘Boer’ War and at the beginning of World War One in 1914, in 2 Samuel 3:3-38, Abner, loyal to King Saul, who relentlessly persecuted the anointed King David, then decided to assist David in a coup d'état to transfer the kingdom to him. David accepted his offer, but before Abner could execute the planned revolt against Saul, Joab assassinated Abner by stabbing him in the stomach. King David deeply mourned the death of Abner, his enemy turned friend. In this passage, “so that all of Israel understood,” King David said, “It was not [my] will to put Abner to death… [Know that I am innocent of Abner’s assassination.] Do you realize that a commander [some translations says ‘a prince’] and a great man has fallen in Israel today?”

Þ We saw earlier in this discussion how Botha and Smuts used General De la Rey against the Afrikaners before and during Smuts’ first martial law onslaught that quenched the early riots of white miners on the Rand. Then Koos De la Rey turned against Smuts to join De Wet’s Afrikaner revolt in 1914. General De Wet was acting President of the Orange Free State during peace negotiations in the “Boer” War. General De Wet and not Jan Smuts could easily have become the first president of South Africa, were it not for the fact that Smuts was masonically “baptizing South Africa in fire and blood,” to succeed in his quest to remain the British strongman, who would govern the country.

Þ In light of this, it can never be coincidence that General Koos de la Ray was on his way to the Afrikaner meeting in Potchefstroom where they would decide how to dethrone Jan Smuts, when he conveniently died from a so-called ‘ricochet’ bullet in his back, when a “Joab” allegedly mistook his parliamentary vehicle for that of the motor cycle Foster Gang.

But what really happened between De Wet and the Botha-Smuts duo before and at his release from prison in 1915? What did they do to General De Wet to quench his fiery spirit? Could it have been that they were threatening to frame De Wet for the murder of De la Rey? With Smuts, anything was possible. From the context of this Bible passage, which Jan Smuts used in his salutation to De Wet’s widow, he was NOT saluting De Wet as such. He was saying, “So that all of Israel, [or actually the Afrikaner nation] should know,” De Wet was innocent of De la Rey’s assassination, because, like De la Rey, General Christiaan De Wet was also “a prince and a great man, who has fallen today.”

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