Private crime-fighters rescue farmers
South African military hero starts company to stem murder spreeWednesday, August 15, 2001
By Anthony C. LoBaidoEditor's note: WorldNetDaily.com international correspondent Anthony C. LoBaido is one of the few American reporters covering the ongoing killing of white farmers in South Africa. In this installment, LoBaido interviews Wynand du Toit, a Special Forces hero committed to saving farmers at risk in southern Africa.
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
In response to the murder of over 1,100 white farmers in South Africa since the Marxist ANC took power in 1994, a former military leader has birthed a unique security company to fight rampant crime in both the urban and rural areas of the country.
Despite the bloodshed, the ANC government has done little to prevent these crimes, and many South Africans are convinced they are politically and racially motivated.
"When Nelson Mandela took power, he let thousands of murderers and rapists out of prison. That is a part of the problem," South African Marge Leitner told WorldNetDaily. Leitner is heavily active in farm issues in South Africa.
"When these attacks occur, the men are shot, the women raped. Little girls as young as 4 years old have been raped and then mutilated," she added.
"Even babies as young as 18 months have been raped by the black Marxist cadres and criminals," Malcolm Wren told WorldNetDaily. Known as EngelsBoer or "the English Afrikaner/Boer," Wren is a British man who is currently holding demonstrations in London to bring to light the farm murders and rapes. Afrikaners are holding mourning processions to mourn their many dead. Small mourning processions will also take place in Trafalgar Square, London, Pretoria, South Africa, and The Hague, Netherlands.
It is these kind of horrific events that caused Wynand du Toit, said to be South Africa's greatest Special Forces hero, to step into the breach. In the face of that nation's escalating crime wave and farm murders, du Toit has launched a new company called Lanseria Protection Services.
Du Toit's company features ex-South African elite commandos who can quickly come to a besieged farmhouse or urban crime scene and protect would-be victims from criminals.
He told WorldNetDaily the story of how he became a Special Forces hero and eventually launched his company.
"I joined the SADF permanent force in January 1977 in the Infantry Corps. During the same year, I did all the required infantry school instructors' courses, as well as the required counter-insurgency courses. I was promoted to a second lieutenant in December of 1977. During 1978, I saw my first action in Namibia (now a Marxist nation but until 1989 a part of South Africa known as South West Africa) and Angola, went to formative branch as part of officer training by the middle of the year and was selected to go to the Military Academy at Saldanha Bay, which is the Faculty of Military Science of the University of Stellenbosch. I graduated in November 1981 and joined the Special Forces immediately thereafter. The rest of the year I spent on selection and training and did my first three special operations before the close of the year," he said.
"I was transferred to 4 Reconnaissance Regiment (elite Special Forces known as Recces) in Langebaan, Cape, and became a seaborne operator. Most of my operations during the following years were done from ships and submarines. I worked both in Angola and Mozambique. … By the time I got captured in Cabinda, northern Angola, (where the South Africans fought Cuba, Russia, East Germany and the Soviet bloc in the 1975-1989 Border War) I was well-qualified up to the rank of lieutenant colonel. The South African Defense Forces' operations in Angola and elsewhere are still very much confidential, but I did specialize in reconnaissance per se. I operated all over Angola."
Asked why he started his new business, du Toit told WorldNetDaily, "As crime has surpassed the effectiveness of traditional security, my military background which is my comfort zone, the management skills taught during the advanced courses, made my style the ideal way to combat crime effectively. We need to be better trained, more aggressive and dominant in order to win the battle against crime. Remember, more people are currently killed and murdered in South Africa per year than was the total loss of soldiers during the entire war in Angola on the South Africa side.
"I started the company due to a very specific need in this area for effective security. Although there were more than enough companies in this area [near the Transvaal region], none were effective. There were 32 murders in this small area alone in the previous two years. Since I started the company, there has been only one. Most of the local farmers and inhabitants supported our start-up. That explained why over 300 people joined my company for service during the very first year.
"I recruit young men and women between the age of 18 and 30 from the city and rural areas using the press, word of mouth and flyers. They are recruited solely for the purpose of fighting crime, protecting their own and protecting other people. They receive anti-crime training based on a military style. The Task Force, however, receives the best and most advanced training possible. We are making a definite difference on crime locally and will play a large role in the country in the future, depending on the aid that we can get."
Regarding opposition he faced in setting up the company, du Toit stated, "Opposition to the company grew as the company became stronger. This opposition came mainly from the local police who felt threatened by our successes. Both of the black African men currently in my employ are men with years of experience in the South Africa Special Forces. They are excellent in intelligence gathering. These two men hate crime as much as we do."
Du Toit said that the worst aspect of the farm murders "is the ruthlessness with which it is done."
He said, "The absence of any feelings, the lack of purpose and the hate portrayed in the executions. Children are the future. Destroying children prevents us from having a future. Of course, the killing of children is also a psychological onslaught against the farmer, which might force him to leave his farm in order to protect them."
In examining the inability of the ANC to control crime within South Africa, and the Afrikaner response to this current crime wave, du Toit said, "The ANC is currently running around on this issue. I don't believe that the ANC are behind the murders. The farm attacks are a way of occupying farms as in Zimbabwe. Even the organized moving in of squatters on farmland clearly indicates a plan behind this. This is too early for the ANC to move or for them to benefit from it. All indications of the responsible people are pointing directly to the [more radical Marxist] Pan African Congress.
"There are no traditional criminals involved in the farm attacks. It is well-planned, military-style operations that are taking place. It is a well-planned action [aimed at forcing] white farmers to abandon their farms so that blacks can move in.
"We had an incident earlier this week where a farm was attacked. The neighbors went to give assistance and drove into an ambush at the farm gate. Both occupants of the vehicle were killed. Sniper style operations are common because the attackers know that assistance will be coming. They then killed those who came to lend assistance. Children are the soft spot of all of us. It is an easier way of persuading farmers to leave in order to protect their youngsters."
Du Toit added that "the Boers (Dutch for 'farmers') are joining in our service and many are starting to see us as their only chance for survival."
"Most of them, however, are adopting an attitude of wait and see as to what we are going to become. We are not linked to any existing right-wing organization. The right-wing organizations lack leadership and purpose. It is my belief that the only solution for white South Africa lies in fighting crime and especially protecting our people. The rest will follow automatically. In order to provide effective support, protection and security to our people, and especially the farmers, whether they are close by or far away, we need as much financial support as possible."
Du Toit told WND about the costs of running such an operation.
"Our Task Force, which is on 24-hour call to any farm nationwide, is being deployed by helicopter or parachute. The costs are astronomical. The equipment is extremely expensive, and we need urgently to train more specialists. To train one member to an effective standard costs us about US$10,000," he said.
"With the white farmers at peril in Zimbabwe, we hope to intervene to protect them. For that we will need large amounts of money. I would say we could do with round about US$1 million per year to effectively enlarge the company in order to protect people against crime in this country.
"We have been speaking to the U.S. and UK embassies in Zimbabwe. Hopefully, they will assist. The situation in Zimbabwe is deteriorating by the minute. Already, 39 homesteads have been burned down. ... We hope to be ready by mid-next week to go in."
Du Toit expressed optimism that his group was waging an effective battle against crime.
"Crime in our area of interest and areas of influence has gone down by 90 percent. We operate with speed and power, following the tracks of the perpetrators until we find them. That results in an almost crime-free area as the bandits move elsewhere to safely continue their hideous deeds. In the city, we deployed vehicles, each with two Task Force members as a first line to respond to alarms, call outs, etc. If there is a situation, the Task Force teams are then sent out to do the fighting, follow-ups and whatever else is needed. In the rural areas, we deploy by helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft," he said.
"We are developing a highly sophisticated and effective intelligence network country wide to enable us to gather sufficient information so that we can, in fact, become pro-active. I want to have the ability in a year's time to be able to forecast that a farm attack is going to take place on one of the following ten farms in a certain district. Than we can deploy small teams to stake out the suspected areas and, by doing so, prevent an attack from happening or effectively apprehend the murderers before the deed is committed.
"The South African police and the army are passive at the moment, except that it has been clearly stated that I must share information with them. We got a bit of a cold shoulder due to professional jealousy from our local South African police station. But generally speaking, we have huge support from everywhere."
Asked about how his status as a national hero has affected perceptions of his company within the South African security establishment, du Toit said, "We can accept that the security police will watch us very closely. Their budget is probably ten times the amount of money per month than the money in this company. Due to my personal background, the fact that I have been a 'national hero' many years ago has so far worked in my favor. As the media cannot fault me on my modus operandi, I have not received any bad publicity, and there are no smear campaigns against me. We have received lots of publicity where the question of racism has arisen, but none could be proven.
"People must remember: I also have many black clients who see their salvation as far as crime is concerned in this company. The crime wave was possibly triggered by unemployment, the promises by politicians concerning land, and the poor quality of police work. It is my and others' expectation that within the next two years, no major crimes will be solved anymore, as all the experienced officers are resigning."
Du Toit told WND that black South Africans are troubled about the crime wave. He also lamented that political correctness plays a role in preventing America, Great Britain and the United Nations from acting to help the Afrikaners.
"I have not noticed any response from the U.N., U.S. or the UK to the killings by blacks of white farmers in South Africa. Remember, we are white. Only whites can be racist. Blacks can't be racist. They do not lie, and in the eyes of many overseas people, these attacks must be seen as a justification of the past. I do not think that the U.N. will spend one minute a month on the murders in South Africa," he said.
Du Toit addressed the future of the Afrikaner/Boer people: "Afrikaans will survive as a language. The question should not be if the Boers are going to survive or not, the question should be 'Will the white South African survive?' I believe that we have reached the stage where coherence is more important than smaller individual groups. And seeing it in that light, of course we will survive. Put us under pressure and anything is possible. The world should know that. Read our history about the Boer Wars against the British Empire.
Leitner told WorldNetDaily, "Because the police are so severely under-resourced, undermanned and underpaid, the perception is there that there is a lack of political will to fight crime. That is why Wynand's 'crime fighting machine' is so successful. Whilst the ANC regime is bleating that they are going to root out crime at every turn, the finances needed for this are not being ploughed into law enforcement. In fact, law enforcement is almost non-existent. Lots of words on paper, nothing to show for it. Otherwise, the very fact that the crime wave is increasing on a daily basis would not be happening. That in itself is a severe indictment against this regime's obvious lack of commitment."
"It's all very well being photographed consoling bereaved family members of white Afrikaner Boers who have lost the father, the mother, the child, to heavily armed black attackers, but where's the action behind the words! The silence is deafening! In fact, rather the opposite has happened. Minister Steve Tschwete has blamed the white Afrikaner/Boer for the farm killings! Excuse me? Where have you heard anything so damned ridiculous in your life?"
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Anthony C. LoBaido is an international correspondent for WorldNetDaily.