‘Torch’ news clippings sold online
Reports on popular anti-Nationalist movement have been auctioned of
A file of newspaper clippings of the Torch Commando — part of a collection of such files in the Louis Kane-Berman collection — was sold for R17,000 at the online auction, www.jellyfish tree.com, last Wednesday night.
The Torch Commando, or the Torch, as it was called in short, was founded in 1951 and was one of the largest protest organisations in SA’s history.
According to writer John Kane-Berman, at its height the movement had 250,000 signed-up members — almost 10% of the white population.
His father, Louis KaneBerman, together with Squadron Leader AG “Sailor” Malan, was among the founder members of the Torch, which was formed in 1951.
Louis Kane-Berman collected clippings of all newspaper reports on the Torch at the time. These clippings, which have been bound in files, were on offer at the online auction at www.jellyfishtree.com.
Doctor DF Malan, the Union of SA's prime minister and leader of the National Party (NP) at the time, regarded the Torch as a threat to the government and the NP and reacted strongly to the movement.
Die Transvaler, a pro-NP Johannesburg daily newspaper, carried a report on May 25 1952 saying that the Torch was training pilots for an armed uprising. There were also reports of a rapid increase in the membership of the Torch.
The Torch’s main activities were its torchlight marches. It is said that 75,000 protesters took part in the largest march. The movement lasted only five years.
According to Wikipedia, “the government was alarmed by the number of judges, public servants and military officers joining the organisation, and a new law was passed to ban anyone in public service or the military from joining.
Subsequently, the NP did everything to purge the memory of the Springbok Legion, Torch Commando and men such as Sailor Malan, who had appeal with white Afrikaner youth.
Retired judges and generals joined. Another prominent member was Alan Paton, who later became president of a new Liberal Party and who was already famous for his global bestselling novel about apartheid, entitled Cry the Beloved
Country. Paton once said that the Torch was the only organisation the NP ever feared.
Smaller meetings were held in smaller towns all over the country, and often the venue was packed. Thousands participated in marches organised with military precision in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and elsewhere.
Most of these gatherings and meetings were closely followed by the press with supportive or antagonistic reports.
The Natal coastal chairman of the Torch warned “there were no neutrals in this fight”.
He said that SA was heading for a fight between “totalitarianism and democracy”.
Sailor Malan appealed to the government “to turn from this dangerous path before it’s too late”. He called for “an immediate election”. According to The Friend he said, “if they smash the courts we shall smash them”.
Allegations hotted up and Louis Kane-Berman was accused in parliament of “preaching rebellion”.
According to the Sunday Times of April 7 1952, members who drove up to Potchefstroom
for a meeting were assaulted and several were treated in hospital. One of them apparently was attacked with a sickle.
The Torch said they would fight such “hooliganism” to preserve the rule of law.
According to the Cape Argus of April 28 1952, Louis KaneBerman’s wife was receiving telephone threats in the early hours of the morning.
A “witch hunt” was launched to find public servants who had joined the Torch, and who were warned that they could face charges of misconduct.
The Torch denied allegations that the movement had anything to do with the Free Masons or
Sons of England.
According to the Sunday Times, Dr Malan warned that secret information had been received about the Torch. “This is a most dangerous organisation. The police also think so. The government has taken precautions,” he reportedly said.
If trouble arose in the country, the government would have to use force to quell any riots and restore order, Malan said at the time.
Leader of the opposition JGN Strauss replied that force would be met by force.
Malan said that the fight was not only against the enemies of nationalism but against the
money power. “This power has placed itself foursquare behind our political opponents.
“It is determined now to get control of the country’s economy and in that way gain political power,” he said.
Malan warned that the nationalists were faced with the
strongest combined opposition the country has ever known. “But there were other organisations that also stood behind the United Party such as the African National Congress, which threatens to break the law through general strikes.
“Then there are the Indian organisations as well as the communists [then operating underground], and the Jews and the ultrajingoes. The nationalists are arranged against a formidable front.”
The money power, Malan said, was mostly in the hands of Ernest Oppenheimer who had become a power in the land.
“He has placed millions in the
hands of the opposition and has more power today than anyone has ever had in SA.”
To counter the Torch’s growing popularity, the government asked public servants to sign a circular instructing them that they were forbidden to join the Torch, said a report in the Rand Daily Mail of May 3 1952.
He said police were being concentrated in Cape Town after the government received secret information on the Torch.
“The opposition will love to know what information I have. But I will say that it is serious enough for me to stand here today and warn people against the Torch.”
IT IS DETERMINED NOW TO GET CONTROL OF THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMY AND IN THAT WAY GAIN POLITICAL POWER