Sunday 24 January 1999

January 1999 Edition.

SPRINGBOK CYBER NEWSLETTER

January 1999 edition

First off all let us wish all our supporters the very best of fortune for 1999! This applies especially to all the new subscribers to our circulation list, for we are happy to be able to announce that we have had an escalation of new names to our list since our previous edition. The omens for the Springbok Club for 1999 therefore look very good!

1999 marks the centenary of the start of the Anglo-Boer War. We have heard that several organisations in South Africa are planning to commemorate this event in a big way. This, however, we believe is a big mistake. Without going into the rights and wrongs of both sides, the fact remains that the Anglo-Boer War is a conflict which should never have happened. It set White men against White men, at a time when we all should have been concentrating upon colonising and civilising the entire African continent. To resurrect this past fraternicidal conflict at this present time can therefore only damage White unity - a cause which the Springbok Club believes in PASSIONATELY. Far better, we would have thought, to remember the achievements of those true heroes of South Africa - such men as Louis Botha and Jan Smuts - who were prepared to forget the tragedies of the past and to work towards a unified White South African nation.

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SPRINGBOK CLUB OFFICIALLY CONSTITUTED AT LAST!

Although the Springbok Club was founded in 1996, we have not previously had an official constitution, and indeed have operated on a very ad-hoc basis. A number of supporters have expressed slight misgivings about this, so we are happy to be able to announce that on Saturday 23rd January 1999 the organisation formally adopted an official constitution.

Present at this constitutional meeting were the four founding members of the organisation, namely Nick Harrison (London), Alan Harvey (Kent), Jan Taits (London) and David Williams (Chilterns). After brief discussions and a few amendments the draft constitution was unanimously adopted; copies of this constitution, as amended, are available upon request.

Four further members to the Executive Committee were then proposed and elected unanimously, namely Glen Scanlan (London), John Samuel (Lancashire), Paul Sissons (East Anglia) and Tom Vorster (London).

Positions within the Club were then agreed as follows :-

Chairman and temporary secretary : Alan Harvey
Deputy Chairman                  : John Samuel
Treasurer                        : David Williams
Organiser                        : Glen Scanlan
Overseas Liaison Officer         : Tom Vorster
South African Liaison Officer    : Paul Sissons
Commercial & PR Officer          : Jan Taits

Initial subscription fees were also agreed upon at this meeting, and are as follows :-

Associate Members                : £  5.00 per annum
Full Members                     : £ 20.00 per annum
[Concessionary Full Members      : £ 12.00 per annum]
Life Membership                  : £500.00

Until a separate bank account has been initiated all payments should continue to be paid to "Patriotic Press", and sent to : BCM SAPAT, London WC1N 3XX, UK.

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NEXT MEETING

We are not an Irish organisation - but our January meeting will actually be taking place in February!
This will be a rather informal gathering, and will feature a video recording about life on the Falkland Islands entitled "Open Letter to my Mother". The subject of the Falkland Islands may not appear to be of any direct interest to the Springbok Club, but we have recently established very friendly links with supporters of the Falkland Islands Association - and it should never be forgotten that the Falkland Islanders faced a similar threat to their culture and lifestyle, and indeed their very existence, in 1982 as we have done since 1994 - yet they successfully managed to overcome these threats! Their triumph should therefore be a morale-booster to us all, so we therefore believe that all our supporters will find this video of great interest.

The showing (which we emphasise will be a very informal affair) will take place in the clubhouse of Richmond Athletic Club on Wednesday 3rd February at aproximately 19.00 hrs. For more details please contact us as the usual address.

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DAY OF THE VOW GATHERING

As all who attended will confirm, our Day of Vow commemoration in December turned out to be a very happy and successful event. In Neil Hamilton we managed to obtain a very high-profile personality as Guest of Honour (which proves that the Springbok Club has certainly arrived on the map!), and he certainly didn't disappoint us. Mr. Hamilton proved to be a true friend of South Africa, and told of his many happy visits to and experiences of South Africa during his period as a member of the British-South African Parliamentary Group from 1983 to 1994. He was also clearly delighted to see the REAL South African flag prominently on display at our meeting, and encouragingly commented that he hoped that one day it would be seen flying over Cape Town and Pretoria again.

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RIGHT NOW! SOCIAL

Several supporters also attended the Christmas social hosted by our friends from the Right Now! magazine a few days later, and again this proved to be a most pleasant and successful function (although perhaps their buffet snacks were not quite as succulent as our own!!!). Their own Guest of Honour was none other than Professor Arthur Jensen, the eminent psychologist. To have been able to attract such a distinguished personality was certainly a great triumph for the magazine; it would therefore appear that future for both our respective wings of the patriotic movement is very bright!

[Incidentally, the latest edition of Right Now! (No.22) contains a most interesting article by Springbok Club supporter Henry Gilmore entitled "Little Englanders or Great Britons?". Right Now! can be ordered for £7.00 per 4 issues (or £11.00 for South African readers etc.) from BCM RIGHT, London WC1N 3XX.]

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FUTURE MEETINGS

Unfortunately Lars Karnestam (the organiser of the Stockholm Branch of the Springbok Club) will not now be visiting the UK until July, Grace Healey is not due back from South Africa until April, and Tom Vorster will not be staging his fact-finding mission to South Africa until May. We have therefore had to adjust our itinerary of meetings for 1999 accordingly, but revised details can be seen on the Springbok Club page of our web-site : http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~springbk

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REAL SOUTH AFRICAN FLAG MERCHANDISE FOR SALE

Although we have now sold out of all the South African flag car-stickers and table flags with bases which we had on offer, we still have a number of lapel badges (£5.00 each) and table flags without bases (also £5.00) left for sale. We also have a South African flag key-ring for sale - come on, make us an offer we can't refuse!

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OBITUARY

Alas we must report the sad death of Mr. Arthur Healey of Rayton in the Transvaal on 23th November 1998. Arthur Healey was a good and consistant friend of S.A.Patriot right from the time that we commenced publication in 1980. Born in Lancashire of Ulster and Welsh descent, he emigrated to Rhodesia in 1962, then moved to South Africa following the fall of that country. He was not particularly party political, and always maintained that the Bible was his politics. True to his beliefs all his funeral arrangements were conducted by Whites, with even his grave being dug by his family and close friends. He leaves four magnificent daughters (including Grace) and three grandchildren (including the recently born Gwynedd). Even in death his genes and his spirit therefore triumph.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?

A regular feature in which we ask whether anyone knows the current whereabouts of a friend or colleague who has lost contact.

No.6 :  Mr. Patrick Bridger.

Patrick Bridger lived in SeaView, Durban. He worked on the railways for SATS, and was an active member of both the Conservative Party and his local Neighbourhood Watch. Any latest news about him would be appreciated by one of our supporters.

[p.s. - yes, we know, Rod Skinner last month should have been No.5!]

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RECOMMENDED WEB-SITE

The International Freedom Forum is a pro-South African organisation based in the United States and run by Mr. Samuel van Rensburg. Although we do not agree with their unrealistic idea of trying to establish a small White "homeland" in South Africa, we even so firmly support their ideals of uniting all Whites - both English-speakers and Afrikaners - in the common struggle. Their web-site is therefore well worth a visit, and can be accessed at :-

http://www.tou.com/host/iff

[ If you have any difficulty in accessing this site, which is sometimes the case, then Mr. van Rensburg can be e-mailed directly at : iff2000@hotmail.com ]

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PROBLEMS

Following last month's edition we were contacted by a Ms. Jenni Logan who claimed to be running the web-site of the Aida Parker Newsletter, and who quite arrogantly requested that we not only carried her web-site as our "Site of the Month", but that we made it our "Recommended Web-site" every month! We wrote back saying that we would be delighted to add a link to the "Aida Parker Newsletter Site" from our own web-site, and moreover that we would make it our "Recommended Site" one month early in 1999. Unfortunately this act of friendship did not appear to be sufficient for Ms. Logan, and she again replied expressing great displeasure that we would not give her "special treatment" by recommending her site EVERY month. Thereafter the correspondence which we received from Ms. Logan became increasingly arrogant and personally insulting.

Quite obviously this woman has some form of a serious problem. Does anyone know anything else about this woman we wonder? Has anyone else experienced any sort of similar problem? Needless to say any information which we receive will be treated with the strictest confidence.

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See you again next month!