One Settler, One Bullet

One Settler, One Bullet was a rallying cry and slogan originated by the Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA) - the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) - during the struggle of the 1980s against apartheid in South Africa.

The slogan was never officially endorsed by the PAC but often used by party members during rallies. After the dismantling of apartheid in 1994, PAC officials have repeatedly distanced themselves and the party from the slogan and called it a "war cry from its armed wing" incompatible with its "current reconcillatory stand".^[1]

In the ideological terminology of the Africanist PAC during its fight against apartheid, a settler was defined as a white person participating in the oppression of indigenous people, and did therefore not include white South Africans in general. White South Africans whose "sole allegiance was to Africa" were considered part of the African nation and therefore excluded from the settler category.^[2]

However, grassroots sympathizers of the PAC at times interpreted the slogan as a call for attacks on whites in general and certain attacks on whites, such as the killing of Amy Biehl,^[3] were indeed directly motivated by the slogan.

Variants

• "Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer" - competing slogan reportedly originated by Peter Mokaba of the ANC at the April 1993 funeral of assassinated South African Communist party leader Chris Hani.^[4]
• "One Merchant, One Bullet" - used by People Against Gangsterism and Drugs, an Islamist vigilante group in post-apartheid South Africa, which attacked drug dealers.
• "One Prawn, One Bullet" - line spoken by the mercenary character Koobus of the movie District 9.

References

1. ^ BCCSA Judgement : SABC - News Item - Apla Cadres
2. ^ The Opening of the Apartheid Mind
3. ^ Statement by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Amnesty Arising from Killing of Amy Biehl
4. ^ The Extreme White Right: A Security Threat? - 'Volk' Faith and Fatherland, The Security Threat Posed by the White Right - Monograph No 81 March 2003