Hundreds mourn white supremacist Eugene Terreblanche

CAMOUFLAGE-clad men carrying pistols and little girls in their Sunday best gathered yesterday to mourn Eugene Terreblanche, the white supremacist killed in what has been described as a wage dispute with two young black workers on his South African farm.

His coffin was draped with the flag of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging – red, black and white, with a Nazi-like symbol in the centre. Two men wearing the group's military-style uniform guarded the coffin.

Some 500 people were at the 90-minute church service in Ventersdorp, and they rose and sang Die Stem, the apartheid-era national anthem, before the coffin was taken for burial on Mr Terreblanche's farm.

The country's largest trade union called a meeting to coincide with the funeral in the part of Ventersdorp where most of the poor black people live, ensuring that there would be no racial confrontations.

Provincial premier Maureen Modiselle, who is black, was among the mourners, her presence underlining government statements that it is in solidarity with all crime victims.

Despite earlier fears, Mr Terreblanche's death has not sparked wider violence. White militants first vowed revenge, but later joined President Jacob Zuma in calling for calm.

White militants, who considered Mr Terreblanche their leader, say his death proves whites aren't safe under majority rule. But black leaders say controlling crime – whether its victims are white or black – is a priority in a country that has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world.