Thu 03 Mar 2007Song helps disaffected Afrikaners find their
voiceLetter from Pretoria:A young white man, bloodied
from battle, takes shelter in a ditch. With fear etched on his
face, he grips a rifle as he awaits an attack from an unseen
enemy. A drum beat sounds and then the chorus rises up: "De la Rey, De
la Rey, will you come and lead the Boers? De la Rey, De la Rey,
general, general, we will fall in around you as one, general De la
Rey." The stirring lyrics, and music video images, belong to the
most talked-about song in South Africa at present - a lament for a
former Afrikaner war hero who died almost a century ago.