The Devil Rejoiced: Volk, Devils and Moral Panic in White South Africa, 1978–1982

Abstract

The first four years of P.W. Botha's premiership in apartheid South Africa were plagued by intra-party politicking, renewed anti-apartheid resistance, economic instability, and Satan. Between 1978 and 1982, the heavy political rhetoric of "total onslaught" inflected perceived "moral onslaught" in a virulent moral panic over Satanism in white, and particularly Afrikaner, South Africa. With attention to its discursive and socio-political context, this paper seeks to explore the emergence of this distinct satanic moral panic in white South African history, arguing that it reflects the intense political and moral ambiguity of white society as the edifices of apartheid began to fracture.