Jopie Fourie was born in the Pretoria district in 1879. He was a scout and dispatch rider during the South African War, and was wounded and captured in an action north of Pretoria. After the war he became a captain in the Active Citizen Force, and in 1914 decided to join the rebellion in protest against Prime Minister Louis Botha's decision to invade German South West Africa as part of the international war effort against Germany. He was captured in the Rustenburg area on 16 December 1914 and was court-martialled. On 20 December of the same year he was executed by firing squad. Jopie Fourie is seen as a traditional Afrikaner Boer hero, standing up for his beliefs and Louis Botha was severely criticized by many Afrikaners for reprieving Fourie. He died singing the hymn 'Als wij de doodsvallei betreen'.
Armstrong, Grey Steel: names him as defence officer “Japie Fourie” with Beyers at the Kruger’s-birthday Opera House meeting in Pretoria; last rebel commando rounded up north-west of Pretoria; court-martialled and condemned to be shot as a traitor; Smuts refused Nationalist pleas for commutation — Armstrong records Smuts’s view that Fourie had not resigned from the Defence Force before rebelling and had shot twelve government men, some at twelve yards.
Armstrong, H.C. Grey Steel: J.C. Smuts — A Study in Arrogance. Arthur Barker, 1937; Just Done Productions / Lulu, 2nd ed. 2006 (ISBN 978-1-920169-08-4).
***Not yet accepted for War Grave Status by CWGC, need service file
-
Armstrong — Grey Steel (J.C. Smuts)
open source ↗
Jopie Fourie — court-martial and execution, Dec 1914
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
H.C. Armstrong (Grey Steel: J.C. Smuts — A Study in Arrogance) places him with Commandant-General Beyers on the Opera House platform in Pretoria at a Kruger’s-birthday meeting that turned into a riot, then as leader of the last rebel commando rounded up north-west of Pretoria. Court-martialled and condemned to be shot as a traitor, he became the focus of Nationalist appeals for clemency. Armstrong records that Smuts refused: Fourie, unlike Beyers and Kemp, had not resigned from the Defence Force before going into rebellion, and — in Smuts’s reported words — “shot twelve of our men, and some at twelve yards’ range.”
ROH CauseDeath already records the court-martial execution at Pretoria Central Prison.
No dedications have been added yet.