20 December 1914
Josef Johannes (Jopie) Fourie, farmer, soldier and rebel commando leader during the 1914 Rebellion, was executed by a firing squad after being found guilty of high treason. The finding was based on the fact that he had not resigned from the Active Citizen Force of the Defence Force before joining General Beyers in protest against the government's attack on German South West Africa. He died singing the hymn 'Als wij de doodsvallei betreen' (can be freely translated as When we enter the valley of death). His death caused an outrage in Afrikaner circles, and was a potent factor in the rise of the National Party (NP).
References
Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa , Cape Town: NASOU.|Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar , Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.|Muller, C.F.J. (ed)(1981). Five Hundred years: a history of South Africa; 3rd rev. ed., Pretoria: Academica, p. 402.