 Many Afrikaners felt stigmatised that they were unfairly viewed as racists linked to terrorist groups, even though the majority rejected such acts.In their book, ""Volk, Faith and Fatherland"", researchers Martin Schonteiff and Henri Boschoff argued that "Given the real high levels of violent crime, rising white unemployment and the campaign against white farmers in Zimbabwe, such arguments ["i.e., the ones used by the terrorists"] may be capable of eliciting widespread sympathy among conservatively-minded Afrikaners"
.All of the mainstream political parties usually associated with whites, the Democratic Alliance, the New National Party and the Freedom Front, condemned the bombings, and the Defence Minister, Mosiuoa Lekota pointed out that most white South Africans were loyal citizens.