Manie Maritz (1876–1940), also known as Gerrit Maritz, was a Boer General during the Second Boer War and a leading rebel of the 1914 Maritz Rebellion.^[1]

Maritz was born in Kimberley, Northern Cape and christened Salmon Gerhardus Maritz.^[1]

He fought bravely in the Second Boer War and was promoted by General Smuts in the field, to the rank of General, but his promotion was not confirmed. Near the end of the war he ordered the killing of 35 Khoikhoi in what became known as the Leliefontein massacre. After the peace treaty of 1902, he left the country for Madagascar and later for German South-West Africa.^[2]

Maritz returned to the Orange River Colony and later joined the South African Republic Police (ZARPS) in the Transvaal. His police career was marred by accusations of violence and excessive behavior.^[2] The ZARPS was disbanded in 1910 with the formation of the integrated South African Police, and Maritz was discharged. He was offered a commission in the South African Army's Active Citizen Force, which he accepted, and attended the Military Training School in Bloemfontein.

By August 1914, Maritz was appointed with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and transferred to a border posting near Kakamas and Upington on the recommendation of Army Commandant-General Beyers.^[3] A few months later, he helped organise and lead a Boer insurrection against the South African government.^[1]

Following the failure of the revolt, Maritz deserted and joined the German imperial army in 1915. During World War I, he was apparently awarded the rank of general.^[4] Whether or not this was a functional title or a purely honorary one remains in dispute. Maritz was occasionally photographed wearing a German military uniform with a general's insignia.^[5]

Maritz returned to South Africa from Europe in 1923, and was shortly thereafter arrested and charged with the publication of libelous material. He pleaded guilty, was convicted, and fined 75 pounds. During the 1930s, Maritz became a Nazi sympathiser and was known as an outspoken proponent of the Third Reich.^[6]

He died in Pretoria on 19 December 1940^[1] and is buried in the Pretoria West Cemetery.^[7]

The character General Manie Roosa, in James Rollins and Grant Blackwood's novel The Kill Switch (2014), is "very loosely based on the real-life Boer leader Manie Maritz.^[8]

• Leliefontein massacre

• EB editors (2010), "Salomon Gerhardus Maritz", Encyclopædia Britannica (online ed.), retrieved 24 March 2010 {{citation}}: |author= has generic name (help)
• Kraus, Rene (1944), Old Master, New York: Dutton and Co, pp. 220, 217
• Union of South Africa (1915), Report on the Outbreak of the Rebellion and the Policy of the Government with regard to its Suppression, Cape Town: SA Government, pp. 26, 63–67

• 1. Boer Rebels and the Kaiser,s Men, Die Boervolk van SA, 25 August 2009.