Orania is a South African town that is located along the Orange River in the arid Karoo region of its Northern Cape province. It is an attempt to realise a separatist ideal of some Afrikaners of a self-governing Volkstaat. The town is unique among South African towns in being only one of two (other being Kleinfontein) all-Afrikaner enclaves in the country.
Orania | |
|---|---|
| File:Orania.jpg | |
| Land | Südafrika |
| Province | Northern Cape Province |
| Established | 1990 |
| Regierung | |
| • Type | Unternehmen |
| • Chairman/mayor | Manie Opperman |
| Population | |
| • Total | 1,523 |
| Time zone | SAST |
| Website | http://www.orania.co.za/ |
History
In December 1990, about 40 Afrikaner families, headed by Carel Boshoff, the son-in-law of former South African prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd, bought the dilapidated town, which was a construction camp of builders of the Vanderkloof Dam on Gariep River for around US$ 200,000.[1] This was a few months after the repeal of apartheid laws and the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. The town is privately owned by the Vluytjeskraal Aandeleblok company. The farm on which Orania was founded, is called "Vluytjekraal. Along the Orange river grows a fine reed, called "fluitjiesriet" or in old Dutch spelling "Vluytjesriet," meaning whistle reed. A kraal is an Afrikaans word borrowed from Portuguese[2] for a cattle enclosure. As wood for poles is scarce, these reeds were traditionally used for building cattle enclosures, until stone structures could be erected., Aandeleblok refers to the company structure that allows people to buy shares and thereby obtain the right to stay on and work a piece of ground within the property of the company. The shareholders thus own the company, which in turn owns the property. The town was bought from the Department of Water Affairs, which built the town for the workers building a canal network utilising the water in the Orange River, when the project was completed.
In a conciliatory gesture, then President of South Africa Nelson Mandela, visited the town in 1995 to have tea with Betsie Verwoerd, widow of Hendrik Verwoerd.[3]
In 2009, an ANCYL delegation visited the town. The leader Julius Malema praised the co-operation between residents "They co-operate instead of working against each other".[4]
Debate surrounding a volkstaat returned to the mainstream media following the murder of AWB leader Eugene Terre'Blanche in April 2010. Boshoff claimed a symbolism of the murder for farm murders that he described as "nothing other than a state of war". Yet he rejected an invitation to Terre'Blanche's funeral, "I'm not enamoured of him.. He chose a path of confrontation, of conflict. We wanted another way."[5]
Purpose
According to its founders, the purpose of Orania is to create a town where the preservation of Afrikanerdom's cultural heritage is strictly observed and Afrikaner selfwerksaamheid ("self reliance") is an actual practice, not just an idea. All jobs, from management to manual labour, are filled by Afrikaners only; non-Afrikaner workers are not permitted. "We do not want to be governed by people who are not Afrikaners", said Potgieter, the previous chairman. "Our culture is being oppressed and our children are being brainwashed to speak English".[6]
Flag of Orania
The flag comprises a small boy, pulling up his sleeves, and with a blue and orange background, traditional Afrikaner colours.
Past movements
The idea of a strictly Afrikaner settlement in modern South Africa is not new. In the 1980s, a group of right-wing Afrikaners, led by HF Verwoerd's son formed a group called the Oranjewerkers. They also planned a community based on "Afrikaner self-determination", and attempted to create a neo-"boerstaat" (lit. "Farmer State," a reference to an idiomatic term for an Afrikaner-only state) in the remote Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga) community of Morgenzon.[7] Its failure was possibly due to the fact that South Africa had an Afrikaner government at the time and so few perceived any benefit from this community.[original research?]
Land claim
In November 2005, around 60 Cape Coloured families lodged a land claim with the government, for around 483 hectares of land within the town. These families claimed to have lived in the town from 1965, when it was first constructed, up until 1991, when it was sold by the government. The claimants hold that they were forced to leave in 1991, when the town was converted into Orania, and that this constitutes a forced removal in terms of race. The community of Orania opposed the claim.[8] The land claim was settled in December 2006 when the South African government agreed to pay the claimants R2,9 million in compensation.[9]
Orania today
Today, Orania is home to about 760 inhabitants. Some new arrivals to Orania take up residence in Kleingeluk ("little luck"). Other residents, including the city's founders, live in the nearby neighbourhood of Grootdorp ("big town").[6] In Orania people from all levels of society perform the manual labour.
Since purchasing the 430ha town, the community have added 2 500ha of agricultural land to the town.[10]
In the recent South African general election, 2009, the community decisively voted for the Freedom Front Plus party.[11]
Self-government progress
On July 4, 2007 the town of Orania and the Northern Cape government agreed that the question of Orania's self-government should be discussed at all government levels.[12]
Bildung
There are two schools, Die Volkskool Orania (Orania People's School) and the CVO Skool Orania (where CVO stands for Christelike Volks-Onderwys or Christian People's-Education). Although the official curriculum is followed, special emphasis is placed on Afrikaner history and Christian religion, though with some differences in their teaching methods.
- The Volkskool use a self driven teaching (selfgedrewe) system which is unorthodox by South African standards [13].
- The CVO-school is run along more conventional lines.
Economy and Agriculture
Farming is an important part of Orania's economy, the most recent project being a massive pecan nut plantation.[14]
During April 2004, Orania launched its own monetary system, called the Ora, based on the idea of discount shopping vouchers.[15] The Orania local banking institution, the Orania Spaar- en Kredietkoöperatief ("Orania Savings and Credit Co-operative") is in charge of this initiative. Orania recently launched its own chequebook.[16]
Orania's tourism industry is showing rapid development with the completion of a luxury river spa and boutique hotel complex in 2009. Orania Toere(Orania Tours), Orania's first registered tour operator, was also launched in 2009.
In 2010 thirteen (13) [17] independent hospitality bossinesses operate in Orania. This includes, caravan park, self-catering flats, rooms, hotel and guest-houses.
Media
In 2005, after complaints by citizens, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa shut down Orania's unlicensed Radio Club 100 radio station, on grounds of its racism.[18] The station's equipment was seized. No criminal charges were laid against the operators of the radio station, who claim that the radio station broadcasted harmless news about birthdays and social events. Management of the radio station claimed that they repeatedly applied for a radio license in order to be a community broadcaster like other radio stations in the country.
After being granted a license toward the end of 2007 Orania radio re-started broadcasting on the 13th of April 2008 on 95.5 MHz.[19]
Green (Environment friendly)
Orania is a town that does its bit for the environment. In a certain way Orania is the most environment friendly town in the country.
- People recycle their own garbage by sorting and placing the garbage into five different trash cans.
- All new houses must have solar-boilers for hot water
- The town is also investigating ways to switch over to green electricity.
- In the town there is a number of different ecological buildings, for example a straw bale house with a living roof.
- In the near future earthships (aardskepe)[20] will be built in Orania.
Co-operation with the Black African and Cape Coloured communities
In June 2007, the Afrikaner enclave received a visit from the Coloured community of Eersterust, outside Pretoria.[21] Both groups met to discuss community development and discussed methods of self-governance. According to visitors "The reception was good" and "We definitely learned from the experience and we experienced no racial tension." The community of Orania gave a donation to the community of Eersterust in support of their nursery school.[21]
See also
References
- ^ http://www.eskom.co.za/content/Heritage%20Report.PDF
- ^ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/kraal
- ^ "Beloved Country Repays Mandela in Kind". New York Times. March 23, 1999.
- ^ Malema surprised by Orania News 24. 28 March 2009
- ^ Orania building a different future Sunday Times. 10 April 2010
- ^ a b "10 years on, Orania fades away". news24.com. April 22, 2004.
{{cite news}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ Brian M. du Toit, The Far Right in South Africa. - p.647.
- ^ Groenewald, Y (November 18, 2005). "Coloureds Claim the Volkstaat". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 2006-06-25.
- ^ SAPA (December 5, 2006). News24 http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/7fe126f2e0f043fabb8907b9f6b6f036/05-12-2006-09-30/Orania_pleased_at_land_claim. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help); Text "title Orania Pleased at Land Claim" ignored (help) - ^ Zuma likely to visit Orania IOL. 29 March 2009
- ^ Orania votes for FF+ IOL. 23 April 2009
- ^ "Orania, N Cape agree on way forward". iol.co.za. July 2, 2007.
{{cite news}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ http://www.oraniaakademie.co.za/skool_stelsel.htm
- ^ Willliam Dicey, Borderline p14
- ^ "'Whites-only' money for SA town". BBC News. April 29, 2004.
- ^ "Orania launches own cheque book". i Africa. February 22, 2007.
- ^ Flitslig, Mei 2010 and Voorgrond, 2010
- ^ "Orania radio station kicked off the air". iol.co.za. November 9, 2005. Retrieved 2006-06-25.
{{cite news}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ Radio Orania on-air again
- ^ Project Aardskip
- ^ a b "Orania community lauded". news24.com. June 11, 2007.
{{cite news}}: External link in|publisher=
External links
- Orania web site in Afrikaans and English. (Official website of the Orania community)
- Orania Toerisme (Tourism)
- M-Net story about Orania's unique school.
- Pictures of Orania made by Alan Aubry, a french photographer.
- Article on iol about Orania