Latest news with #Orania
Mail & Guardian
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Mail & Guardian
Orania's segregated success versus the crushing weight of inequality on municipalities
Unlike most municipalities in the country, which are constitutionally mandated to serve every resident in their borders, irrespective of race, culture, or socio-economic status, Orania operates on a different premise: selective admission. The relentless tide of bad news emanating from South Africa's municipalities paints a grim portrait of a state struggling at its most fundamental level. Infrastructure crumbles, service delivery collapses and the promise of local governance serving its people withers under the weight of corruption and inefficiency. In this disheartening context, Orania in the Northern Cape often surfaces as a perplexing counterpoint. This self-proclaimed Afrikaner enclave, founded on principles of cultural and racial exclusivity that fly in the face of South Africa's hard-won democracy, seemingly exhibits a degree of operational functionality that many municipalities can only dream of. But any attempt to draw direct parallels or extract straightforward lessons from Orania's relative success without a critical and nuanced understanding of its inherent nature would be a disservice to the complex realities in South Africa. Unlike most municipalities in the country, which are constitutionally mandated to serve every resident in their borders, irrespective of race, culture, or socio-economic status, Orania operates on a different premise: selective admission. Prospective residents of Orania must This inherent selectivity creates a socio-economic and cultural homogeneity that artificially simplifies the challenges of governance in ways that are unattainable, and morally undesirable, for South Africa's diverse and deeply unequal municipalities. The apparent efficiency of Orania therefore exists within a carefully constructed bubble of relative affluence and shared identity. It is a competence not solely attributable to superior administrative practices, but also to the exclusion of a significant portion of the population — those who place the greatest demands on municipal resources, social welfare systems and basic service provision. Municipalities, in stark contrast, are tasked with the monumental undertaking of serving diverse communities grappling with the pervasive legacies of apartheid, including widespread unemployment, inadequate housing and profound socio-economic disparities. Consider the sheer scale of the problem. Municipalities are responsible for providing water, sanitation, electricity, waste management and a host of other essential services to populations that often include vast informal settlements with limited infrastructure, high levels of unemployment necessitating social grants and support programs, and a complex tapestry of cultural and linguistic diversity requiring inclusive and equitable governance. Orania, by its very design, avoids these complexities. Its ability to streamline services and focus resources is undoubtedly enhanced by its capacity to effectively choose its residents, creating a community with a relatively uniform socio-economic profile and a shared cultural background. While proponents might point to Orania's apparent fiscal responsibility and community engagement as potential lessons, these aspects are inextricably linked to its exclusionary nature. The ability to generate local revenue and reinvest it effectively is arguably made simpler when the resident base is largely economically active and capable of contributing. Similarly, fostering a strong sense of community participation is easier within a relatively homogenous group with shared values and a vested interest in maintaining their self-created environment. These dynamics are far more intricate and difficult to cultivate in diverse municipalities grappling with historical divisions and stark inequalities. The lessons to be gleaned from Orania, therefore, must be approached with extreme caution. To simply admire its apparent functionality without acknowledging the ethical and practical implications of its exclusionary policies would be a dangerous oversimplification. The challenge for municipalities is not to emulate a model built on segregation, but to find ways to achieve effective governance within the context of their diverse and often deeply impoverished populations. This requires innovative solutions, transparent financial management, robust anti-corruption measures and genuine community engagement that transcends socio-economic divides. The mirage of order in Orania, achieved through exclusion, should serve not as a blueprint, but as a stark reminder of the fundamental issues posed by inequality. The pursuit of efficiency cannot come at the cost of social justice and the constitutional imperative to serve all. Instead of seeking inspiration in segregation, municipalities must focus on building capacity, fostering accountability and implementing policies that address the root causes of inequality, ultimately creating a more just and functional society for all its people. The true measure of success for municipalities will not be found in the isolated efficiency of exclusion, but in the inclusive prosperity and well-being of all their residents. Lindani Zungu is a political science graduate from New York University, who is a Mandela Rhodes Scholar pursuing a master's in political studies and is the editor-in-chief of the youth-oriented publication (Voices of Mzansi) in South Africa.
CNN
21-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Trump fast-tracked processing of White South African refugees. But not everyone wants to leave
A group of 59 White South Africans arrived in the United States last week after being granted refugee status by the White House, which has fast-tracked the processing of Afrikaner refugees but paused refugee applications for other nationalities. On Wednesday, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington, seeking a reset in relations with the United States. Ties between both nations have been fraught since Trump froze aid to South Africa in February over claims it was mistreating its minority White population. The South African government said 'reframing bilateral, economic and commercial relations' was the specific focus of Ramaphosa's US visit. Ramaphosa said that the White South Africans arriving in the US 'do not fit the bill' for having refugee status as someone who is leaving their country out of fear of persecution. But as thousands more Afrikaners hope for admission to the US, others insist they have no need of refugee status but want America's help instead to tackle a wave of violent crime in South Africa, or even to establish an autonomous state within a state. Joost Strydom leads the group of White South Africans who have dismissed the US' offer of asylum, and heads Orania, a separatist 'Afrikaner-only' settlement in the country's Northern Cape. 'Help us here,' he said his message was to Trump, whom he hopes will recognize Orania's quest for self-determination. 'We don't want to leave here,' he told CNN. 'We don't want to be refugees in the US.' Home to some 3,000 Afrikaners, the 8,000-hectare (19,800-acre) Orania town is partially self-governing. The exclusively White enclave produces half of its own electricity needs, takes local taxes, and prints its own currency that's pegged to the South African rand. But the settlement's residents want more: its recognition as an independent state. Strydom was part of Orania's delegation to the US in late March to push for this goal. 'We met with government officials,' he said. 'The conversation is ongoing, and it is something that we've decided to keep a low profile on.' Orania is backed by a 1994 post-apartheid accord that allowed for Afrikaner self-determination, including the concept of an Afrikaner state, referred to as Volkstaat. Strydom anticipates that the settlement could develop into a 'national home for the Afrikaner people.' Afrikaners are the descendants of predominantly Dutch settlers in South Africa, with White South Africans making up roughly 7% of the country's population as of 2022 – a share that had declined from 11% in 1996, census data shows. A discriminatory apartheid government led by Afrikaners lost power in the mid-1990s, replaced by a multi-party democracy dominated by the African National Congress. At least 67,000 South Africans have shown interest in seeking refugee status in the US, according to the South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA (SACCUSA). In comments justifying his decision to resettle Afrikaners in the US, Trump cited claims that 'a genocide is taking place' in South Africa, adding that 'White farmers are being brutally killed and their land confiscated.' South African authorities have strongly denied such claims. In a statement in February, the South African Police Service said 'only one farmer, who happens to be white,' had been killed between October 1 and December 31, and urged the public 'to desist from assumptions that belong to the past, where farm murders are the same as murders of white farmers.' Police minister Senzo Mchunu stressed in a recent statement that there was no evidence of a 'White genocide' in the country. The police crime figure for the last quarter of 2024 had been disputed by an Afrikaner advocacy group, AfriForum, which argued that five farm owners were murdered during those months and that police had underreported the actual figures. AfriForum has been documenting farm murders in South Africa for years. In its report for 2023, it said there were at least 77 farm attacks and nine murders in the first quarter of that year, almost equaling the 80 attacks and 11 murders it recorded within the same period in 2022. CNN could not independently verify those figures - the government says around 20,000 people are murdered each year. Most of the attacks happened in Gauteng province, the group stated. Gauteng is home to the largest concentration of South Africa's White population, according to the country's last census in 2022, with about 1.5 million Whites living there. Afrikaner farmer Adriaan Vos is a recent victim of Gauteng's farm attacks. The 55-year-old said he was left fighting for his life just two months ago after being shot on his farm in Glenharvie, a township in Westonaria, West of Gauteng. 'I was shot twice in the knee and once at my back,' Vos said about the attack on his farm in the early hours of March 16. 'Luckily, that bullet stuck next to my lung,' he said, adding that his farmhouse was pillaged and set on fire the same night. Vos could not identify his attackers and is unsure whether the attack was racially motivated. But the raid appears to be part of a pattern of farm attacks that has persisted for years in South Africa, a country grappling with one of the world's highest murder rates. South African authorities rarely publish crime figures by race but local media report that most murder victims are Black. Westonaria police told CNN there are 'no known suspects' in the attack on Vos' farm and 'no clues of who the attackers were.' South African leader Ramaphosa does not believe that Afrikaners are being persecuted – as claimed by Trump and his ally Elon Musk, who was born and raised in the country – and has described those fleeing to the US as 'cowards' who are opposed to his government's efforts to undo the legacy of apartheid, especially inequality. One of those efforts was the controversial enactment in January of an Expropriation Act, which empowers South Africa's government to take land and redistribute it – with no obligation to pay compensation in some instances – if the seizure is found to be 'just and equitable and in the public interest.' Under apartheid, Black South Africans were forcibly dispossessed of their lands for the benefit of Whites. Today, some three decades after racial segregation officially ended in the country, Blacks, who comprise over 80% of the country's population of 63 million, own around 4% of private land while 72% is held by Whites. For some Afrikaners in Orania, there is more to lose than gain if they choose to be refugees in the US. Built from scratch on arid land described by Strydom as 'an abandoned ghost town' with extreme weather, Orania has witnessed infrastructural growth and is the most realistic place to preserve Afrikaner culture and heritage, according to Cara Tomlinson who coordinates an Afrikaner cultural association. 'If I were to go to America, I would have to give up my language and culture for the American language and culture. I would be abandoning my God-given identity as an Afrikaner for something foreign,' Tomlinson, 24, told CNN. Leaving Orania for the US is not on the cards either for 70-year-old retired church minister Sarel Roets, who moved to the town in 2019. Orania provides him 'a quiet, solitary life,' he told CNN. 'When we travel outside Orania in South Africa, it is very common to be looked at with hate,' he added. Both Roets and Tomlinson desire Trump's recognition for Orania, but the legitimacy of the separatist town has been questioned by other South Africans, including members of the radical left-wing party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) who say that its 'Afrikaner-only' policy 'institutionalizes exclusion.' South Africa's foreign ministry said Orania had no status as a nation within a nation and remained bound by South African laws. Beyond Orania, other Afrikaners, such as Vos, who's still nursing his injuries, do not plan to leave despite the pressures felt by farmers. 'I'm lucky to be alive,' he said, adding: 'I must look after this place (his farmland), whatever is left. We were born and bred here. South Africa is all we know.' But help must come fast, Vos warned, as he outlined what he hoped Ramaphosa will tell his US opposite number during his visit to the White House. 'We need help in South Africa because you don't know if you're going to wake up tomorrow. It's a mess here,' he said. 'Hopefully, he (Ramaphosa) can be open about everything (with Trump) … and say, 'I'm going to fix it, and I'm going to look after the farmers and the people that are putting food in my mouth.' He must come and do it, implement it, and let's start over again.'
CNN
21-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Trump is resettling South Africa's White Afrikaners in the US. Instead, a White separatist town wants his backing for self-rule
A group of 59 White South Africans arrived in the United States last week after being granted refugee status by the White House, which has fast-tracked the processing of Afrikaner refugees but paused refugee applications for other nationalities. On Wednesday, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington, seeking a reset in relations with the United States. Ties between both nations have been fraught since Trump froze aid to South Africa in February over claims it was mistreating its minority White population. But as thousands more Afrikaners hope for admission to the US, others insist they have no need of refugee status but want America's help instead to tackle a wave of violent crime in South Africa, or even to establish an autonomous state within a state. Joost Strydom leads the group of White South Africans who have dismissed the US' offer of asylum, and heads Orania, a separatist 'Afrikaner-only' settlement in the country's Northern Cape. 'Help us here,' he said his message was to Trump, whom he hopes will recognize Orania's quest for self-determination. 'We don't want to leave here,' he told CNN. 'We don't want to be refugees in the US.' Home to some 3,000 Afrikaners, the 8,000-hectare (19,800-acre) Orania town is partially self-governing. The exclusively White enclave produces half of its own electricity needs, takes local taxes, and prints its own currency that's pegged to the South African rand. But the settlement's residents want more: its recognition as an independent state. Strydom was part of Orania's delegation to the US in late March to push for this goal. 'We met with government officials,' he said. 'The conversation is ongoing, and it is something that we've decided to keep a low profile on.' Orania is backed by a 1994 post-apartheid accord that allowed for Afrikaner self-determination, including the concept of an Afrikaner state, referred to as Volkstaat. Strydom anticipates that the settlement could develop into a 'national home for the Afrikaner people.' Afrikaners are the descendants of predominantly Dutch settlers in South Africa, with White South Africans making up roughly 7% of the country's population as of 2022 – a share that had declined from 11% in 1996, census data shows. A discriminatory apartheid government led by Afrikaners lost power in the mid-1990s, replaced by a multi-party democracy dominated by the African National Congress. At least 67,000 South Africans have shown interest in seeking refugee status in the US, according to the South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA (SACCUSA). In comments justifying his decision to resettle Afrikaners in the US, Trump cited claims that 'a genocide is taking place' in South Africa, adding that 'White farmers are being brutally killed and their land confiscated.' South African authorities have strongly denied such claims. In a statement in February, the South African Police Service said 'only one farmer, who happens to be white,' had been killed between October 1 and December 31, and urged the public 'to desist from assumptions that belong to the past, where farm murders are the same as murders of white farmers.' Police minister Senzo Mchunu stressed in a recent statement that there was no evidence of a 'White genocide' in the country. The police crime figure for the last quarter of 2024 had been disputed by an Afrikaner advocacy group, AfriForum, which argued that five farm owners were murdered during those months and that police had underreported the actual figures. AfriForum has been documenting farm murders in South Africa for years. In its report for 2023, it said there were at least 77 farm attacks and nine murders in the first quarter of that year, almost equaling the 80 attacks and 11 murders it recorded within the same period in 2022. CNN could not independently verify those figures. Most of the attacks happened in Gauteng province, the group stated. Gauteng is home to the largest concentration of South Africa's White population, according to the country's last census in 2022, with about 1.5 million Whites living there. Afrikaner farmer Adriaan Vos is a recent victim of Gauteng's farm attacks. The 55-year-old said he was left fighting for his life just two months ago after being shot on his farm in Glenharvie, a township in Westonaria, West of Gauteng. 'I was shot twice in the knee and once at my back,' Vos said about the attack on his farm in the early hours of March 16. 'Luckily, that bullet stuck next to my lung,' he said, adding that his farmhouse was pillaged and set on fire the same night. Vos could not identify his attackers and is unsure whether the attack was racially motivated. But the raid appears to be part of a pattern of farm attacks that has persisted for years in South Africa, a country grappling with one of the world's highest murder rates. South African authorities rarely publish crime figures by race but local media report that most murder victims are Black. Westonaria police told CNN there are 'no known suspects' in the attack on Vos' farm and 'no clues of who the attackers were.' South African leader Ramaphosa does not believe that Afrikaners are being persecuted – as claimed by Trump and his ally Elon Musk, who was born and raised in the country – and has described those fleeing to the US as 'cowards' who are opposed to his government's efforts to undo the legacy of apartheid, especially inequality. One of those efforts was the controversial enactment in January of an Expropriation Act, which empowers South Africa's government to take land and redistribute it – with no obligation to pay compensation in some instances – if the seizure is found to be 'just and equitable and in the public interest.' Under apartheid, Black South Africans were forcibly dispossessed of their lands for the benefit of Whites. Today, some three decades after racial segregation officially ended in the country, Blacks, who comprise over 80% of the country's population of 63 million, own around 4% of private land while 72% is held by Whites. For some Afrikaners in Orania, there is more to lose than gain if they choose to be refugees in the US. Built from scratch on arid land described by Strydom as 'an abandoned ghost town' with extreme weather, Orania has witnessed infrastructural growth and is the most realistic place to preserve Afrikaner culture and heritage, according to Cara Tomlinson who coordinates an Afrikaner cultural association. 'If I were to go to America, I would have to give up my language and culture for the American language and culture. I would be abandoning my God-given identity as an Afrikaner for something foreign,' Tomlinson, 24, told CNN. Leaving Orania for the US is not on the cards either for 70-year-old retired church minister Sarel Roets, who moved to the town in 2019. Orania provides him 'a quiet, solitary life,' he told CNN. 'When we travel outside Orania in South Africa, it is very common to be looked at with hate,' he added. Both Roets and Tomlinson desire Trump's recognition for Orania, but the legitimacy of the separatist town has been questioned by other South Africans, including members of the radical left-wing party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) who say that its 'Afrikaner-only' policy 'institutionalizes exclusion.' South Africa's foreign ministry said Orania had no status as a nation within a nation and remained bound by South African laws. Beyond Orania, other Afrikaners, such as Vos, who's still nursing his injuries, do not plan to leave despite the pressures felt by farmers. 'I'm lucky to be alive,' he said, adding: 'I must look after this place (his farmland), whatever is left. We were born and bred here. South Africa is all we know.' But help must come fast, Vos warned, as he outlined what he hoped Ramaphosa will tell his US opposite number during his visit to the White House. 'We need help in South Africa because you don't know if you're going to wake up tomorrow. It's a mess here,' he said. 'Hopefully, he (Ramaphosa) can be open about everything (with Trump) … and say, 'I'm going to fix it, and I'm going to look after the farmers and the people that are putting food in my mouth.' He must come and do it, implement it, and let's start over again.'
Mail & Guardian
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Mail & Guardian
Apart from us: The living skeletons of apartheid in Orania and Kleinfontein
Orania in the Northern Cape markets itself as a cultural haven. The birth of South Africa's democracy in 1994 meant not only the dismantling of apartheid laws but the moral and symbolic promise of inclusion, restoration and healing. Yet, three decades later, the vestiges of apartheid persist, not only in economic inequality and spatial injustice, but in towns such as Orania, in Northern Cape, and Gauteng's Kleinfontein, which thrive on exclusivity under the guise of self-determination. To understand the gravity of this, we must return to the architecture of apartheid. Through laws such as the Group Areas Act and the Population Registration Act, apartheid engineered a system where space, movement and even identity were brutally policed. Public amenities were segregated under the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act and black South Africans were effectively criminalised in their own country under the pass laws. These laws didn't just restrict, they dehumanised. They enforced a logic that some lives were worth more than others. The democratic breakthrough 31 years ago promised a rupture from that logic. The Constitution, celebrated globally, enshrined equality, dignity and freedom. But how meaningful are those rights when certain towns, nestled comfortably in democratic South Africa, systematically exclude people based on race? Orania and Kleinfontein market themselves as Afrikaner cultural havens. They invoke section 235 of the Constitution, which allows for cultural self-determination. But, when culture becomes a smokescreen for racial homogeneity, it is not self-determination, but rather a modern-day segregation. These communities are not merely preserving a language or tradition, they are preserving apartheid's core belief in racial separation. Their very infrastructure, from who is allowed to own property to who may enter or live there, is built on exclusion. The idea that black South Africans, who make up the majority of the population, are not welcome in these areas is a slap in the face to Madiba's dream of an inclusive nation. This exclusion is not passive or symbolic, it is active and operational. Much like during apartheid, black South Africans may enter these towns only as labourers, not as equals, residents or citizens of shared nationhood. This is not merely a moral issue, it is a constitutional and political crisis. While proponents argue that these towns are private, peaceful and constitutionally protected, the selective interpretation of rights undermines the Constitution's foundational values. Freedom of association does not grant the right to recreate apartheid under cultural pretences. Their existence weakens social cohesion and inflames racial tensions, reinforcing the belief that integration is not only unwanted but impossible. Commentators often deflect by asking why cultural minorities cannot have spaces to protect their identity. This is dishonest framing. No one is challenging the right of Afrikaners to practise their culture, language and traditions. Like other cultures, they would still be able to practise their culture and preserve their language in any society across the country. What is being challenged is the systemic exclusion of others based on race. There's a profound difference between cultural celebration and racial isolation. The existence of Orania and Kleinfontein is not a question of legal technicalities but of national conscience. They are the living skeletons of apartheid — proof that while the laws have changed, the attitudes and structures of racial separation have not been fully dismantled. The democratic project cannot afford to look away. South Africa's future cannot be built on parallel societies, one multiracial and striving for equality, the other clutching to the ghosts of white supremacy. True reconciliation means confronting these uncomfortable realities and demanding that no town, no community and no individual be allowed to exist apart from us. Khothalang Moseli is a doctoral candidate at the Free State Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State, and a social and human rights activist. He writes in his personal capacity.
The South African
23-04-2025
- Politics
- The South African
Orania slams EFF, reveals why Afrikaner town SHOULD exist
Orania leaders have responded to calls from Northern Cape Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) representatives who have hailed the Afrikaner town as a 'modern day Apartheid'. They've also shared their views on why the whites-only town should exist, despite calls for it to be dismantled. On Tuesday, 22 April, the political party marched to the Premier's office, handing over a memorandum to authorities to legally view the community's status. In their official Facebook page, Orania leaders condemned the call to action by the Northern Cape EFF, particularly provincial leader Shadrack Tlhaole. The post contained the community's various reasons why Orania should have the right to exist. It read: 'We do not demand, and we do not beg. All our efforts are directly focused on construction, not on denying anyone else's rights. 'We encourage people to build schools, communities, and more. This is what the Oranians have been doing for more than thirty years with scarce resources. 'Orania exists in terms of article 235 of the constitution, historical agreements and recognition, and a God-given international law, and is completely legal. Orania is and remains an African community. Calling their town a 'Utopia', the post continued: 'A future must be built! Orania is building, and everyone is welcome to learn from it! 'Orania is not an organization that can be disbanded. We are a community, a home for our people. So, Orania will not fall; Orania will stand'. In a statement issued to The South African , the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) backed Orania's right to exist. Northern Cape leader and MP, Dr. Wynand Boshoff, shared: 'Since its founding, the VF Plus has been advocating self-determination, as embodied by Orania, among others. Therefore, the party unequivocally rejects the EFF's demands. 'In a multi-ethnic country like South Africa, there is often a majority that pays lip service to recognising diversity but, in reality, denies it. Such a policy denies minorities the leeway to maintain a dynamic culture through various institutions. This is typically done in the name of national unity. He added: 'The opposite approach is to grant minorities all the room they need for cultural expression and even for government to promote such expression'. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 . Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp , Facebook , X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
