I like blogs that make people think, no matter which side you’re on, if any. In that spirit, I wish to share a link to News24 but let me first give you a little background.

Orania is THE Afrikaner town found in the Karoo of the Northern Cape –  population 1100 (97% white, 98% Afrikaans speaking). They claim to be promoting their Afrikaner culture. Others claim that they are racist. Indisputably, they are fascinating.

From everything I have read, it does seem that they consider white Afrikaners to be superior but that is more subtle as their laws do not allow discrimination and it as important to note that they will not let national right-wing organisations use them as a weapon. They follow a path of peace and self-determination. No one can claim that their town, mostly separate from the South African government, does not work. Orania works. Even Julius Malema was impressed by neighbourhood cooperation.

In Orania, people from all levels of society perform their own manual labour. Farming is the mainstream but the 70 businesses there include a tour operator and a luxury hotel. The town is going green with all new houses being accompanied by solar geysers. They recycle a lot. They even provide 3 bicycle stations for free so that you can get around easily and with trust.

Political parties are not allowed in their local elections (something easy for me to applaud because I wish we would all apply that to our little towns) but they do vote in the national elections. The town council is elected annually.

They have their own currency.

Their Koeksistermonument looks more like a penis.

Children walk with safety at night.

Of course, there’s a rugby field.

A documentary, simply called Orania, has won awards and can be purchase here for less than 100 bucks.

A student has made another called Wit Orania.

A blogger called BurningDogz posted this piece of tongue-in-cheek, prompting my own blog:

Orania . . . oh the horror
“So I was fortunate to visit this “evil Afrikaner haven” known as Orania. Oh the horror. Oh the dismay. Oh the glorious disgust that failed to show in any way shape or form while visiting Orania. Wait, what? Did I just insinuate that I actually enjoyed my stay in this evil racist empire?! Oh dear lord, yes, yes I did. I had a fantastic time.” Read the rest of Orania . . . oh the horror.