Here’s a very interesting video about the Afrikaner community of Orania.
It is an inspiring tribute to a group of whites who are determined to
take their destiny into their own hands.Philip Craik addressed last weekend’s American Renaissance conference
and gave what is undoubtedly the first public presentation in the
United States by a spokesman for Orania, the all-Afrikaner enclave in
South Africa that was established in 1990. Orania was the brainchild of
Carel Boshoff, an Afrikaner intellectual and son-in-law of South African
Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd. In his view, white minority rule was
immoral and black rule was inevitable, but when black rule came,
Afrikaners would need a home of their own.
Mr. Craik spoke in detail about the legitimacy of the Afrikaner claim
to that home. He pointed out because the initial Dutch foothold dates
back to 1652, European settlement in Southern Africa is nearly as old as
it is in North America. The centuries that Afrikaners have been on the
continent have given them genuinely African roots and a genuinely
African identity.
Mr. Craik described the heroic Afrikaner trek into the empty
interior, where vast areas had been depopulated by Zulu campaigns of
extermination against their tribal enemies. Mr. Craig movingly recalled
the Battle of Blood River, and the vow that the Afrikaners made to
commemorate that day if God would deliver them from what seemed to be
certain annihilation at the hands of 15,000 Zulus.
The concept of Orania, Mr. Craik explained, originated in what was
called the Afrikaner Freedom Foundation, which evolved into the Orania
Movement. Its founders bought a rundown, abandoned town that had been a
camp for construction workers building the Vanderkloof Dam. Orania has
since grown to a population of about 1,200 with its own infrastructure
and schools, and thrives on farming and light industry.
Another 10,000 or so Afrikaners are members of the Orania Movement
and hope eventually to live there. There is plenty of land; the
bottleneck is housing. One of the fundamental principles of Orania is
that all labor must be performed by Afrikaners, so construction takes
time.
Orania is only a municipality and not a sovereign state, but the
South African government has granted it considerable autonomy. It can
set its own requirements for residency, and it has its own currency, the
ora. Mr. Craik noted that it is the only municipality in the entire
country that is not in debt. There is essentially no crime in Orania so
the town has no police, though in the future some kind of security force
may be needed should there be encroachments from outside.
HT: AR
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