Sadc News

Is SA ‘inclusive era’ supporting whites-only Orania?

With Orania, the most troubling thing about this community is NOT the fact that it is white but that it is allowed to bar people of other races from settling there.

Published

6 months ago

June 23, 2024

Editor

By Kenni Gambo

THE existence of Orania in a free and democratic South Africa is strange not necessarily because it’s a contradiction to the policies of the ruling party, which describes itself as a progressive movement dedicated to fighting racism, but because it does not allow people who are not white to stay in this town.

It is one thing to have an area that houses a particular demographic but to find one that does not allow others to stay in it, is causing serious discomfort to those who feel that it goes against the kind of country the ruling party insists it is building.

In an era of inclusiveness and coalition politics where there seems to be a spirit of collaboration between different political parties with contrasting ideological outlooks, it could very much appear like this goes against the grain of government policy.

But this may not necessarily be the case….South Africa is an enigma when it comes to its population which is almost entirely mixed in many ways. Unlike many other Sub Saharan countries, it has a 4 million-strong white community, descendants of the colonials and those who joined the gold rush when the precious metal was discovered in Johannesburg.

It also has a 4,5 million-strong mixed race community called Coloureds who mainly descend from the Khoi-San people, the country’s first and original peoples. Add a spattering of Malaysian descendents who are known as Cape Malays and the biggest Indian grouping outside of India who live in Kwa-Zulu Natal and you will see that the country has a more varied demographic than any other nation on the motherland. This is something many people don’t understand because lots of them see Africa as the homeland of Black people, which is not entirely correct. If you look at present day Africa, the entire Maghreb area of North Africa it is not ruled by black Africans nor is Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius and Madagascar.

Mozambique and Angola have big multi-racial groups known as Mulattos and they form an economically active group in those lands so people of varying skin colours inhabit different parts of Africa. But because many Black Africans seem to believe that blacks should rule even those areas where they are not in the majority may be clouding their perceptions and therefore the Orania issue looks peculiar to them. Africa is not the home of only Black Africans; that is a simplistic and incorrect view.

Those who are lighter skinned and not colonial in origin like the Ethiopians and Khoisan are not less African than others because the sun is not as hot in their regions as it is along the equator. The migration of Black Africans from their Equatorial origins gave them the impression that all of Africa was once filled and ruled ONLY by people like them.

This may be the reason many blacks to the north find the Orania issue troubling.

They fail to see that Africa never was a homogeneous black-ruled continent from Egypt to the Cape and that not all brown skinned people look that way because of white-black liaisons. This will take time to understand and we must be patient as we build not only the Black nation but the entire African nation. It is because South Africa has a more holistic view of what being black is as it includes Coloureds and Indians whilst these countries have a more narrow definition of what being African is.

With Orania, the most troubling thing about this community is NOT the fact that it is white but that it is allowed to bar people of other races from settling there. But because it is built on privately owned land that was purchased from the ANC government, it is not a country but more a cultural enclave for those who feel swamped or do not want to mix or live with black people or be ruled by a black government.

Take your pick and you may be right. However not allowing others to live there if they so wish may not be a breaking of the law given the fact that private land has a different set of rules to public spaces which belong to government.

There the right of admission is often used to bar those one does not want there. I do not lose sleep over Orania because it has a right to exist in the form it has chosen BUT I am totally opposed to racism against any African, black or otherwise.

The writer Kenni Gambo is also the CEO of Listing 24 Seven

Sadc News

Orania: A reversal of liberation struggles in Sub-Saharan Africa

Such a regressive step undermines the hard-fought battles for equality, justice, and human dignity that have been waged by Black Africans for centuries.

Published

6 months ago

June 23, 2024

Editor

BY Linda Tsungirirai Masarira

THE establishment and continued existence of Orania, a town in South Africa’s Northern Cape, stands as a stark affront to the monumental gains of the liberation struggles that have defined the history of sub-Saharan Africa.

This town, founded with the explicit goal of creating a Volkstaat — an all-White Afrikaner state— represents a troubling resurgence of apartheid-era ideologies that sought to segregate and subjugate based on race. Such a regressive step undermines the hard-fought battles for equality, justice, and human dignity that have been waged by Black Africans for centuries.

Orania, with its claim to preserve Afrikaner culture and language, is widely seen by scholars and observers as a “Whites-only” enclave. Despite the community’s denials, the reality remains that its very foundation is built upon exclusion and racial purity, echoing the darkest days of apartheid. The town’s existence is a slap in the face to the liberation struggles that aimed to dismantle the oppressive structures that apartheid and colonialism created. For Black Africans, who have endured centuries of subjugation, exploitation, and systemic racism, the presence of such a town is a painful reminder that the struggle for true liberation is far from over.

The subjugation of Black people in Africa has a long and harrowing history. From the transatlantic slave trade to the ravages of colonialism, and the brutal regime of apartheid, Black Africans have been denied their rights, their lands, and their humanity. These historical injustices were met with fierce resistance, culminating in liberation movements that sought to reclaim African dignity and sovereignty. These movements were not just about ending political oppression; they were about affirming the humanity and equality of Black people.

In the context of South Africa, the apartheid regime was dismantled through the relentless efforts of the African National Congress (ANC) and other liberation organizations. The vision was to create a “rainbow nation,” a country where all races could coexist in equality and harmony. However, the persistence of towns like Orania highlights the incomplete nature of this vision. The dream of a unified, non-racial South Africa is still marred by the vestiges of apartheid that continue to manifest in new forms.

It is deeply troubling that the current ANC-led coalition government, under President Cyril Ramaphosa, is poised to formally recognize Orania. This move, driven by a governance agreement with the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), is a betrayal of the revolutionary spirit that sought to eradicate apartheid and its ideologies. Previous South African presidents have rightly refused to acknowledge this racial enclave, understanding that doing so would betray the sacrifices made by millions in the struggle against racial oppression.

The recognition of Orania by the Northern Cape government is not just a local or provincial matter; it has profound implications for the entire continent of Africa. Africa is the homeland of Black people, a continent that has endured and overcome immense adversities. To allow the existence of a “Whites-only” town within this context is to condone a form of neo-apartheid, a regressive step that threatens to reverse the gains of liberation struggles across sub-Saharan Africa.

The ANC’s complicity in this matter must be condemned in the strongest terms. It is incumbent upon the government to reject any form of racial exclusivity and to work towards the genuine integration and upliftment of all its citizens. The legacy of the liberation struggle demands nothing less. The recognition of Orania is an affront to the principles of equality, justice, and human dignity that are enshrined in South Africa’s constitution and the broader African ethos.

In conclusion, the existence and potential formal recognition of Orania is a grave injustice. It undermines the liberation struggles that sought to end centuries of Black subjugation and to create a fair and equal society. It is imperative that the ANC and the South African government reaffirm their commitment to these principles by rejecting the racial exclusivity that Orania represents. The struggle for a truly liberated Africa continues, and it is a struggle that must be fought until all forms of racial oppression are eradicated.