Orania

[[File:Orania flag.jpg|thumb|165px|Orania's official flag]]{{race}}{{cquote|It’s very strange. And a bit [[North Korea]]n.|||John Davenport, "Stumbling upon Orania in the pandemic"<ref name=thoughtleader>John Davenport, [https://thoughtleader.co.za/stumbling-upon-orania-in-the-pandemic/ Stumbling upon Orania in the pandemic]. Mail and Guardian Thought Leader, 25 September 2020.</ref>}}

'''Orania''' is a small town in [[South Africa]]'s Northern Cape Province. This town is either a [[white supremacist]] wet dream or a place to preserve [[Afrikaner]] culture. By design it is populated with white Afrikaners.<ref>[https://www.vice.com/sv/article/8g7bnk/orania-the-little-town-that-racism-built The Little Town that Racism Built]</ref> Communities with almost all white people exist are very common and not bad in and of itself, but most of these communities were not intentionally designed like that. 

==History==
Orania was originally founded in 1963 by the Department of Water Affairs as a worker community to help build irrigation canals for the nearby Vanderkloof Dam. Coloured workers who built the canals lived in a separate area called Grootgewaagd. Once this dam was completed, the town fell into disrepair and the department abandoned Orania in 1989, though a large number of coloured residents continued to live in Grootgewaagd. 

The current form of Orania was established in 1990 when Carel Boshoff, a Afrikaner nationalist and son-in-law of former prime minister and [[Apartheid]] architect Hendrik Verwoerd, purchased the town from the Department of Water Affairs. Some 500 coloured people still lived in Grootgewaagd at the time of the purchase and they were all evicted in early 1991, in one of the last large scale forced removals of Apartheid. The first Afrikaner residents moved in soon after, and the town council was established in 1992.

==Politics==
Orania is run by Transitional Representative Council; though technically it is in the Thembelihle Municipality. It is not subjected to the laws of the Thembelihle Municipality due to it being privately owned land. However, it is not immune to all laws as they are not recognized as a sovereign nation by anybody. The main political and financial influence comes the Vluytjeskraal Share Block Company which owns the land (Corpocracy i.e government ran by a business).<ref>[https://www.karoo-southafrica.com/eastern-upper-karoo/orania/ Karoo-Soutafrica]</ref>

The community is mostly reliant on outside sources for basic necessities like food, water, and power, but has become increasingly self-reliant in recent years by producing these necessities within its community, though the town still largely relies on South Africa when it comes to societal needs like policing and hospitalization. The community has zero financial backing outside of it and has created their own currency called the ''Ora.''<ref name=thoughtleader />

Orania is modeled after socially conservative viewpoints. Some of the community's attitudes include unmarried couples not being able to live with each other, same-sex relationships being frowned upon, and one having to get permission from the town council to bring visitors to their home.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/24/an-indictment-of-south-africa-whites-only-town-orania-is-booming 'An indictment of South Africa': whites-only town Orania is booming] by Dennis Webster (24 October 2019) ''The Guardian''</ref><ref>''Orania and the reinvention of Afrikanerdom'' by Sylvia Seldon (2014) University of Edinburgh.</ref>{{rp|85}}<ref>[https://travelnoire.com/the-history-of-south-africas-protected-whites-only-town-orania The History Of South Africa's Protected Whites-Only Town, Orania] by Nasha Smith (May 12, 2021) ''Travel Noire''</ref>

In 2020, the town of Orania fell on hard times. The townspeople were not allowed to participate in national polls on whether or not Orania would be allowed to exist as it is, because many residents would agree to changing the town from whites only to integration. African National Congress member Deshi Ngxanga filed a long shot application to join Orania in an effort to bring integration to the area. The status of the application is currently unknown.<ref>[https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/offbeat/how-to-apply-live-in-orania-anc-official-land-plot/ ANC official applies to live in Orania – and plans legal action if rejected]</ref>

With the disease COVID-19 affecting nearly every nation on Earth, Orania has managed to remain free of viral outbreaks. It is not expected that Orania will be completely free from COVID. They have set up their own hygiene guidelines which have been an effective tool at keeping the virus out.<ref>[https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/where-is-orania-is-there-coronavirus-how-many-cases/ The South African].</ref> Viruses don't care about human drawn borders and always find a way to cause infections.

Orania has been praised by White South African libertarians Leon Louw and Ivo Vegter, primarily because Orania was established as a private corporation rather than a South African municipality.<ref name=slobodian>''Crack-up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy'' by Quinn Slobodian (2023) Metropolitan Books. ISBN 1250753899.</ref>{{rp|92|272}}<ref>[https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2012-12-11-the-elusive-libertarian-enclave/ The elusive libertarian enclave] by Ivo Vegter (11 Dec 2012) ''Daily Maverick''.</ref> Orania was also praised in 2001 and 2003 by the online American fascist magazine ''[[American Renaissance]]''.<ref name=slobodian/>{{rp|92|272}}

==See also==
*[[Geloftevolk]]
*[[Libertarian paradise#Ciskei|Ciskei]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Apartheid]]
[[Category:Fascism]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Libertarianism]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:South Africa]]

Categories: Apartheid, Fascism, Homophobia, Libertarianism, Racism, South Africa