The Weekly Mail established this week that the planned free settlement area of Cosmo City, intended to house 55 000 people, will encircle the veteran right-winger’s rural enclave at Sandspruit, outside Randburg.
The location of Cosmo City could hardly have been more perversely chosen. For years Van Tonder has used his isolated farm – distinguished by a vast Vierkleur flag at its entrance – as the headquarters from which to wage a battle for the restoration of the old Boer Republics.
Now the proclamation of Cosmo City places at loggerheads the competing South African ideologies of separation and integration: a mixed race sea will surround an island of white purity. But while his neighbours may have decided to sell out to the ”new South Africa”, says Van Tonder, he is staying put and will not accept a payout for his property.
”Some nations have fought for centuries and I tell my followers: don’t think ‘of giving up after only nine decades. We have only just started. I am not going anywhere.” While he says he ”obviously” opposes the Democratic Party controlled Randburg council’s decision to proclaim a free settlement area in his neighbourhood, he does not believe the scheme will ever work.
”I estimate that R250-million is needed to develop the area for the 8 000 proposed residential stands,” he says. ”Who’s got that kind of money? Only the government, but who will they get to buy here? If blacks move in, Indians won’t, and nor will Coloureds. Whites will keep away …
Van Tonder said he ”wouldn’t like to say that he thought the choice of land for Cosmo City was. intentional”, and did not believe he was being specifically victimised. There are signs that the proclamation of Cosmo City will spark resistance from white residents in neighbouring areas such as North Riding, Houtkoppen, Mostyn Park and Nooitgedacht.
This article originally appeared in the Weekly Mail.
