Diehard Afrikaners living in South Africa’s sole whites-only town, Orania, on Tuesday said the settlement of a land claim is a boost for their quest for self-sufficiency and independence.
“We’re very satisfied that the claim lodged by about 80 people was settled on Monday and that the state is paying them R2,9 million,” town spokesperson Eleanor Lombard told the media by telephone.
The dilapidated town in the northern Karoo desert region was bought by a private company from the government in December 1990, months after apartheid laws were scrapped and liberation icon Nelson Mandela released from prison.
The compensation claim was filed by about 20 coloured families who were forced to move out of Orania by the Department Water Affairs and Forestry in order to make way for the new inhabitants.
The 500-odd whites who now live there have carved out their own enclave with their own currency aimed at promoting “selfwerksaamheid“, or self-reliance.
Carel Boshoff, the septuagenarian son-in-law of the architect of apartheid, the late prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd, founded the “dorpie” (small town) with the hope that it would one day become a “Volkstaat” (people’s state) — an independent homeland for the Afrikaner.
“The settlement of the land claim will help us further in achieving economic self-sufficiency,” said Lombard. “It’s a win-win situation for us. But the ultimate long-term goal is independence.”
The coloured families lodged a compensation claim against the department of water affairs, which moved them out of Orania after the company bought the town.
Orania launched its own currency, the “ora” about two-and-a-half years ago, Lombard said, adding that it was still going strong.
“It is very popular … it is strengthening our own sense of identity, stimulating the economy and keeping the money within the community,” she said, adding that the 10, 20, 50 and 100 denomination bills were lapped up by tourists. — AFP