Orania's Yellow Brick Road: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Orania is an intentional Afrikaner community on the banks of the Orange River in the Bo-
Karoo (Northern Cape). The community was founded in 1991 when Prof. Carel Boshoff and a number of supporters bought the dilapidated town from the Department of Water Affairs for approximately R1.5m. Today the investment has grown to an estimated R400m. The town currently has a population of 1,100.
From inception Orania positioned itself as a community serious about sustainability in
respect of environment, resources and culture. The presentation provided a bird’s eye view of the town’s history, the political questions the Orania idea had and still has to deal with, the revised strategy of becoming a “rural city” and why Orania is more relevant today than in 1990.
The Orania approach of creating a de facto reality before expecting de jure recognition was also be explained with a brief reference to the philiosophy of an active citizenry engaged in the community via various voluntary associations and institutions, as
opposed to one centralised authority.
Parallels with Israel and the Zionist movement could also be drawn when it is explained
how interested parties can get involved.
About Gawie Snyman:
He grew up in the Northern Cape, being well aware of Orania, but never really interested in the Volkstaat concept. He obtained his LLB and LLM degrees from the University of Pretoria and practiced law in Nylstroom before leaving for the United Kingdom on a 2 year working holiday. The 2 years ended up being 10 years of mostly work and not enough holiday. It is during his time in the UK that Gawie became convinced of the sustainability and justness of the Orania model he subsequently helped to facilitate several networking events for the Orania Movement in the United Kingdom.
Gawie returned to South Africa in February 2015 and is currently the Manager of the Orania Movement’s Pretoria branch, primarily tasked with organising events and networking with other Afrikaner cultural organisations, role players and opinionators.
