One of the entrances to Orania in the Northern Cape. Pic: Boxer Ngwenya
A Northern Cape Afrikaner-only enclave, Orania, has become the latest contributor to the Government of National Unity (GNU) scuffle that has rocked the country following the general elections.
The GNU, led by the the ANC, the DA and the IFP, after the parties failed to obtain an outright majority following the May 29 elections, have now been joined by seven others, sowing divisions ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of the Cabinet.
“The Star” previously reported that divisions were imminent after the DA made demands to the ANC’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, looking to acquire the deputy presidency positions and 12 other government posts.
However, Orania, a small town in the Northern Cape, has been the latest to enter the debate among the GNU members that now include the Patriotic Alliance (PA) – who enjoy a massive constituency in the province – the GOOD Party and others.
The “whites-only town” dominated social media this week after the FF Plus joined the GNU on condition that the newly formed arrangement constitutionally recognises Orania in the province.
The FF+ and the PA are edging to eclipse the ANC in the Northern Cape. However, Wynand Boshoff, the leader of FF+ in the province, reportedly demanded to be excluded from the GNU but wanted a position in the accountability ecosystem for local government.
The ANC reportedly agreed to include private-public partnerships for infrastructure development in the province.
EFF student leader Sihle Lonzi this week said the ANC’s decision sparked Hendrik F Verwoerd in mind. Verwoerd was the Minister of Native Affairs in1950 during apartheid.
“Thirty years after the fall of apartheid, the ANC is legitimising and affirming that which it fought against. This was revealed in an official statement of the ANC in the Northern Cape which confirmed the remarks of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) leader, Pieter Groenewald, that the ANC is willing and open to recognise the status of Orania as an exclusively white Afrikaner community as part of the conditions for its involvement in the proposed government of national unity (GNU),” he said.
“The ANC has shamelessly exposed its devotion to selling out the people of SA and reversing the political gains it frequently boasts about. The affirmation of Orania by the ANC proves that the so-called ‘Government of National Unity’ is nothing other than an unholy pact to protect white minority interests and undermine the transformation objectives of the democratic government of SA.”
ActionSA Northern Cape provincial chairperson Andrew Louw mirrored Lonzi’s assertions.
“Orania’s very existence challenges the ANC’s commitment to non-racialism. Its policies explicitly bar non-Afrikaner residents, making it a symbol of ongoing segregation. For a party that prided itself on fostering a non-racial South Africa, recognising Orania was inconceivable. The ANC’s principles and the town’s exclusivity were irreconcilable, and acknowledging its legitimacy would have sent a contradictory message about the party’s stance on integration versus cultural preservation,” he said.
The Star
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