orania

The stated goal of Orania's founders was the preservation of Afrikaner cultural heritage, and {{lang|af|selfwerksaamheid}} ("self reliance").{{Cite web |last=Haynes |first=Gavin |date=2010-01-19 |title=Orania: The Little Town that Racism Built |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/orania-the-little-town-that-racism-built/ |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=Vice |language=en}} All jobs, from management to manual labour, are done by Afrikaners; non-Afrikaner people are not allowed to live or work there.{{Cite web |last=Craw |first=Victoria |date=2014-10-31 |title=Orania: An Afrikaner only town in South Africa |url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/destinations/africa/orania-an-afrikaner-only-town-in-south-africa/news-story/f5c5a5f2a086ea6a65d1240feef69f03 |accessdate=2013-05-20 |website=news.com.au}}{{cite news |date=2004-04-22 |title=10 years on, Orania fades away |work=News24 |url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Archives/DecadeofFreedom/10-years-on-Orania-fades-away-20040421 |url-status=live |access-date=2015-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217043220/http://www.news24.com/southafrica/archives/decadeoffreedom/10-years-on-orania-fades-away-20040421 |archive-date=2014-12-17}} The town's monoculturalism and monoethnic philosophy rejects the concept of baasskap, where the White minority exploited Black labour for economic gain, in favour of a model of strict Afrikaner self-sufficiency.{{Cite news |last=Donaldson |first=Andrew |date=2010-04-11 |title=Orania building a different future |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2010-04-10-orania-building-a-different-future/ |accessdate=2013-03-10 |website=TimesLIVE}}

Critics accuse the town authorities of rejecting the Rainbow Nation concept and trying to recreate apartheid-era South Africa within a White ethnostate.{{cite news |last1=Standley |first1=Jane |date=2000-12-16 |title=Rainbow nation at risk? |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1073712.stm |url-status=live |access-date=2015-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412180719/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1073712.stm |archive-date=2015-04-12}}{{cite news |last1=Daley |first1=Suzanne |author-link1=Suzanne Daley |date=1999-05-04 |title=Orania Journal; Afrikaners Have a Dream, Very Like the Old One |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/04/world/orania-journal-afrikaners-have-a-dream-very-like-the-old-one.html |url-status=live |access-date=2015-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527094729/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/04/world/orania-journal-afrikaners-have-a-dream-very-like-the-old-one.html |archive-date=2015-05-27}}

Residents argue that they wish to preserve their own Afrikaner cultural heritage and protect themselves from crime in South Africa.{{cite news|last1=Leboucher|first1=Quentin|title=We're not racists, say Orania residents|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/northern-cape/we-re-not-racists-say-orania-residents-1.1512098|access-date=12 April 2015|publisher=IOL News|date=8 May 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412182110/http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/northern-cape/we-re-not-racists-say-orania-residents-1.1512098#.VSpzmWbv4T0|archive-date=12 April 2015}}{{cite book|last=Mwakikagile|first=Godfrey|title=South Africa in Contemporary Times|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=98Q_bLdWAWUC&pg=PA110|year=2008|publisher=Intercontinental Books|isbn=978-0-9802587-3-8|page=110|author-link1=Godfrey Mwakikagile|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204032448/https://books.google.com/books?id=98Q_bLdWAWUC&pg=PA110|archive-date=4 February 2017}} They also reject the "White" label as meaningless.{{Cite web |date=2019-04-10 |title=Video: Inside the 'Apartheid town' of Orania: Part 2 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/inside-apartheid-town-orania-part-62292326 |work=ABC News}}

The Orania region has been inhabited since about 30,000 years ago when Stone Age hunter-gatherers lived a nomadic lifestyle there.{{cite web|last1=Opperman|first1=M.|title=The Residential Development on the Farm Vluytjes Kraal Noord, Orania|url=http://www.sahra.org.za/sites/default/sahranasjhb/additionaldocs/THE%20HISTORY%20OF%20Orania.pdf|publisher=South African Heritage Resources Agency}} {{dead link|date=November 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} [http://pastebin.com/LiRkHeUQ Alt URL] A number of late Stone Age engravings indicate the presence of the San people, who remained the main cultural group until the second half of the 1700s, with the arrival of European hunters, trekkers and the Griqua people. The earliest indication of the presence of Afrikaner people in Orania dates to 1762; in the early 19th century, many farmers moved seasonally back and forth across the Orange River in search of better grazing. An 1842 Rawstone map shows the Vluytjeskraal farm, on which Orania would later be built. The first known inhabitant of what is today Orania was Stephanus Ockert Vermeulen, who purchased the farm in 1882.{{Cite web |title=History of Orania |url=https://www.karoo-southafrica.com/eastern-upper-karoo/orania/history-of-orania/ |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=The Karoo, South Africa |language=en-US}}

File:Orania 1970 02.png

The Department of Water Affairs established the town as Vluytjeskraal in 1963 to house the workers who were building the irrigation canals connected to the Vanderkloof Dam. It was part of a bigger scheme to bring water to the semi-desert central parts of South Africa. Other comparable construction towns like Vanderkloof and Oviston were also established.

The Department of Water Affairs changed the name to Orania, a variation of the Afrikaans word oranje, referring to the adjoining river,{{sfn|Delvecki|Greiner|2014|pp=164–173}} after it was chosen in a competition. By 1965, it was home to 56 families. Coloured workers who participated in the construction project lived in a separate area named Grootgewaagd. The first phase of the irrigation project was completed in 1976.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} After the dam was completed, most of the workers moved away, and the town fell into disrepair during the 1980s.{{sfn|Cavanagh|2013b|p=396}} Grootgewaagd became home to a mixture of coloured and black families who squatted on the abandoned land.{{sfn|Cavanagh|2013b|p=396}} The Department of Water Affairs completely abandoned Orania in 1989.{{cite news|last=McGreal|first=Chris|title=A people clutching at straws|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jan/29/books.guardianreview3|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=1 April 2015|date=29 January 2000|author-link1=Chris McGreal|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402212224/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jan/29/books.guardianreview3|archive-date=2 April 2015}}

{{main|Volkstaat}}

The idea that Afrikaners should concentrate in a limited region of South Africa was first circulated by the South African Bureau for Racial Affairs (SABRA) in 1966.{{cite magazine|date=July 2011|title=Die Orania Tydlyn|url=https://issuu.com/oraniabeweging/docs/orania_voorgrond_jul_2011|pages=5–11|language=af|magazine=Voorgrond|publisher=Orania Beweging|access-date=4 April 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410111752/http://issuu.com/oraniabeweging/docs/orania_voorgrond_jul_2011|archive-date=10 April 2015}} By the 1970s, SABRA advocated the idea of transforming South Africa into a commonwealth, where different population groups would develop parallel to each other. At the time, mainstream Afrikaners supported the bantustan policy, which allocated {{convert|174,307|km2|sqmi}} for the 15 million black Africans living in South Africa at the time.{{cite web|url=https://www.nda.agric.za/docs/abstract04/Population.pdf|title=Table 1 – Population of South Africa by population group|website=Nda.agric.za|access-date=10 February 2022|archive-date=19 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219115657/https://www.nda.agric.za/docs/abstract04/Population.pdf|url-status=dead}} (See also: ethnic groups in South Africa.{{sfn|Schonteich|Boshoff|2003|p=39}})

File:Bantustans in South Africa.svg

In 1981, Hendrik Verwoerd Jr (son of former South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd) advocated for Afrikaner homeland in an underpopulated area of the country. He believed that such a mini-state would run on computers and nuclear energy. To support his concept, he established the Society of Orange Workers, with hopes of creating its first development. The organisation attracted 325 members.Lelyveld, Joseph (19 April 1981). [https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/19/magazine/anxiety-over-apartheid.html?searchResultPosition=29 Anxiety Over Apartheid] The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved on 9 February 2025

May 1984 saw the establishment of the Afrikaner Volkswag, an organisation founded by Carel Boshoff, a right-wing academic and the son-in-law of former South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd. The goal of the Afrikaner Volkswag was to put the ideas of the SABRA into practice. Boshoff regarded contemporary plans of the National Party government to retain control through limited reforms as doomed to fail. Believing that black-majority rule could not be avoided, he supported the creation of a separate, smaller state for the Afrikaner nation instead.{{cite news |last=Parks |first=Michael |date=1986-10-11 |title=Form Afrikaner Nation, Rightist Urges |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-11-mn-2776-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=2015-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416230802/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-10-11/news/mn-2776_1_volkstaat |archive-date=2015-04-16}}

In 1988, Boshoff founded the Afrikaner-Vryheidstigting (Afrikaner Freedom Foundation) or Avstig. The founding principles of the Avstig were based on the belief that since black majority rule was unavoidable, and European minority rule morally unjustifiable, Afrikaners would have to form their own nation, or Volkstaat, in a smaller part of South Africa.{{sfn|Schonteich|Boshoff|2003|p=44}} Orania was intended to be the basis of the Volkstaat, which would come into existence once a large number of Afrikaners moved to Orania and other such 'growth points',{{sfn|Schonteich|Boshoff|2003|p=44}} and would eventually include the towns of Prieska, Britstown, Carnarvon, Williston and Calvinia, reaching the west coast.{{cite web |title=Freedom Front Policy: National Map |url=http://www.vryheidsfront.co.za/index.asp?l=e |website=Vryheidsfront Plus |access-date=25 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721060859/http://www.vryheidsfront.co.za/index.asp?l=e |archive-date=July 21, 2009}}

File:Volkstaat–VF.svg model pursued by Avstig and Freedom Front{{sfn|Schonteich|Boshoff|2003|p=42}}]]

On 23 April 1994, the Freedom Front, the African National Congress and the National Party (South Africa) signed the Accord on Afrikaner self-determination.{{cite web | url=https://omalley.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv02039/04lv02103/05lv02120/06lv02123.htm | title=Accord on Afrikaner self-determination 23 April 1994 - the O'Malley Archives }} This led to article 235 of Constitution of South Africa, which guarantees the right of self-determination for cultural groups.{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299514196 |doi=10.1080/19962126.2014.11865118|title=Section 235 of the Constitution: Too Soon or too Late for Cultural Self-Determination in South Africa? |year=2014 |last1=De Villiers |first1=Bertus |journal=South African Journal on Human Rights |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=458–483 |s2cid=218601920 }}{{Cite web |last=du Toit |first=Pieter |date=2019-01-23 |title=The return of the right and the coming of the volkstaat |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/Analysis/the-return-of-the-right-and-the-coming-of-the-volkstaat-20190123 |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=News24}}{{Cite news |date=2013-05-08 |title=Welcome to Orania, South Africa's only "purely" white town |newspaper=The Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/photos/from_the_photo_desk/2013/05/welcome-to-orania-south-africas-only-purely-white-town.html |access-date=2023-08-23}}

Boshoff's plans excluded the area of traditional Boer republics in the Transvaal and the Free State, which encompass the economic heartland of South Africa and much of its natural resources, instead focusing on an economically underdeveloped and semi-desert area in the north-western Cape.{{sfn|Schonteich|Boshoff|2003|p=44}} This desert state, Orandeë, because of its very inhospitableness would not be feared or coveted by the South African government.{{sfn|Christopher|2002|p=101}}

Proponents of the idea conceded that this model would demand significant economic sacrifices from Afrikaners who moved to the Volkstaat.{{sfn|Schonteich|Boshoff|2003|p=44}} The model is based on the principle of 'own labour', requiring that all work in the Volkstaat be performed by its citizens, including ploughing fields, collecting garbage and tending gardens, which is traditionally performed by blacks in the rest of South Africa.{{sfn|Schonteich|Boshoff|2003|p=45}}

The town was originally part of a strategy to create an Afrikaner majority in the northwestern Cape by encouraging the construction of other such towns, with the eventual goal of an Afrikaner majority in the area and an independent Afrikaner ethnostate between Orania and the West Coast.{{cite journal |last1=Jooste |first1=Chris |title=A Volkstaat for Afrikaners |journal=Indicator South Africa |date=1998 |volume=15 |issue=3 |page=27 |hdl=10520/AJA0259188X_1602 |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA0259188X_1602 |access-date=25 June 2024}} Boshoff had originally envisaged a population of 60,000 after 15 years.{{cite news |last=Groenewald |first=Yolandi |date=2005-11-01 |title=Orania, white and blue |newspaper=Mail & Guardian |url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-11-01-orania-white-and-blue |url-status=live |access-date=2014-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106121913/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-11-01-orania-white-and-blue |archive-date=2014-01-06}} While he conceded that most Afrikaners might decide not to move to the Volkstaat, he thought that it was essential Afrikaners have this option, since it would make them feel more secure, thereby reducing tensions in the rest of South Africa.{{sfn|Schonteich|Boshoff|2003|p=44}}

{{see also|Accord on Afrikaner self-determination}}

File:Mnr Mandela, Mev Betsie Verwoerd en Prof Carel Boshoff afgeneem tydens Mandela se besoek aan Orania.jpg and Carel Boshoff during Mandela's visit to Orania in 1995]]

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In December 1990, about 40 Afrikaner families headed by Carel Boshoff bought the dilapidated town of Orania for around R1.5 million (US$585,000),{{efn|name=currencyconversion|USD conversion using the end-of-year rate from the [https://www.resbank.co.za/Research/Rates/Pages/SelectedHistoricalExchangeAndInterestRates.aspx South African Reserve Bank]}} on behalf of Orania Bestuursdienste (OBD) from the Department of Water Affairs.{{sfn|Cavanagh|2013|pp=69–75}} In the lead-up to the move-in, some 500 black and colored people still lived in Orania (then called Grootgewaagd). 64 families were evicted by the Department of Water Affairs in early 1991, in one of the last largescale forced removals of Apartheid.{{Cite web |last=Webster |first=Dennis |date=2019-10-24 |title='An indictment of South Africa': whites-only town Orania is booming |url=http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/24/an-indictment-of-south-africa-whites-only-town-orania-is-booming |access-date=2022-02-22 |website=The Guardian |language=en |issn=0261-3077}}{{sfn|Cavanagh|2013b|p=404}} The families were provided newly built homes, but were taken more than {{Convert|100|km|abbr=on}} away to Warrenton, Northern Cape.{{cite news| title=Making way for Orania's Boere, families moved 100 km away to Warrenton |url=http://saldru.lib.msu.edu/dvd1/Agriculture%20%20General%201991.pdf |work= The Sowetan |date=8 April 1991|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212061152/http://saldru.lib.msu.edu/dvd1/Agriculture%20%20General%201991.pdf |archive-date=12 February 2016|page=9 |via=Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town}} [https://saldru.lib.msu.edu/saldrusubj.html SALDRU Clippings Collection 1975–2000] Grootgewaagd village was renamed Kleingeluk.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} In April 1991, the first 13 inhabitants moved into Orania.{{cite web|title=Orania and the third reinvention of the Afrikaner|first=Carel|last=Boshoff|url=http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/twitter.com/page71656?oid=742242&sn=Detail&pid=71616|publisher=Politicsweb|access-date=31 March 2015|date=7 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402111357/http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/twitter.com/page71656?oid=742242&sn=Detail&pid=71616|archive-date=2 April 2015}} At that time, the town consisted of 90 houses in Orania and 60 in Kleingeluk, all in serious disrepair.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} In August 1991, the {{convert|2300|ha|adj=on}} farm Vluytjeskraal 272 was added to Orania.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} The National Party government led by F. W. de Klerk opposed the creation of an Afrikaner state, and the existence of Orania, but it took no action, believing it would fail on its own.{{cite news |last1=Moutout |first1=Corinne |date=1991-03-18 |title=Les Afrikaners 'pure souche' rêvent d'une patrie indépendante et ont déjà créé "Orania" |language=fr |publisher=Le Soir |url=http://archives.lesoir.be/les-afrikaners-pure-souche-revent-d-une-patrie-independ_t-19910318-Z03QZP.html |url-status=live |access-date=2015-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418103241/http://archives.lesoir.be/les-afrikaners-pure-souche-revent-d-une-patrie-independ_t-19910318-Z03QZP.html |archive-date=2015-04-18}}

The town council was established in February 1992.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} A journalist for the Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant, visiting in 1993, noted that houses had been repaired, but the town lacked any meaningful economic activity.{{cite news|last1=van Nuijsenburg|first1=Peter|title=Boeren eisen een exclusief stukje Afrika|url=https://krantenbankzeeland.nl/issue/pzc/1993-08-14/edition/0/page/25|access-date=7 February 2018|work=Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant|date=14 August 1993|page=25|language=nl|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207073059/https://krantenbankzeeland.nl/issue/pzc/1993-08-14/edition/0/page/25|archive-date=7 February 2018}} There were few jobs available, and no money for further development. The town relied on neighboring farms for food.{{cite book|title=Right-Wing Directory|date=March 1996|publisher=Independent Board of Inquiry|pages=5–8|url=http://www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za/inventories/inv_pdfo/AG2543/AG2543-2-3-7-01-jpeg.pdf|access-date=13 February 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814082555/http://www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za/inventories/inv_pdfo/AG2543/AG2543-2-3-7-01-jpeg.pdf|archive-date=14 August 2016}} Orania elected its own transitional representative council, a temporary form of local government created after the end of apartheid, in 1995.{{cite news|title=Orania lets election happen - but won't vote|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/orania-lets-election-happen-but-won-t-vote-1.54556?ot=inmsa.ArticlePrintPageLayout.ot|access-date=7 April 2015|publisher=IOL News|date=1 December 2000|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924123037/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/orania-lets-election-happen-but-won-t-vote-1.54556?ot=inmsa.ArticlePrintPageLayout.ot|archive-date=24 September 2015}} Construction on an irrigation scheme to cover a {{convert|400|ha|acre|adj=on}} area began in 1995 and was completed in October 1996.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In a conciliatory gesture, President Nelson Mandela visited the town in 1995 to have tea with Betsie Verwoerd, widow of former Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd.{{cite news |last=Daley |first=Suzanne |author-link1=Suzanne Daley |date=1999-03-23 |title=Beloved Country Repays Mandela in Kind |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03E6DA1131F930A15750C0A96F958260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/M/Mbeki,%20Thabo |url-status=live |access-date=2010-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120014621/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03E6DA1131F930A15750C0A96F958260&n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FPeople%2FM%2FMbeki%2C%20Thabo |archive-date=2010-11-20}}

Orania grew to 200 permanent inhabitants in 1996. By 1998 R15 million had been invested in the town for expenses including the upgrading of water and electricity supply, roads and businesses.{{cite web|title=Millions of rands already invested in Orania|url=http://www.orania.co.za/foo_15.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990420131230/http://www.orania.co.za/foo_15.htm|archive-date=20 April 1999|publisher=Orania.co.za|access-date=1 April 2015|date=May 1998}}

On 5 June 1998, Valli Moosa, then Minister of Constitutional Development in the African National Congress (ANC) government, stated in a parliamentary budget debate that "the ideal of some Afrikaners to develop the North Western Cape as a home for the Afrikaner culture and language within the framework of the Constitution and the Charter of Human Rights is viewed by the government as a legitimate ideal".{{cite news|first=Nick|last=Bezuidenhout|url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1998/06/5/4/12.html|title=VF se strewe legitiem, sê Moosa|language=af|trans-title=Freedom Front endeavour legitimate, says Moosa|date=5 June 1998|work=Beeld|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703112821/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1998/06/5/4/12.html|archive-date=3 July 2011}}

On 14 September 2010, the president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, visited Orania. He said that he was "warmly welcomed", that Orania had "interesting ideas", and, "the Oraniers were prepared to live in South Africa, but wanted a place to exercise their culture".{{Cite web |last=Grobler |first=Andre |date=2010-09-14 |title=Zuma's visit 'an outstanding day' for Orania |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-09-14-zumas-visit-an-outstanding-day-for-orania/ |access-date=2021-01-31 |website=The Mail & Guardian}}Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/aJOXp29y0zI Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20201120164217/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJOXp29y0zI Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJOXp29y0zI| title = Vryheidsfront Plus - President Zuma besoek Orania | website=YouTube| date = 28 December 2010 }}{{cbignore}} In May 2023, Gayton McKenzie, leader of the Patriotic Alliance party, visited the town.{{Cite news |last=Nkanjeni |first=Unathi |date=2023-05-08 |title=WATCH {{!}} From infrastructure to load-shedding: Inside Gayton McKenzie's visit to Orania |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2023-05-08-from-infrastructure-to-load-shedding-inside-gayton-mckenzies-visit-to-orania/ |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=TimesLIVE |language=en-ZA}}

A policy shift was announced in 2014. Acknowledging that early growth expectations had not been met, the town's chief executive argued that Orania should employ its limited resources to grow into a 'city' of around 50,000 inhabitants. Urbanisation was deemed necessary to strengthen cultural institutions, deliver services and make possible an adequate standard of living for residents. However, the ultimate objective remains self-determination,{{cite web|last1=Biehl|first1=Sebastiaan|title=Orania van dorp tot stad – 'n nuwe strategie. Boek bied belangrike nuwe strategie|url=http://www.oraniablog.co.za/orania-van-dorp-tot-stad-n-nuwe-strategie-boek-bied-belangrike-nuwe-strategie/|website=Orania Blog|access-date=5 February 2018|date=23 May 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005149/http://www.oraniablog.co.za/orania-van-dorp-tot-stad-n-nuwe-strategie-boek-bied-belangrike-nuwe-strategie/|archive-date=7 February 2018}} similar to the small countries of Lesotho and Eswatini, which are also situated inside South Africa.

Carel Boshoff IV rejected the word Volkstaat, arguing that repeated use with no grounding in reality had led it to become an abstract term.{{cite web|last1=Boshoff|first1=Carel|title=Brexit, "die Volkstaat" en dié se vreeslike bagasie|url=http://www.oraniablog.co.za/brexit-die-volkstaat-en-die-se-vreeslike-bagasie/|website=Orania Blog|access-date=6 February 2018|date=1 July 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005854/http://www.oraniablog.co.za/brexit-die-volkstaat-en-die-se-vreeslike-bagasie/|archive-date=7 February 2018}} While regarding an Afrikaner nation as desirable, he felt the word carried too much baggage, connected to unrealistic and anachronistic expectations. The vision of an Afrikanerstad was seen as a more effective way to achieve prosperity and decision-making power.{{cite news|last1=de Klerk|first1=Frans|title=Van dorp tot Afrikanerstad|url=https://www.netwerk24.com/Stemme/Aktueel/Van-dorp-tot-Afrikanerstad-20150910|access-date=6 February 2018|work=Netwerk24|date=10 September 2015|language=af|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206151729/https://www.netwerk24.com/Stemme/Aktueel/Van-dorp-tot-Afrikanerstad-20150910|archive-date=6 February 2018}} The shift met with some resistance, as the Orania Movement was seen as straying away from its original goal.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} The movement since then promotes Orania as the "Home of the Afrikaner" (Afrikanertuiste).{{Cite web|title=Strategie|url=https://orania.co.za/strategie/|access-date=31 January 2021|website=Orania Beweging|language=af-ZA}}

In August 2023, Orania held a city planning conference in Pretoria where the new city plan from NewUrban city planners was released. The town is planning for substantial growth in the future with up to one million residents in the area anticipated.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5FEj4q4p9Q | title=Kan Orania 'n tuiste word vir 1-miljoen Afrikaners? | website=YouTube | date=29 August 2023 }}

In 2025, Orania leaders visited the U.S. to seek backing for their cause, although they clarified they were not asking for financial aid, but investment to further develop the town. Their appeals echo a broader Afrikaner nationalist movement, with some comparing their goals to the establishment of Israel post-World War II.{{Cite web |last=Cocks |first=Tim |date=3 April 2025 |title=South Africa's white Afrikaner separatists want Trump's help to become state |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-white-afrikaner-separatists-want-trumps-help-become-state-2025-04-03/ |access-date=9 April 2025 |website=Reuters}}

File:SABC News crew interviewing Carel Boshoff.jpg crew interviewing Carel Boshoff, President of the Orania Movement]]

Coverage generally describes Orania as culturally backward, racially intolerant, and separatist.{{sfn|Delvecki|Greiner|2014|pp=164–173}} Descriptions of Orania frequently call it "whites-only", since the town accepts only Afrikaner residents.{{Cite web |date=August 2022 |title=Orania, South Africa's white only town |url=https://www.africanews.com/2022/08/11/orania-south-africas-white-only-town/ |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=Africanews |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Thomas |date=2016-12-20 |title=Inside Orania, South Africa's whites-only town |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/20/africa/orania-south-africa-afrikaners/index.html |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=CNN |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Fihlani |first=Pumza |date=2014-10-06 |title=Inside South Africa's whites-only town of Orania |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29475977 |access-date=2022-10-02}}

Andrew Kenny, a regular contributor to The Citizen newspaper, wrote in 2015 that: "Orania was a revelation to me. I was enormously impressed by its success, decency, safety, modesty, friendliness, cleanliness, by its spirit of goodwill, by its egalitarian attitudes and, above all, by its prevailing philosophy of freedom".{{cite news |url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/news-and-analysis/welkom-in-orania |title=Welkom in Orania |date=29 October 2015 |first1=Andrew |last1=Kenny |work=politicsweb.co.za}}

In 1991, the New York Times was not as impressed when it said that Orania was a "ghost town where White supremacists dream of carving out an idyllic homeland".{{cite news |last=Keller |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Keller |date=1994-02-26 |title=Orania Journal; In a 'Whites Only' Utopia, No Escaping Discord |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/26/world/orania-journal-in-a-whites-only-utopia-no-escaping-discord.html |access-date=2021-02-03 |issn=0362-4331}} In 1994 the Los Angeles Times described it as a "Zealots' Dream" and "a bastion of intolerance".{{cite news |last=Drogin |first=Bob |author-link1=Bob Drogin |date=1994-02-28 |title=Zealots' Dream Falters in Whites-Only S. Africa Town : Racism: Bastion of intolerance sees itself as model. But glimpse of future disappoints some separatists |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-28-mn-28252-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=2015-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416234916/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-02-28/news/mn-28252_1_south-africa |archive-date=2015-04-16}} A year later the Chicago Tribune saw it as "the last pathetic holdout of the former ruling class of South Africa", continuing that "the Afrikaners who once forced blacks to live apart from the rest of society are now living in their own prison".{{cite news|title=A Segregated Town Survives In South Africa|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/03/30/a-segregated-town-survives-in-south-africa/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=4 April 2015|first=Christopher A.|last=Szechenyi|date=30 March 1995|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410160014/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-03-30/news/9503300035_1_orania-afrikaners-south-africa|archive-date=10 April 2015}} Bill Keller dubbed Orania "the racist Camelot".{{cite news |last1=Keller |first1=Bill |author-link=Bill Keller |date=1992-08-16 |title=Party's Split Casts Shadow On a Dream |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/16/weekinreview/the-world-party-s-split-casts-shadow-on-a-dream.html |url-status=live |access-date=2018-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203064959/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/16/weekinreview/the-world-party-s-split-casts-shadow-on-a-dream.html |archive-date=2018-02-03 |issn=0362-4331}} A Mail & Guardian article describes it as a "widely ridiculed town" and a "media byword for racism and irredentism".{{cite news |last=Nikitin |first=Vadim |date=2011-09-16 |title=Bigotry without racism? -- Lessons from Orania |newspaper=The Mail & Guardian |url=http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-15-bigotry-without-racism-lessons-from-orania |url-status=live |access-date=2015-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601021157/http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-15-bigotry-without-racism-lessons-from-orania |archive-date=2015-06-01}} An article in The Independent similarly writes that residents of Orania "have a reputation for being racists, and that the town attracts plenty of negative press".{{cite news |last1=Schadomsky |first1=Ludger |last2=Collins |first2=Charlotte |date=2003-12-10 |title=Apartheid's last stand |newspaper=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/apartheids-last-stand-757717.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2015-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411002404/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/apartheids-last-stand-757717.html |archive-date=2015-04-11}} Benjamin Pogrund described Orania as a "curious hangover from the vanished terrible past".{{sfn|Pogrund|2014|p=131}}

Vadim Nikitin, writing for The National in 2011, described the conventional narrative about Orania as the last bastion of apartheid, and a "pathetic outpost of embittered racists" who refuse to live in equality with black South Africans. Nikitin notes that Orania lacks some of the conventional indications of privilege found in other post-apartheid White South African suburbs, such as black servants and some material luxuries.{{cite web |last=Nikitin |first=Vadim |date=2011-04-15 |title=Inside South Africa's last bastion of apartheid |url=http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/africa/inside-south-africas-last-bastion-of-apartheid#full |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024141647/http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/africa/inside-south-africas-last-bastion-of-apartheid#full |archive-date=2015-10-24 |access-date=2015-04-04 |work=The National}} Eve Fairbanks, writing for Witness, describes Orania's heavy emphasis on self-reliance as a paradox: "While Orania is the place Whites can go to undergo the regimen most explicitly designed to cleanse themselves of the sins of apartheid, it is also the place they can go to live most visibly like they did before it ended."{{cite journal |last1=Fairbanks |first1=Eve |date=Spring 2013 |title=Pardon'd |url=https://witness.blackmountaininstitute.org/issues/volume-26-no-1-spring-2013/pardoned-eve-fairbanks/?singlepage=1 |url-status=live |journal=Witness |volume=26 |issue=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203185429/https://witness.blackmountaininstitute.org/issues/volume-26-no-1-spring-2013/pardoned-eve-fairbanks/?singlepage=1 |archive-date=2018-02-03 |access-date=2018-02-02}}

Regarding the near-total segregation of the town and lack of any black residents, James Kirchick and Sebastian Rich of the Virginia Quarterly Review describe an uneasy relationship between the town's residents and the country's apartheid history. Orania's strict ethnonationalism and anti-globalization are incompatible with both apartheid and the rainbow nation of modern South Africa. Despite this, Orania maintains several monuments of the apartheid which had been discarded from other places. The Orania Cultural History Museum includes busts of every apartheid president of South Africa except for F. W. de Klerk, whom the museum's director considers a "traitor" for his part in the country's transition to democracy.{{cite web|title=In Whitest Africa|url=http://www.vqronline.org/dispatch/whitest-africa|publisher=VQR Online|access-date=4 April 2015|first1=James|last1=Kirchick|first2=Sebastian|last2=Rich|date=1 July 2008|author-link1=James Kirchick|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411124707/http://www.vqronline.org/dispatch/whitest-africa|archive-date=11 April 2015}} Leon Louw, the executive director of the South African Free Market Foundation, questioned the perception that the town is a refuge for racial bigots.{{cite web|last1=Louw|first1=Leon|title=Orania is not a home for racial bigots|url=http://www.acts.co.za/news/blog/2015/10/orania-is-not-a-home-for-racial-bigots|website=Acts Online News|date=21 October 2015 |access-date=31 July 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731154625/http://www.acts.co.za/news/blog/2015/10/orania-is-not-a-home-for-racial-bigots|archive-date=31 July 2017}}

Gavin Haynes from Vice News said that, "If you're a certain way inclined, Orania is probably a nice place to live. It's very neighbourly. It's also one of the dullest, most achingly pointless places in Christendom".{{Cite web |last=Haynes |first=Gavin |date=2010-01-19 |title=Orania: The Little Town that Racism Built |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/orania-the-little-town-that-racism-built/ |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=Vice}}

Professor Kwandiwe Kondlo, a professor in political economy at the University of Johannesburg, said that Orania served as an important safety valve for Afrikaners in transition, and that "The Afrikaners are very forward-thinking people. Orania was established as a tactical strategic exit for the Afrikaner, should the new South Africa run into serious crisis. They will then have a place to preserve themselves".{{Cite web |date=2017-02-01 |title=The Rainbow Nation's Whites-Only Town |url=https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/02/01/rainbow-nations-whites-town/ |access-date=2021-01-31 |website=Forbes Africa}}

Rebecca Davis of the Daily Maverick feels that, "What makes Orania different is that it makes no secret of its discrimination. Because of this, the town has come to occupy a place in the public imagination vastly out of proportion to its size".{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Rebecca |date=2020-01-21 |title=From the Vault: 'Everyone in Orania is woke': A journey to SA's most notorious town |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-01-21-everyone-in-orania-is-woke-a-journey-to-sas-most-notorious-town/ |access-date=2021-01-31 |website=Daily Maverick}}

File:Production of a documentary about Orania.jpg

Most Afrikaners did not support the establishment of an Afrikaner state in the early 1990s, as they saw it as nothing more than an impractical pipe dream.{{Cite web|url=https://www.emich.edu/coer/Journal_2007/De_Beer.html|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20150404234840/http://www.emich.edu/coer/Journal_2007/De_Beer.html|url-status=dead|title=de Beer|website=Emich.edu|archive-date=4 April 2015|access-date=10 February 2022}}{{sfn|de Beer|2007|pp=45–58}} Shortly after the first residents arrived in 1991, many Afrikaners derided the project as unrealistic,{{cite news|title=A Homeland? White Volk Fence Themselves In|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/08/world/orania-journal-a-homeland-white-volk-fence-themselves-in.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=4 April 2015|date=8 May 1991|first=Christopher S.|last=Wren|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419181401/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/08/world/orania-journal-a-homeland-white-volk-fence-themselves-in.html|archive-date=19 April 2015}} with even right-wingers rejecting it for its location in barren territory, far from traditional Afrikaner states.{{cite news |last=Sly |first=Liz |date=1992-03-16 |title='All-White' Town Finds It Can't Live Without Blacks |newspaper=The Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920316/1481260/south-africas-future----all-white-town-finds-it-cant-live-without-blacks |url-status=live |access-date=2015-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410220952/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920316&slug=1481260 |archive-date=2015-04-10}} Two decades later, a survey of Beeld readers (in 2010), found that 56% of respondents would consider moving to a Volkstaat.{{cite web |last=du Toit |first=Pieter |date=2010-01-12 |title=Volkstaat hou g'n heil in: Beeld: Rubrieke: Gasrubriekskrywers |url=http://www.beeld.com/Rubrieke/Gasrubriekskrywers/Volkstaat-hou-gn-heil-in-20100112 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728184435/http://www.beeld.com/Rubrieke/Gasrubriekskrywers/Volkstaat-hou-gn-heil-in-20100112 |archive-date=2011-07-28 |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=Beeld |language=af}}

The largest right-wing party in apartheid-era South Africa, the Conservative Party, did not support the Volkstaat concept until 1993, shortly before converging with other right-wing organisations into the Afrikaner Volksfront. Even then, their plan involved separating parts of Transvaal Province, including Pretoria, to form a state where the many black residents would have only limited voting rights. Negotiations to this end were conducted with the African National Congress, but were inconclusive.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In 2010, Marida Fitzpatrick, journalist for the Afrikaans newspaper Die Burger, praised the town for its safety and environmentally friendly approaches to living, but also wrote that overt racist ideas and ideology still underpinned the views of many residents.{{cite news|last=Fitzpatrick|first=Marida|title=Ook net mens|url=http://www.dieburger.com/printArticle.aspx?iframe&aid=ce6a9a6a-be03-47ca-a783-40243d4a0423&cid=1688|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930134730/http://www.dieburger.com/printArticle.aspx?iframe&aid=ce6a9a6a-be03-47ca-a783-40243d4a0423&cid=1688|archive-date=30 September 2011|access-date=5 January 2014|newspaper=Die Burger|date=30 January 2010|language=af}} Members of the AfriForum group who visited Orania in February 2015 came back with mostly positive impressions of the town, comparing it to a Clarens or Dullstroom of the Karoo.{{cite web|title=Orania – Nie so 'n vergesogte droom nie|url=https://www.afriforum.co.za/orania-nie-n-vergesogte-droom-nie/|publisher=AfriForum|access-date=5 April 2015|date=23 February 2015|first=Juran|last=van den Heever|language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410163917/https://www.afriforum.co.za/orania-nie-n-vergesogte-droom-nie/|archive-date=10 April 2015}}

In 2018, Afrikaans trade union, Solidariteit, and civil rights group AfriForum named Orania as one of their 30 "anchor towns"{{Cite web|date=25 October 2019|title=Orania: These building projects show how "Whites-only" town is growing|url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/where-is-orania-white-only-town-south-africa-developments/|access-date=31 January 2021|website=The South African}} to which Afrikaner migration should be encouraged{{cite tweet|number=1050080302364848133|user=OraniaHomeland|title=BREAKING NEWS: We are happy to announce that #Orania has made the list of 30 "anchor towns" indicated by @afriforum…|date=10 October 2018}}{{Primary source inline|date=February 2021}} with the aim of becoming the majority population in these areas, making self determination possible.

File:The Orania Beweging in front of the Kimberley High Court to campaign for the town's municipal status.jpg in 2000]]

Initially the presence of residents with politically extreme views hampered early attempts to gain broader acceptance for the community. Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) members made up a sizable minority of the population. In July 1991, one resident publicly threatened to resort to terrorism unless Orania was granted independence.{{cite news|title=Orania: The Israel of Africa?|url=http://disa.ukzn.ac.za/sites/default/files/pdf_files/WPJul91.pdf|access-date=4 February 2018|work=Work In Progress|first1=Maria|last1=Cuffaro|issue=July 1991|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204154834/http://disa.ukzn.ac.za/sites/default/files/pdf_files/WPJul91.pdf|archive-date=4 February 2018}} By 1993, people with similarly militant views had reportedly been removed from the community.{{cite news|last1=Oosterbroek|first1=Monica|date=31 July 1993|title=Place to hide for the Volk|work=Weekend Argus|url=http://saldru.lib.msu.edu/dvd11/SA%20Government%20&%20Politics%201993h.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=4 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213235045/http://saldru.lib.msu.edu/dvd11/SA%20Government%20%26%20Politics%201993h.pdf|archive-date=13 February 2016}}

In December 2000, the provincial government ordered the dissolution of Orania's town council and its absorption into a new municipality along with neighbouring towns.{{cite news|title=Black mayor to destroy dream of white homeland|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/1375880/Black-mayor-to-destroy-dream-of-white-homeland.html|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=4 April 2015|date=25 November 2000|last=Butcher|first=Tim|author-link1=Tim Butcher|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412143342/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/1375880/Black-mayor-to-destroy-dream-of-white-homeland.html|archive-date=12 April 2015}}{{cite news|title=Mufamadi meets Orania representatives|url=http://www.news24.com/xArchive/Archive/Mufamadi-meets-Orania-representatives-20010312|access-date=10 April 2015|publisher=News24|date=12 March 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508123626/http://www.news24.com/xArchive/Archive/Mufamadi-meets-Orania-representatives-20010312|archive-date=8 May 2016|url-status=live}} Oranians lodged an application with the Northern Cape Division, which found that negotiations between the residents of Orania and the government for a compromise on Orania's municipal status should take place;{{cite news|title=Orania and N Cape govt to discuss future of enclave|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2007-07-04-orania-and-n-cape-govt-to-discuss-future-of-enclave|access-date=6 April 2015|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|date=4 July 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305134346/http://mg.co.za/article/2007-07-04-orania-and-n-cape-govt-to-discuss-future-of-enclave|archive-date=5 March 2016}} until such an agreement can be reached, the status quo would remain.{{cite news|title=Orania retains status quo|url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Orania-retains-status-quo-20001204|access-date=6 April 2015|publisher=News24|date=5 December 2000|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910161326/https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Orania-retains-status-quo-20001204|archive-date=10 September 2018}}

In May 2005, a dispute arose with a faction of residents who claimed the town was being run like a 'mafia', with a number of lawsuits being filed as part of the dispute.{{cite web|title='Mafia' regeer glo Orania|url=http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/2005/05/09/VB/2k/08.html|work=Volksblad|access-date=4 April 2015|date=9 May 2005|last=Van Der Merwe|first=Hannatjie|language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410091730/http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/2005/05/09/VB/2k/08.html|archive-date=10 April 2015}} A raid on the town's radio station in November 2005 was linked to a tip-off received from internal dissenters; they ultimately left the community.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In November 2005, around 20 coloured families who lived in Kleingeluk before 1991 lodged a land claim with the government for around {{convert|483|ha|acre}} of land within Orania.{{cite news|last=Groenewald|first=Yolandi|date=18 November 2005|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2005-11-18-coloureds-claim-the-volkstaat|title=Coloureds Claim the Volkstaat|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|access-date=25 June 2006|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081110081225/http://www.mg.co.za/article/2005-11-18-coloureds-claim-the-volkstaat|archive-date=10 November 2008}} It was settled in December 2006 when the South African government agreed to pay the claimants R2.9 million in compensation.{{cite news|date=5 December 2006|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Orania-pleased-at-land-claim-20061205|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217052431/http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Orania-pleased-at-land-claim-20061205|archive-date=17 February 2011|title=Orania Pleased at Land Claim|publisher=News24|access-date=4 April 2010}}

Some black people from neighbouring communities feel that they are not welcome to visit the town, to buy in local shops or to use petrol stations.{{cite AV media|date=21 January 2018|title=Cutting Edge|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKkIoUvfRlY&t=20m00s|access-date=14 February 2018|time=20:00|publisher=SABC Digital News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406132825/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKkIoUvfRlY&t=20m00s|archive-date=6 April 2018}}

In 2016, prior to the 2016 local elections, the Thembelihle branch of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) campaigned on a platform of ending the autonomous status of Orania, saying that Orania's autonomy would no longer be tolerated in an EFF-run municipality.{{cite news|last1=de Wet|first1=Phillip|title=Orania held its own election this week, buoyed by a vision of growth and prosperity|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2016-08-05-00-it-may-only-have-1-000-residents-but-orania-wants-to-move-from-dorp-to-city|access-date=13 August 2016|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|date=5 August 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811232104/http://mg.co.za/article/2016-08-05-00-it-may-only-have-1-000-residents-but-orania-wants-to-move-from-dorp-to-city|archive-date=11 August 2016}} After a visit to Orania, Thembelihle's EFF mayor, Danny Jonas, said he wanted to retain the status quo while working together with Orania for the benefit of Thembelihle.{{cite news|title=Orania ingesluit by EFF-kandidaat se groot planne|first=Charné|last=Kemp|url=http://www.netwerk24.com/Stemme/Aktueel/orania-ingesluit-by-eff-kandidaat-se-groot-planne-20160629|access-date=13 June 2017|newspaper=Netwerk24|language=af|date=29 June 2016}} In 2009 the EFF's future leader, Julius Malema, visited Orania.{{Cite web|title=No 'shoot out' as Malema goes to Orania|url=https://www.iol.co.za/sport/no-shoot-out-as-malema-goes-to-orania-438542|access-date=31 January 2021|website=Independent Online|location=South Africa}} In 2019, Malema indicated that he agreed with the idea of moving landless black people to Orania.{{Cite web|last=Friedman|first=Daniel|date=29 April 2019|title=We will 'relocate landless people' to 'whites-only places' like Orania – EFF|url=https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/social-media/2124122/we-will-relocate-landless-people-to-whites-only-places-like-orania-eff/|access-date=31 January 2021|website=The Citizen}}

In June 2020, Gauteng ANC MEC for education, Panyaza Lesufi,{{Cite web|title=[LISTEN] Lesufi 'waging war on Afrikaans' - Afriforum|url=https://www.702.co.za/articles/294522/listen-lesufi-waging-war-on-afrikaans-afriforum|access-date=31 January 2021|website=702}}{{Cite web|title=Racist Lesufi once again disregards rights of Afrikaans-speaking communities in Combined School in Cullinan {{!}} SA-News.com|url=https://sa-news.com/lesufi-once-again-disregards-rights-of-afrikaans-speaking-communities-in-combined-school-in-cullinan/|access-date=31 January 2021}} said that Orania had to fall as it is neither a symbol of inclusivity nor democracy. "We understand why that institution was established. It has lived its time now. It's now that that place must be liberated and all South Africans must be allowed to stay wherever they want to stay".Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/rCkfW1pfnjk Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200830140717/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCkfW1pfnjk Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCkfW1pfnjk| title = Lesufi: Orania doesn't belong to a non-racial SA | website=YouTube| date = 21 June 2020 }}{{cbignore}} He also said, "If you think we will keep quiet you are wrong. This madness must come to an end. It's a betrayal of our call for a truly non-racial SA".{{Cite news |title=End of the Ora? Mounting calls for Orania to be shut down|url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-06-24-end-of-the-ora-mounting-calls-for-orania-to-be-shut-down/|date=24 June 2020 |access-date=31 January 2021|work=The Sowetan}} In response, anti-apartheid veteran and then ANC politician Carl Niehaus, who himself is an Afrikaner, said, "Destroy the money, destroy the damn flag. Charge these White, Orania 'Boere', for their racism, throw them in jail".

In January 2021, the Orania Movement made a Facebook post about how Afrikaners should develop their own sport institutions in view of government controlled sports organisations being hostile to Afrikaners.{{Cite web |last=Head |first=Tom |date=2020-08-19 |title=Black Lives Matter: Minister slammed for 'forcing athletes' to take a knee |url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/why-take-knee-black-lives-matter-what-players-osuth-africa/ |access-date=2021-01-31 |website=The South African}}{{cite web|url=https://solidariteit.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Transformation-in-sport-SA-eng.pdf|title=Transformation in SA Sport|website=Solidariteit.co.za|access-date=10 February 2022}}{{Cite web|title=The persecution of minority communities in SA - AfriForum - DOCUMENTS {{!}} Politicsweb|url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/the-persecution-of-minority-communities-in-sa--afr|access-date=31 January 2021|website=Politicsweb.co.za}} Facebook removed this post as hate speech,{{Cite web|url=https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/140290917_4979117422163694_1104926772843416570_o.jpg|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20210119010238/https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/140290917_4979117422163694_1104926772843416570_o.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_eui2=AeHL_7mcjsRcD2oJlhQN8yFZO-CU7g8IAwo74JTuDwgDCs0G4esCwvA1E7eGSrWDaIc&_nc_ohc=w2iAtkz_rxYAX9p_di6&_nc_ht=scontent.fbkk5-7.fna&oh=b49ab19b7a29205e1dbbe5fd7da891b9&oe=602A8602&_nc_fr=fbkk5c07|url-status=dead|title=Photographic image (540×963)|archive-date=19 January 2021|access-date=10 February 2022}} according to their new policy of "banning praise or support for White separatism" from their platform.{{Cite web|last=Carbone|first=Christopher|date=27 March 2019|title=Facebook bans white nationalism and white separatism|url=https://www.foxnews.com/tech/facebook-bans-white-nationalism-and-white-separatism|access-date=31 January 2021|publisher=Fox News Channel|archive-date=8 May 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190508195300/https://www.foxnews.com/tech/facebook-bans-white-nationalism-and-white-separatism|url-status=live}} In response the Orania movement created a channel on Telegram.{{Cite web|url=https://t.me/OraniaBeweging|title=Orania|website=Telegram|accessdate=10 March 2023}}

The Orania Beweging (Orania Movement) is a local political and cultural organisation that promotes Afrikaner history and culture.{{sfn|Haleniuk|2013|p=5}}

Cultural institutions include the Orania Kunsteraad met orkes en koor (arts council with orchestra and choir) and the Orania Kultuurhistoriese museum (cultural history museum).{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Exhibits housed in the museum include the Felix Lategan gun collection and a Vierkleur flag carried by Jopie Fourie.{{cite web |last=Versluis |first=Jeanne-Marié |date=2000-04-05 |title=Dorp sal 10 000 mense kan huisves |url=http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/2000/04/15/6/8.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411225925/http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/2000/04/15/6/8.html |archive-date=2015-04-11 |access-date=2015-04-05 |work=Volksblad |language=af}} The Koeksistermonument, erected in 2003, celebrates the women who baked and sold koeksisters to collect money for charity and is one of the town's tourist attractions.{{sfn|Haleniuk|2013|p=9}} The town also houses the Irish Volunteer Monument, dedicated to the Irish soldiers who fought on the Boer side during the Boer War (see Boer foreign volunteers).{{cite news |last=Sosibo |first=Kwanele |date=2014-11-13 |title=Brixton to Orania: The great trek of the Irish Volunteer Monument |newspaper=The Mail & Guardian |url=http://mg.co.za/article/2014-11-13-brixton-to-orania-the-great-trek-of-the-irish-volunteer-monument |url-status=live |access-date=2015-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402140439/http://mg.co.za/article/2014-11-13-brixton-to-orania-the-great-trek-of-the-irish-volunteer-monument |archive-date=2015-04-02}} Jan van Wijk, who created the Afrikaans Language Monument in Paarl, designed the monument. It was moved from Brixton, Gauteng in 2002 by a group of Afrikaners concerned by its imminent demolition. There is also a Verwoerd museum, where items and photos of Hendrik Verwoerd are on display. It was the house where his widow lived from 1992 until her death at the age of 98 years in 2000.

A collection of busts of Afrikaner leaders, dumped by institutions that no longer wanted them after 1994, sits on a 'monument hill' outside town. They look towards a statue of Orania's mascot named Klein Reus (small giant), a small boy shown rolling up his sleeves and getting ready to do the work himself. These old and new statues are symbolic of the Afrikaner's past and future. The small giant symbol is also used for the town's flag, its currency and merchandise.{{sfn|Haleniuk|2013|p=8}} It was designed by South African artist Elly Holm.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rrJGXH6eGA|title=Orania in Beweging | Episode 9: Simboliek (English subtitles)|date=11 April 2023 |accessdate=20 May 2023|via=www.youtube.com}} The colours of the town's flag is based on the Dutch Prince's Flag, which was the flag under which Jan van Riebeeck of the Dutch East India Company founded the Cape Town refreshment station in 1652.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

The Orania Karnaval (formerly Volkstaatskou) is the main cultural event in town. Held annually since April 2000, it features exhibitions, competitions and concerts from local and national Afrikaner artists,{{cite news |date=2003-03-12 |title=Orania hou Volkstaatskou |language=af |work=Volksblad |url=http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/2003/03/12/4/30.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2015-03-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414004646/http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/2003/03/12/4/30.html |archive-date=2015-04-14}} with food stalls offering traditional Afrikaner treats.{{cite news|last1=Strydom|first1=Lida |title=Orania vier Afrikanerkultuur|publisher=Netwerk24 |url=http://www.netwerk24.com/ontspan/2014-04-15-orania-vier-afrikanerkultuur|access-date=10 April 2015 |date=15 April 2014 |language=af|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415122821/http://www.netwerk24.com/ontspan/2014-04-15-orania-vier-afrikanerkultuur|archive-date=15 April 2015}} The Ora currency and the Kleinreus flag were both introduced during the celebrations.{{cite news|last1=Coetzee|first1=Frans|title=Orania se geldeenheid op Volkstaatskou herdenk |url=http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/2005/04/29/VB/5/01.html|access-date=10 April 2015|work=Volksblad|date=29 April 2005 |language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414005603/http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/2005/04/29/VB/5/01.html|archive-date=14 April 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Van Der Merwe|first1=Hannatjie|title=Orania kry glo einde April eie geldeenheid by volkskou |url=http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/2004/02/23/OB/2k/10.html |access-date=10 April 2015|work=Die Burger|date=23 February 2004 |language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508232100/http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/2004/02/23/OB/2k/10.html|archive-date=8 May 2016}}

Traditional Afrikaner cultural activities such as volkspele dances and games of jukskei are promoted within the community.{{sfn|Naudé-Moseley|Moseley|2008|p=67}} Karoo-style food such as skaapkop (sheep's head) is part of the local culinary heritage.{{sfn|Naudé-Moseley|Moseley|2008|p=67}} Like most White South Africans, Orania residents are rugby fans.{{cite news|title=All are watching - even in Orania|url=https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/daily-news/20100618/281805690180272|access-date=5 February 2018|work=Daily News|agency=Sapa - DPA|date=18 June 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205191957/https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/daily-news/20100618/281805690180272|archive-date=5 February 2018}} The town has a rugby team, the Orania Rebelle, playing in the Griqualand West Rugby Union.{{cite news|last1=Malan|first1=Marlene|title=Olé, olé, olé, Orania! |url=http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/rapport/2013/04/22/RH/8/mmorania.html |access-date=12 April 2015|publisher=Rapport|date=22 April 2013 |language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412064838/http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/rapport/2013/04/22/RH/8/mmorania.html|archive-date=12 April 2015}}

In its early years Orania offered few amusements to teenagers and young adults, who missed the entertainment offered by city life.{{cite news|last1=Six|first1=Billy|title=Im Schutz der Wagenburg|url=http://www.jf-archiv.de/archiv10/201023060433.htm|access-date=12 April 2015|work=Junge Freiheit|date=4 June 2010|language=de|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412064522/http://www.jf-archiv.de/archiv10/201023060433.htm|archive-date=12 April 2015}} 2014 witnessed the opening of the Ou Karooplaas shopping centre, which also houses a cinema, pizza parlor and DVD shop, as well as the Stokkiesdraai Adventure Park, which also has a pub and coffee shop.{{cite news|last1=Ley|first1=Marga|title=Nie ontspannend, ek soek komedie|url=https://www.netwerk24.com/Stemme/Aktueel/Nie-ontspannend-ek-soek-komedie-20150602|access-date=31 January 2018|work=Netwerk24|date=2 June 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201020242/https://www.netwerk24.com/Stemme/Aktueel/Nie-ontspannend-ek-soek-komedie-20150602|archive-date=1 February 2018}}

File:Orania Koeksuster Sculpture (4659267641) (2).jpg Monument in Orania]]

Orania does not celebrate South African national holidays. Instead, it has largely carried over the national holidays from apartheid South Africa.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} Geloftedag (Day of the Vow) on 16 December is one of the most important holidays for the community.{{cite news |last=Tweedie |first=Neil |date=2013-12-13 |title=Orania: the land where apartheid lives on |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nelson-mandela/10516129/Orania-the-land-where-apartheid-lives-on.html |url-status=live |access-date=2015-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416112125/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nelson-mandela/10516129/Orania-the-land-where-apartheid-lives-on.html |archive-date=2015-04-16}}

A list of public holidays in Orania:{{cite magazine|date=February 2009|title=Kulturele Vakansiedae in Orania|url=http://www.orania.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/orania-voorgrond-mrt-09.pdf|page=2|language=af|magazine=Voorgrond|publisher=Orania Beweging|access-date=5 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106040309/http://www.orania.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/orania-voorgrond-mrt-09.pdf|archive-date=6 January 2014}}

Orania is a deeply religious community, with local churches including the Dutch Reformed Church, Apostoliese Geloofsending, Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk, Evangelies-Gereformeerde Kerk, Gereformeerde Kerk, Hervormde Kerk, Israel Visie and Maranata Kerk; all are Reformed Protestant except Maranata, which is part of the Charismatic Movement.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} According to a 2014 local census, the Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk was the most popular denomination, followed by 21.9% of households in Orania, followed by unaffiliated households with 15.6%, the Dutch Reformed Church and the Maranatha Church (both 14.8%), Gereformeerd Church (7.4%). In total, 84.4% of households were affiliated with a religion.

The arrival of Orania residents from various parts of South Africa meant that newcomers brought a relatively large variety of denominations to their new town. In the early years, all denominations shared one church building.{{cite news|last1=ter Horst|first1=Peter |title=Leven zonder zwarten in Afrika; Orania, de blanke uitweg|url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/1993/08/07/leven-zonder-zwarten-in-afrika-orania-de-blanke-uitweg-7191863-a706359|access-date=7 February 2018|work=NRC|date=7 August 1993|language=nl|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207073059/https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/1993/08/07/leven-zonder-zwarten-in-afrika-orania-de-blanke-uitweg-7191863-a706359|archive-date=7 February 2018}} On important holidays such as the Day of the Vow interdenominational services are held.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} In accordance with first-day Sabbatarian principles, work stops on Sundays, except for services that are deemed essential.{{cite news |last=Buncombe |first=Andrew |date=2013-12-13 |title=We shed no tears for Nelson Mandela. He is a fallen opponent, say residents of white enclave Orania |newspaper=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/we-shed-no-tears-for-nelson-mandela-he-is-a-fallen-opponent-say-residents-of-white-enclave-orania-9004280.html |url-status=live |access-date=2015-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925182011/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/we-shed-no-tears-for-nelson-mandela-he-is-a-fallen-opponent-say-residents-of-white-enclave-orania-9004280.html |archive-date=2015-09-25}}

The Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk was established in 1991,{{cite news|title=Hoe die Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk van Orania ontstaan het|url=http://www.oranet.co.za/Bladsyinligting/APKOntstaan.htm|access-date=7 April 2015|publisher=OraNet|language=af|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040211/http://www.oranet.co.za/Bladsyinligting/APKOntstaan.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016}} making it the first church to be established in Orania. In 2015 the congregation counted 145 members. The church is located in a prefabricated building.{{cite news|title=As ons maar net vir Pappa geluister het |url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2006/09/14/B1/12/orania.html|access-date=7 April 2015|work=Beeld|date=14 September 2006 |language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412204632/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2006/09/14/B1/12/orania.html|archive-date=12 April 2015}}

The Dutch Reformed Church in Orania was established in 1999, when it detached from the Hopetown congregation.{{cite news|title=Orania het ook nou 'n NG gemeente|url=http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/1999/09/14/4/31.html|access-date=7 April 2015|work=Volksblad|date=14 September 1999|language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413011812/http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/1999/09/14/4/31.html|archive-date=13 April 2015}} The church is part of the ring (presbytery) of Hopetown and the synod of the Northern Cape.{{cite web|title=NG Kerk Orania|url=http://www.oranet.co.za/Bladsyinligting/NGKerk.htm|language=af|access-date=7 April 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413201821/http://www.oranet.co.za/Bladsyinligting/NGKerk.htm|archive-date=13 April 2015}} In March 2015, the Dutch Reformed Church in Orania voted against changes to the DRC Church Order allowing for the adoption of the Belhar Confession, as did a majority of churches in the Northern Cape Synod.{{cite news|title=Belhar: Orania se NG kerk sê nee vir wysiging |url=http://www.netwerk24.com/nuus/2015-03-10-belhar-orania-se-ng-kerk-s-nee-vir-wysiging|access-date=7 April 2015|publisher=Netwerk24|date=10 March 2015|first=Claudi|last=Mailovich|language=af|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414034140/http://www.netwerk24.com/nuus/2015-03-10-belhar-orania-se-ng-kerk-s-nee-vir-wysiging|archive-date=14 April 2015}}

File:First day of school CVO Orania.jpg at CVO Orania]]

The Orania Koördinerende Onderwysraad supervises all educational activities in Orania.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Orania's schools have consistently achieved a 100% matric pass rate since 1991.{{cite web|title=The journey to hell and back|url=http://www.iol.co.za/travel/south-africa/western-cape/the-journey-to-hell-and-back-1.1812468|publisher=IOL Travel Western Cape|access-date=10 February 2015|date=3 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204020705/http://www.iol.co.za/travel/south-africa/western-cape/the-journey-to-hell-and-back-1.1812468#.VNpfMcaykT0|archive-date=4 February 2015}}

There are two schools, the CVO Skool Orania (Christelike Volks-Onderwys or Christian People's Education) and Volkskool Orania (Orania People's School).{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Afrikaans is the language of instruction, while English is taught as a second language. Both schools follow the IEB curriculum;{{cite web|last1=du Plessis|first1=Jaco |title=Hammond het helder lens op Orania gerig|url=http://www.litnet.co.za/Article/2014-hammond-het-helder-lens-op-orania-gerig|publisher=LitNet |access-date=16 April 2015|language=af|date=24 May 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416093800/http://www.litnet.co.za/Article/2014-hammond-het-helder-lens-op-orania-gerig|archive-date=16 April 2015}} the CVO school offers a more conservative education, while the Volkskool is relatively more progressive.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|p=156}}

The CVO-school, established in January 1993, is run along conventional lines.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} It boasts of a 100% matric pass rate since its inception.{{Cite web|url=https://scontent.fbkk13-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/151374076_1617067421835867_8771604440157489152_o.jpg|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20210221120351/https://scontent.fbkk13-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/151374076_1617067421835867_8771604440157489152_o.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=3&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_eui2=AeEMgajhVM-1bRAFRJqjuSNvoD7lRrqaiPagPuVGupqI9ra5mDoGdMw8qFh4693--hc&_nc_ohc=l5t9Z6EOt3cAX9n1tAZ&_nc_ht=scontent.fbkk13-2.fna&oh=bcf7df87c87273d31377f5cba39aa6d5&oe=60579423|url-status=dead|title=Photographic image (1280×1223)|archive-date=21 February 2021|access-date=10 February 2022}} In 2014 enrollment was 225 students, with some coming from neighbouring towns.{{cite web |title=Bloudruk|language=af|url=http://www.oraniacvo.co.za/bloudruk.php|publisher=Orania CVO|access-date=6 April 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411190512/http://www.oraniacvo.co.za/bloudruk.php|archive-date=11 April 2015}} The school is growing, and had 400 students by 2021. The CVO School includes Christian tenets as a vital part of the education, and is part of the Beweging vir Christelik Volkseie Onderwys, a network of similarly minded schools across the country.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|p=155}} As a Reformed Christian school, its teachings are in accordance with the Canons of Dort.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|p=154}} In November 2020, the construction of 12 new classrooms started.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

The Volkskool, established in June 1991 with Julian Visser as its first principal, uses a self-driven teaching (selfgedrewe) system which is unorthodox by South African standards.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Because the town had few school-aged children when it was established, the school adopted a computer-based learning system that allowed students of different levels to be taught by a single teacher.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|p=153}} The Volkskool's e-learning system was seen as innovative and received attention from South African media in the early 2000s.{{cite news|last1=Puren|first1=Susan|title=Orania - a place to live|url=http://www.mnet.co.za/CarteBlanche/Display/Display.asp?Id=2100|work=Carte Blanche|date=20 October 2002|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021104105118/http://www.mnet.co.za/CarteBlanche/Display/Display.asp?Id=2100|archive-date=4 November 2002}}{{cite news|last1=Grey|first1=Julia|title=A Vierkleur future|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2005-05-13-a-vierkleur-future|access-date=6 February 2018|work=Mail & Guardian|date=14 February 2000|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206133015/https://mg.co.za/article/2005-05-13-a-vierkleur-future|archive-date=6 February 2018}}

There is a rivalry between the schools, which is generally friendly but can occasionally become quite fierce. Not all local children attend them, as some parents choose homeschooling or boarding schools in cities such as Bloemfontein.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Bo-Karoo Opleiding, a vocational training college, offering courses in technical subjects such as welding, metalworking and engineering, was opened in 2017.{{cite news|title=Orania Tersiêre opleiding|url=http://www.ditsem.net/ditsem/index.php/orania/item/813-orania-tersiere-opleiding|access-date=12 January 2018|work=Ditsem Nuus|language=af-za|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113041008/http://www.ditsem.net/ditsem/index.php/orania/item/813-orania-tersiere-opleiding|archive-date=13 January 2018|date=20 February 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://bokarooopleiding.co.za/|title=Bo-Karoo Opleiding |website=Bokarooopleiding.co.za|access-date=10 February 2022}} In 2019, it started the first course with 5 students, by 2023 the total number of students increased to 108 students.{{cite web | url=https://maroelamedia.co.za/nuus/sa-nuus/orania-dalk-gou-ook-studentedorp/ | title=Orania dalk gou ook studentedorp | date=29 January 2023 }}

File:Estimated population of Orania (1991-2015).png

{{Historical populations

| title= Population census

| percentages =

| 1991 |13

| 2001 |481

| 2011 |892

| 2021 |2377

| 2023 |2874

}}

A local census carried out in 2023, found 2,874 inhabitants. Children made up a third of the population. According to town authorities, the population had grown by 12% annually, much higher than the South African average of 1.3% per year.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/offbeat/breaking-how-many-people-live-in-orania-population-latest-news-lesufi/ |title=Lesufi's nightmare: Population of Orania RISES by 16.5%|date=17 October 2021|website=The South African|access-date=10 February 2022}}{{Cite web|title=South Africa Population Growth Rate 1950-2021|url=https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/ZAF/south-africa/population-growth-rate|access-date=31 January 2021|website=macrotrends.net}}

Afrikaners were the main population group at the time of the 2011 census, representing 97% of the total. Male residents outnumbered females 60% to 40% in 2011. Afrikaans is the only language used in all spheres of local life.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} According to a 2014 census carried out by town authorities, Afrikaans is the main language spoken at home for 95% of residents, followed by English with 2%, with speakers of both English and Afrikaans making up the remaining 3%.{{cite web|title=Sosio-ekonomiese opname – Orania sensus 2014|url=http://www.orania.co.za/wp-content/uploads//2015/06/Orania-Dorpsraad-Sosio-ekonomiese-opname-FINAL.pdf|publisher=Orania Dorpsraad|access-date=15 June 2015|language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614152552/http://www.orania.co.za/wp-content/uploads//2015/06/Orania-Dorpsraad-Sosio-ekonomiese-opname-FINAL.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2015}}

According to the 2011 census, 97.2% of the population of Orania was White.{{citation |url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=4286&id=6964 |title=Statistics by place / Thembelihle / Main place Oriana |work=Statistics South Africa, 2011 Census}}{{secondary source needed|date=April 2022}}

File:Pivot irrigation in Orania.jpg

About 244 businesses were registered in Orania in 2019, and town leaders reported annual economic growth in excess of 11%.{{cite web|title=Lesufi's nightmare: Population of Orania RISES by 16.5% |url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/offbeat/breaking-how-many-people-live-in-orania-population-latest-news-lesufi/|publisher=The South African|date= 17 October 2021|access-date=17 October 2021}}{{sfn|Haleniuk|2013|p=10}}

In 2019 Orania's workforce was employed as follows: 269 service providers, 140 traders, 76 construction workers, 19 hospitality providers, 12 manufacturers, 66 in education, 27 agricultural service providers. The town hosts diverse industries, from macadamia farming, a toffee factory, a brewery, a call centre, stockbroking services, architecture, construction, etc. Previously, a permit was required to start new businesses in town, which was only granted if the new business did not compete with existing ones. The permit system proved unworkable, causing dissatisfaction among the residents, and was abolished.{{cite web|last1=Biehl |first1=Sebastiaan|date=26 July 2017|title=Orania se ekonomiese model en die e-Ora|url=http://www.oraniablog.co.za/orania-se-ekonomiese-model-en-die-e-ora/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205072237/http://www.oraniablog.co.za/orania-se-ekonomiese-model-en-die-e-ora/|archive-date=5 February 2018|access-date=4 February 2018|website=Orania Blog|language=af}}

The average wage in Orania was estimated at approximately R94,036 per annum in 2019, low by White South African standards.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} The lack of cheap labour means that living in Orania is more expensive than the rest of South Africa; at the same time, unskilled workers are scarce.{{cite news|last1=Barnard|first1=Phillippa |title=Groot gaping tussen ryk en arm kan Orania se nuwe visie verdof|url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2008/02/02/B1/12/pborania.html |access-date=12 April 2015|work=Beeld|date=2 February 2008|language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509073146/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2008/02/02/B1/12/pborania.html|archive-date=9 May 2016}} In 2016, CNN reported the unemployment rate in Orania to be 2%.{{Cite web | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/20/africa/orania-south-africa-afrikaners/index.html | title=Orania: South Africa's whites-only town | date=20 December 2016 }}

In Orania people from all levels of society perform their own manual labour. Local Afrikaners also work in unskilled positions such as gardening and waste collection.{{cite web|title=Where even street sweepers are white |url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/northern-cape/where-even-street-sweepers-are-white-1.1816687|publisher=IOL News|access-date=31 March 2015|date=11 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316133557/http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/northern-cape/where-even-street-sweepers-are-white-1.1816687#.VRqvlGbv4T0|archive-date=16 March 2015}} In 2009, 14% of the population was self-employed.{{cite web|last1=Mears|first1=Ronald|title=The Ora as facilitator of sustainable local economic development in Orania |url=http://orania.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/the-ora-as-facilitator-of-sled-2009.doc|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416162930/http://orania.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/the-ora-as-facilitator-of-sled-2009.doc|archive-date=16 April 2015|access-date=2 April 2015}} Rapid growth over the four years to 2014 led to the construction of new commercial developments and a rising number of young adult immigrants, but also caused an increase in class differences between residents.{{cite news|title=Orania: Afrikaner dream gives capitalism a human face|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2014-11-12-orania-afrikaner-dream-gives-capitalism-a-human-face|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|date=12 November 2014|access-date=31 March 2015|first=Kwanele|last=Sosibo |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402174015/http://mg.co.za/article/2014-11-12-orania-afrikaner-dream-gives-capitalism-a-human-face|archive-date=2 April 2015}}

Orania also has a tourism industry. {{asof|2010}}, thirteen independent hospitality businesses operated in the town.Flitslig, Mei 2010 and Voorgrond, 2010{{cite web|first=Poppy|last=Louw|date=29 April 2014|title=20 years of democracy in Orania: The past might have a future |url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2014/04/29/20-years-of-democracy-in-orania-the-past-might-have-a-future|publisher=Times LIVE|access-date=31 March 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330192926/http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2014/04/29/20-years-of-democracy-in-orania-the-past-might-have-a-future|archive-date=30 March 2015}} From October 2012 to February 2013, about 2,000 holidaymakers visited the town.{{sfn|Haleniuk|2013|pp=10–11}}

The Orania Chamber of Commerce was established in 2001. The Orania Spaar- en Kredietkoöperatief (Orania Savings and Credit Co-operative) is a local cooperative bank. It registered with the South African Reserve Bank in 2011, and in 2013 it had R45 million in savings deposits.{{cite journal|journal=The Connection|title=South Africa's Largest Co-operative Bank |date=February 2013|issue=4|page=12|url=http://www.treasury.gov.za/coopbank/newsletter/The%20Connection%20-%20Issue%204.pdf|access-date=28 January 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305113129/http://www.treasury.gov.za/coopbank/newsletter/The%20Connection%20-%20Issue%204.pdf|archive-date=5 March 2016}} During April 2004, Orania launched its own monetary system, called the Ora, based on the idea of discount shopping vouchers.{{cite news |date=2004-04-29 |title='Whites-only' money for SA town |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3670441.stm |url-status=live |access-date=12 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108150441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3670441.stm |archive-date=8 January 2015 |quote=A whites-only enclave is launching its own currency just two days after South Africa celebrated the 10th anniversary of the end of apartheid."}} Orania launched its own chequebook in 2007.{{cite news|url=http://business.iafrica.com/news/635774.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308161320/http://business.iafrica.com/news/635774.htm|archive-date=8 March 2007|title=Orania launches own cheque book|date=22 February 2007|publisher=iAfrica}} The enclave is currently working to introduce the e-Ora, a digital version of the currency that is currently in circulation.{{Cite news|url=http://www.enca.com/south-africa/orania-eyes-move-to-e-cash|title=Orania wants its own Bitcoin|website=eNCA|access-date=19 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716121207/http://www.enca.com/south-africa/orania-eyes-move-to-e-cash|archive-date=16 July 2017}}

Orania has its own currency, the Ora, which is not sanctioned by the South African Reserve Bank and is referred as a coupon system by the Orania Chamber of Commerce. The Ora is pegged to the Rand and it was introduced to stimulate the circulation of money inside Orania and prevent theft. The Orania Chamber of Commerce, which issues the currency, uses the Rands deposited by the residents to earn interest. In 2021, the Dora, a digital version of the Ora, was introduced. The Dora did not replace the paper bills and, unlike them, it does not have an expiration date.{{Cite web |last=admin |title=dORA: JOU KAPITAAL IS NOU DIGITAAL |date=9 June 2021 |url=https://oranianuus.co.za/2021/06/09/dora-jou-kapitaal-is-nou-digitaal/ |access-date=2022-11-13 |language=en-US}}

File:Joubert-oes-pekans-19.jpg

Farming is an important part of Orania's economy, the most prominent project being a massive pecan nut plantation.{{sfn|Dicey|2007|p=14}} The plantation is said to have given Orania a substantial economic boost.{{cite news|title=Orania: The town that time forgot|url=http://www.citypress.co.za/features/orania-the-town-that-time-forgot/|access-date=2 April 2015|work=City Press |location=South Africa|date=18 July 2013|first=Hannelie|last=Booyens|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411100228/http://www.citypress.co.za/features/orania-the-town-that-time-forgot/|archive-date=11 April 2015}} Most of the agricultural production is exported to China.{{sfn|Haleniuk|2013|p=10}} Since purchasing the {{convert|430|ha|acre|adj=on}} town, the community has added {{convert|7000|ha|acre}} of agricultural land to it.{{cite news|title=Zuma likely to visit Orania |url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20090329075249887C678320|access-date=5 January 2014|newspaper=IOL News|date=29 March 2009|first=Carien|last=Du Plessis|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330154503/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20090329075249887C678320|archive-date=30 March 2009}} A pumping station on the Orange River, financed and built by the town's residents, provides water for agricultural use. The station is connected to a {{convert|9|km|adj=on}} pipeline.

A R9 million dairy farm, the Bo-Karoo Suiwel, operated in Orania from 1998 to 2002. Though deemed one of the most modern dairies in South Africa at the time, the increased cost of imported machinery caused by a decline in value of the rand combined with a rise in the price of corn used to feed cattle led to its liquidation.{{cite web|title=Melkery in Orania lewer melk vir kaas |url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1998/12/30/3/7.html |work=Beeld|access-date=1 April 2015|date=30 December 1998|language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402170642/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/1998/12/30/3/7.html|archive-date=2 April 2015}}{{cite news|title=Orania-melkery se geldspeen droog op |url=http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/rapport/2002/02/24/9/9.html |language=af|access-date=1 April 2015|publisher=Rapport|date=24 February 2002|last=Smith|first=Chris|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402163213/http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/rapport/2002/02/24/9/9.html|archive-date=2 April 2015}} Another ambitious project, a mill processing a range of corn products, was completed in 2005,{{cite web|title=Orania se meule vroeg volgende jaar in bedryf|url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2004/12/03/F1/08/03.html|work=Beeld|access-date=5 April 2015|date=3 December 2004 |language=af|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411163136/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2004/12/03/F1/08/03.html|archive-date=11 April 2015}} but also proved unsuccessful and was closed down.{{cite web|title=Die verdigting en uitbreiding van Orania |url=https://rozmeyer.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/die-verdigting-en-uitbreiding-van-orania/|publisher=Vry Afrikaner|access-date=5 April 2015|date=8 March 2013|first=Wynand|last=Boshoff|language=af|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418095057/https://rozmeyer.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/die-verdigting-en-uitbreiding-van-orania/|archive-date=18 April 2015}} The Orania management has since mostly eschewed large-scale projects, rather focussing on small- and micro-enterprises to develop the local economy.

The construction industry is an important element of the local economy. Orania counts 8 construction companies as of 2017.{{sfn|Norman|2017|p=37}} During 2020 the town set out and serviced 100 new stands, and has enough land available for a further 4200 erven, according to Frans De Klerk (head of the Orania Development Company.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/frans-1 |title=Frans 1 |date=30 December 2020}}

The shortage of affordable housing is a significant problem in Orania.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|pp=95–96}} Given the relatively low local wages, even two mid-range salaries might not be enough to buy a house.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|pp=95–96}} Outside investors, who can afford to pay more using savings from previous employment outside Orania, inflate housing prices.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|pp=95–96}} While buildings from the Water Works era can rely on pre-existing utility connections, new builds face the additional cost of installing infrastructure, raising prices further.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|pp=95–96}} In 2010, property prices ranged from R250,000 at the low-end, up to R900,000 for new riverfront property. By 2020, property prices ranged from R420,000 at the low-end, up to R2,900,000 for a detached house.{{citation|title=Property for Sale in Orania|url=https://www.property24.com/for-sale/orania/northern-cape/2358/p2?sp=so%3dPriceLow|work=Property24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828162408/https://www.property24.com/for-sale/orania/northern-cape/2358/p2?sp=so%3dPriceLow|archive-date=28 August 2021|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last=Haynes|first=Gavin|date=19 January 2010|title=Orania: The Little Town that Racism Built|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/orania-the-little-town-that-racism-built/page/0/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410040036/http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/orania-the-little-town-that-racism-built/page/0|archive-date=10 April 2015|access-date=4 April 2015|publisher=VICE}} Average house prices in Orania have grown by 13.9% a year from 1992 to 2006.{{cite web|last=Kloppers|first=Elma|date=13 June 2006|title=Ekonomie van Orania gaan van krag tot krag|url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2006/06/13/B5/17/ekoran.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411173110/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2006/06/13/B5/17/ekoran.html|archive-date=11 April 2015|access-date=6 April 2015|work=Beeld|language=af}}

File:Recycling bins in Orania.jpg

Town authorities have a strong focus on green practices, including recycling and conservation. Solar water heaters are a requirement for all new houses built in Orania.{{cite news|last1=Cilliers|first1=Charles |title=Showed up by the 'racists' |url=https://citizen.co.za/opinion/opinion-columns/297527/showed-up-by-the-racists/|access-date=31 January 2018|work=The Citizen |date=22 December 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201020243/https://citizen.co.za/opinion/opinion-columns/297527/showed-up-by-the-racists/|archive-date=1 February 2018}}

Between 1991 and 2022, over 35,000 trees were planted in Orania.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbu9D-IKuFY | title=Orania Toer 1 | website=YouTube | date=11 October 2022 }}

In 2013, the Sonskip / Aardskip earthship living museum construction started in Orania,{{cite news|last1=Kemp|first1=Charné|title=Son-demonstrasie in aardskip wys somme is reg|url=http://www.volksblad.com/nuus/2013-06-24-son-demonstrasie-in-aardskip-wys-somme-is-reg |work=Volksblad |date=24 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630003613/http://www.volksblad.com/nuus/2013-06-24-son-demonstrasie-in-aardskip-wys-somme-is-reg|archive-date=30 June 2013}} designed by Christiaan van Zyl, one of South Africa's foremost experts on sustainable architecture.{{cite magazine|title=Way Off The Grid: 6 Earthships That You Should Know |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/radically-ecological-earthships-from-around-the-world|magazine=Atlas Obscura|access-date=2 April 2015 |first=Oriana|last=Leckert|date=18 March 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401044644/http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/radically-ecological-earthships-from-around-the-world |archive-date=1 April 2015}} The building is open to the public as a living museum; it is the largest earthbag earthship in the world.

In 2014 Orania introduced a bicycle sharing system, called the Orania Openbare Fietsprojek (Orania Public Bicycle Project).

In 2022, it was reported that the construction of a 900kW solar energy plant was completed in Orania with the aim being energy independence. The plant is owned by the town's council, which sells the electricity generated from solar to residents at the same price as Eskom to fund future expansion.{{cite news|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2022-05-27-orania-aims-for-energy-independence/|title=Orania aims for 'energy independence'|date=27 May 2022|access-date=2022-05-27|first=Nivashni |last=Nair|work=TimesLIVE}}{{cite news | url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/energy-starved-south-africa-whites-105308159.html | title=In energy-starved South Africa, whites-only town basks in solar power | date=28 July 2022 | first1=Susan | last1=Njanji | access-date=28 July 2022 | archive-date=28 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728160514/https://www.yahoo.com/news/energy-starved-south-africa-whites-105308159.html | url-status=dead }} In April 2024, Orania took possession of a 4.8 MWh BESS battery to power the town during rolling blackouts.{{cite web | url=https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/534515-orania-kissing-load-shedding-goodbye-with-massive-battery.html | title=Orania kissing load-shedding goodbye with massive battery }}

In 2022, an audit of 18 landfill sites in the Northern Cape found that Orania's dump is the only one in the Northern Cape that was compliant with government national standards.{{cite news | url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-where-is-orania-population-latest-updates-service-delivery/ | title=Orania 'putting other municipalities to shame' - with THIS service | date=26 July 2022 |work=The South African |first1=Tom |last1=Head }}

In 2022, Orania completed its new sewage works in anticipation of 10,000 residents.{{cite web | url=https://www.netwerk24.com/netwerk24/nuus/aktueel/orania-bou-natuurlike-rioolaanleg-in-18-maande-20220921 | title=Orania bou natuurlike rioolaanleg in 18 maande }}

The town is privately owned by the Vluytjeskraal Aandeleblok company (VAB, Vluytjiekraal Share Block). Ownership of plots and houses is in the form of shares in the company, according to a framework known as 'share block' under South African law, similar to the strata title or condominium in other countries.{{sfn|Cavanagh|2013|pp=69–75}} No title deeds are provided, except for agricultural land.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Share blocks are linked to portions of the company's real estate property, and the shareholder acquires the right to use property linked to their share block.{{cite web |last1=Terblanche |first1=Ebert|title=Eiendomsreg in Orania |url=http://www.oraniablog.co.za/eiendomsreg-in-orania/ |website=Orania Blog|access-date=28 January 2018|date=26 April 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128080257/http://www.oraniablog.co.za/eiendomsreg-in-orania/ |archive-date=28 November 2017}}

A general meeting of shareholders is held every year. The shareholders, numbering about 400 as of 2017, vote for the company's board of directors.{{sfn|Norman|2017|p=36}} The eight people on the board of directors form the village council (Dorpsraad). The board of directors elects a chairperson, who serves as the town's mayor, and an executive officer who is responsible for the daily administration of the town. Other members of the board are given responsibility for community matters such as safety, planning and community services.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In September 2022, the Shareblock Company confirmed that Orania received its 31st clean and unqualified municipal audit.{{cite web | url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-orania-clean-audit-friday-23-september/ | title=Orania receives its 31st CLEAN AUDIT - in 31 years of existence | date=23 September 2022 }}

Parts of the community are critical of the share block arrangement, as it offers no effective representation to people who rent their house, and thus are not shareholders in the company. Even shareholding residents feel they have only a limited say in the management of Orania.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Vluytjeskraal functions like a municipal administration, being funded by rates and delivering services like water, electricity and waste management. Utility companies like Eskom and Telkom provide services to this private entity, which then splits the costs and charges the end users. The budget for the fiscal year 2006/2007 was R2.45 million.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Harry Theron is the company chairman as of 2018; Frans de Klerk is the chief executive officer.{{cite news|title=Leierskap|url=http://www.orania.co.za/in-n-neutedop/orania-se-leiers/|website=Die Orania Beweging|access-date=28 January 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129082121/http://www.orania.co.za/in-n-neutedop/orania-se-leiers/|archive-date=29 November 2017}}

Kambrolandskap Koöperatief is a separate legal entity acquiring land on Orania's behalf.{{sfn|Cavanagh|2013|pp=86–87}} It owns land plots in share blocks, just like Vluytjeskraal Aandeleblok.{{sfn|Cavanagh|2013|pp=86–87}}

{{see also|Orania Representative Council}}

The Orania Verteenwoordige Raad (OVR, Orania Representative Council) is an elected institution, tasked with handling Orania's political interests in negotiations on the provincial and national levels.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} It is the last transitional representative council extant in South Africa. The Representative Council is elected by all residents, including those who own no shares in the company.{{sfn|Norman|2017|p=36}}

Orania has its own municipal structure in the form of the Orania Representative Council based on the Local Government Transition Act of 1993, where other municipalities are based on the Municipal Structures Act of 1998. This legal framework was laid down in 2000 when an agreement between the Cabinet of South Africa, the Northern Cape government and the Orania Representative Council was reached about a provisional status for Orania. This agreement was confirmed by a ruling of the Northern Cape High Court.Orania Transitional Representative Council and the Orania Inhabitants Association vs. The President of the Government of the Republic of South Africa and 47 others, Northern Cape High Court, 1148/2000.

Orania residents are eligible to vote in the Thembelihle municipal elections, but few choose to do so.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

The Boshoff family are regarded as the 'political elite' of Orania.{{sfn|Vestergaard|2000|pp=107–110}} They are generally seen as being relatively more liberal than most of the town's other residents.{{sfn|Vestergaard|2000|pp=107–110}}

File:Orania land map.svg

Orania has three residential areas: Kleingeluk ("small happiness"), Grootdorp ("big village") and Orania Wes ("Orania West"). Kleingeluk is a separate district about {{convert|1.5|km}} from Grootdorp, and is poorer than the main town, although progress has been made in narrowing the gap in living conditions.{{sfn|Haleniuk|2013|pp=4–5}}

Many houses in Orania are built in the Cape Dutch architectural style. Most of the original buildings from the water department era are prefabricated, and while some have been renovated others show signs of deterioration, as they were not designed to last more than 20 years.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} A City Press reporter wrote in 2013 that "none of the town's buildings are impressive".

The town's territory originally covered {{convert|300|ha}}, and was expanded through a number of land acquisitions.

In August 1991, the 2,300-hectare (5,700-acre) farm farm Vluytjeskraal 272 was added to Orania.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} It was divided into smaller farmsteads, and now grows pecan nuts, olives and fruit.

Kambro Landbou Koöperatief is a legal entity established to buy land on Orania's behalf. In 2004–2005, the purchase of two farms located {{convert|20|km}} south of Orania, Nooitgedacht and Biesiebult, added {{convert|4000|ha}} to the town's territory. Biesiebult is a pasture, covering {{convert|2300|ha}}, and is used as grazing land for cattle. Nooitgedacht is a riverfront farm, located between Orania and Vanderkloof. It is used mostly for agriculture, with a smaller built-up area along the river bank. Kambro also own a {{convert|380|ha}} farm west of Orania.{{cite magazine|date=September 2012|title=Orania-grondgebied brei voortdurend uit|url=http://issuu.com/oraniabeweging/docs/orania_voorgrond_sept_2012|page=16|language=af|magazine=Voorgrond|publisher=Orania Beweging|access-date=5 April 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322050652/https://issuu.com/oraniabeweging/docs/orania_voorgrond_sept_2012|archive-date=22 March 2016}} The Masada farmhouse opposite Orania, about {{convert|150|ha}}, was bought and proclaimed as an eco-park.{{cite news|last1=Biehl|first1=Sebastiaan|title=Orania Groei|url=https://hartlander.org/2017/04/15/orania-groei/|website=Hartlander|access-date=12 February 2018|language=af-ZA|date=15 April 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426222213/https://hartlander.org/2017/04/15/orania-groei/|archive-date=26 April 2017}}

Farm Vluytjeskraal Noord was bought by a group of Orania residents in 2011. Vygiesvlakte is a {{convert|2600|ha}} farm on the West Coast, near Groenriviermond. It was purchased around 2012. After the Vluytjeskraal Noord purchase, the town administration decided that developing the infrastructure of existing land should be the priority, though new land acquisitions were not ruled out.

File:Orientation meeting for new residents, Orania.jpg

Prospective residents are required to go through an interview process with a committee, which may deny access to people based on criteria such as criminal records.{{cite web|title=Orania: South Africa's last apartheid town|url=http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/orania-an-afrikaner-only-town-in-south-africa/story-e6frfqai-1227109181681|publisher=News.com.au|access-date=31 March 2015|date=1 November 2014|last=Craw|first=Victoria|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331024851/http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/orania-an-afrikaner-only-town-in-south-africa/story-e6frfqai-1227109181681|archive-date=31 March 2015}} Once permission is granted, the new residents become members of the community, either as shareholders if they buy property, or as tenants.

Being an Afrikaner is the most important criterion for admission. Although the town has no formal statute barring admission based on race, which would violate South Africa's constitution, in practice only Whites are admitted.{{cite news|last1=Scheen|first1=Thomas|title=In der Wagenburg|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/afrika/suedafrika-in-der-wagenburg-12203142.html?printPagedArticle=true#pageIndex_2|access-date=11 April 2015|newspaper=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|date=1 June 2013 |language=de|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419030838/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/afrika/suedafrika-in-der-wagenburg-12203142.html?printPagedArticle=true#pageIndex_2|archive-date=19 April 2015}} Though the community is not supportive of same-sex relationships, some gay people do live in Orania.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|p=85}} Unmarried couples living together are also frowned upon.{{cite news|last=Orania|first=Dennis Webster in|date=24 October 2019|title='An indictment of South Africa': whites-only town Orania is booming|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/24/an-indictment-of-south-africa-whites-only-town-orania-is-booming|access-date=31 January 2021|issn=0261-3077}}

Some people who try to live in Orania leave due to the limited choice of available jobs or the requirement to conform to local social norms. According to a 2004 study, 250 people had left Orania since its establishment in 1991, most of them due to "physical and social pressure".{{cite news|title=Afrikaners in Orania is 'anders' |url=http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/2004/11/04/DB/11LDN/02.html |access-date=4 April 2015|work=Die Burger|date=4 November 2004 |language=af|first=Liesl|last=Pretorius|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409220249/http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/2004/11/04/DB/11LDN/02.html|archive-date=9 April 2015}} The difference in lifestyle compared to an urban environment is another factor that negatively impacts newcomers.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Orania receives no fiscal contributions from either state or provincial government and must generate all funds itself.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Orania has a 3-step program of dealing with destitute Afrikaner arrivals: stabilisation, rehabilitation and integration. First they are supplied with housing, next work, and then land at 10% of market value + interest-free loans from the local co-operative bank for the construction of a house.

The Helpsaam Fund, a non-profit institution, raises money for projects like subsidised housing for newcomers in need. The Elim Centre accommodates unemployed young men who come to Orania seeking employment.{{cite web |last1=Grobler |first1=Andre |title=Zuma's visit 'an outstanding day' for Orania |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-09-14-zumas-visit-an-outstanding-day-for-orania/ |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA |date=14 September 2010}} Most are destitute when they arrive. They are usually given work with the municipality or local farms, and provided with training.{{cite news|title=Zuma's visit 'an outstanding day' for Orania|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2010-09-14-zumas-visit-an-outstanding-day-for-orania|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|access-date=1 April 2015|date=10 September 2010|first=Andre|last=Grobler|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423075258/http://mg.co.za/article/2010-09-14-zumas-visit-an-outstanding-day-for-orania|archive-date=23 April 2015}} Nerina, the equivalent residential complex for women, was completed in July 2012.{{sfn|Haleniuk|2013|p=8}}

File:Orania Swembad.jpg

In 2013, Orania had a small clinic, and a government-funded nurse visited twice a month.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} By 2020, the town had a doctor, a physiotherapist, a radiographer, and a pharmacist according to Frans De Klerk, head of the Orania Development Company.{{Cite web|title=Dr Esaias Christoffel Philippus Nothnagel • General Practitioner (GP) • Orania, Thembelihle Rural|url=https://www.medpages.info/sf/index.php?page=person&personcode=99962|access-date=31 January 2021|website=Medpages.info}}{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/frans-2|title=Frans 2|date=31 December 2020|access-date=10 February 2022|website=Archive.org}} The town has two airstrips, one {{convert|1300|m|ft}} and the other {{convert|1000|m|ft}}.{{sfn|Millner|2008|p=231}}

File:OVD securing a road after a truck breakdown (cropped).jpg

Orania has neither an official police force nor a prison. Although crime is not non-existent, it is very low, helped by having a small population whose residency applications are strictly examined.{{Cite web |last=Head |first=Tom |date=2022-07-04 |title=Is Orania crime-free? Fact-checkers, politicians aren't so sure... |url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-is-orania-crime-free-what-cases-reported/ |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=The South African |language=en-ZA}} Traffic monitoring and minor crimes such as petty theft are handled internally.{{Cite web |title=Orania's Way of Life, Northern Cape, South Africa |url=https://southafrica.co.za/oranias-way-of-life.html |access-date=2023-08-23 |website=southafrica.co.za}} Volunteers carry out neighbourhood watch patrols. In October 2014 Orania Veiligheid (Orania Security) was established as the town's de facto municipal police, to handle reports of illegal activities such as theft, but also more trivial matters such as littering and noise complaints.{{cite web|title=Veiligheid - Orania Beweging|url=https://orania.co.za/veiligheid/|publisher=|access-date=22 November 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123193446/https://orania.co.za/veiligheid/|archive-date=23 January 2022}} Apprehended suspects are taken to the South African Police Service station in neighbouring Hopetown.{{cite web|title='Klakantoor' in Orania|url=http://www.netwerk24.com/nuus/2014-10-21-klakantoor-in-orania-help-s|language=af|publisher=Netwerk24|access-date=6 April 2015|first=Charné|last=Kemp|date=21 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412155739/http://www.netwerk24.com/nuus/2014-10-21-klakantoor-in-orania-help-s|archive-date=12 April 2015}} National police are called in only as a last resort.{{sfn|Norman|2017|p=242}} Residents are exhorted to use mediation and arbitration procedures made available by the town council, rather than resorting to South African courts.

In 2017, local media reported on child abuse committed by an elderly Orania resident.{{cite news|last1=Damons|first1=André|title=Man molesteer kinders glo al jare lank in Orania|url=https://www.netwerk24.com/Nuus/Misdaad/man-molesteer-kinders-glo-al-jare-lank-in-orania-20170202|access-date=31 January 2018|work=Netwerk24|date=2 February 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201020237/https://www.netwerk24.com/Nuus/Misdaad/man-molesteer-kinders-glo-al-jare-lank-in-orania-20170202|archive-date=1 February 2018}}

In 2019, the SAPS's Child Protection Unit visited the Volkskool Orania school to investigate a case of statutory rape against a student teacher. The student teacher was charged before the Hopetown Magistrate's Court.{{cite news |last1=PIJOOS |first1=IAVAN |title=Teacher in whites-only town Orania arrested for alleged statutory rape |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-10-09-teacher-in-whites-only-town-orania-arrested-for-alleged-statutory-rape/ |newspaper=Timeslive |access-date=9 October 2019}}Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/4UBhcr7LBrM Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200120193613/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UBhcr7LBrM Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UBhcr7LBrM| title = Orania teacher accused of statutory rape | website=YouTube| date = 9 October 2019 }}{{cbignore}}

In 2025, the town suffered its first murder when a resident killed his estranged wife and then himself.{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Kate |title=Murder-suicide in Orania leaves 12-year-old girl orphaned |url=https://www.capetownetc.com/news/murder-suicide-orania-leaves-12-year-old-girl-orphaned/ |access-date=30 April 2025 |work=CapeTownETC |date=9 April 2025}}

File:Drie verteenwoordigers van die kommissie vir die bevordering en beskerming van die regte van kulturele, Godsdienstige en taalgemeenskappe het op 23 November 2009 op Orania besoek afgelê.jpg visiting Orania in 2009]]

Over the years, Orania has been visited by many public figures, including Northern Cape Premier Dipuo Peters (in 2004),{{cite web|title=Orania kan N-Kaap help, sê premier|url=http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/2004/07/31/VB/2k/08.html|work=Volksblad|access-date=7 April 2015|language=af|date=31 July 2004|first=Joylene|last=Van Wyk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412212808/http://152.111.11.6/argief/berigte/volksblad/2004/07/31/VB/2k/08.html|archive-date=12 April 2015}} Julius Malema (in 2009),{{cite web|title=Malema surprised by Orania|url=http://www.news24.com/Elections/News/Malema-surprised-by-Orania-20100625|publisher=News24|access-date=5 January 2014|date=28 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106034515/http://www.news24.com/Elections/News/Malema-surprised-by-Orania-20100625|archive-date=6 January 2014}} Desmond Tutu (in 2010),{{sfn|Seldon|2014|p=54}} and former President Jacob Zuma (in 2010).{{cite news|title=Jacob Zuma visited Orania|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Zuma-arrives-in-Orania-20100914|publisher=News 24|date=14 September 2010|access-date=10 April 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409140446/http://www.news24.com/southafrica/news/zuma-arrives-in-orania-20100914|archive-date=9 April 2015}}

In June 2007, the Cape Coloured community of Eersterust, outside Pretoria visited the Afrikaner enclave.{{cite news|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Orania-community-lauded-20070611|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106034456/http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Orania-community-lauded-20070611|archive-date=6 January 2014|title=Orania community lauded|date=11 June 2007|publisher=News24.com}} The groups met to discuss community development and discussed methods of self-governance. On 4 July 2007 the town of Orania and the Northern Cape government agreed that all government levels should discuss the question of Orania's self-government.{{cite news|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/orania-n-cape-agree-on-way-forward-1.360588|title=Orania, N Cape agree on way forward|date=4 July 2007|publisher=IOL News|access-date=10 April 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924123039/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/orania-n-cape-agree-on-way-forward-1.360588|archive-date=24 September 2015}}

Orania and the Xhosa community of Mnyameni signed a cooperation agreement in December 2012, to assist in the development of own institutions and the transfer of knowledge between the communities.{{cite news|title=Orania signs agreement with Mnyameni|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2012-12-11-orania-and-mnyameni-sign-agreement-to-increase-self-reliance|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|date=11 December 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225004620/http://mg.co.za/article/2012-12-11-orania-and-mnyameni-sign-agreement-to-increase-self-reliance|archive-date=25 December 2012}}{{cite news |last=Boshoff |first=Carel |title=Maak soos vriende |url=http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2013/01/02/B1/11/gvcarel.html |access-date=9 January 2013 |newspaper=Beeld |date=2 January 2013 |language=af |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106033145/http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2013/01/02/B1/11/gvcarel.html |archive-date=6 January 2014 }}

Members of the Orania Beweging, including its president Carel Boshoff, went on a European tour in 2013, meeting with MPs from the Partij voor de Vrijheid of the Netherlands, the Vlaams Belang party in Belgium and Südtiroler Volkspartei in Italy's South Tyrol province.[http://www.svp.eu/de/medienmitteilungen/buren-zu-gast-bei-suedtiroler-volkspartei/ Buren zu Gast bei Südtiroler Volkspartei] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208151615/http://www.svp.eu/de/medienmitteilungen/buren-zu-gast-bei-suedtiroler-volkspartei/ |date=8 December 2015 }}. Retrieved 25 October 2015{{cite news|last1=Kromhout|first1=Bas|title=PVV-fractie ontvangt Afrikaner separatisten|url=http://www.historischnieuwsblad.nl/nl/nieuws/20661/pvv-fractie-ontvangt-afrikaner-separatisten.html|access-date=14 April 2015|publisher=Historisch Nieuwsblad|date=10 May 2013|language=nl|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112014547/http://www.historischnieuwsblad.nl/nl/nieuws/20661/pvv-fractie-ontvangt-afrikaner-separatisten.html|archive-date=12 January 2015}} In 2022, representatives of Orania visited politicians and two Parliaments in Europe (The Netherlands and Belgium) to make the case that Afrikaners are a victimised minority in South Africa.{{cite news | url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2022-06-08-orania-wants-international-friends-and-recognition/ | title=Orania wants international 'friends and recognition' | newspaper=Timeslive }}

Boshoff rejected an invitation to the funeral of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader Eugene Terre'Blanche in April 2010, as he saw him as having chosen a path of confrontation and conflict.{{cite news|title=Orania building a different future|first=Andrew|last=Donaldson|url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article397312.ece/Orania-building-a-different-future|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417164012/http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article397312.ece/Orania-building-a-different-future|archive-date=17 April 2010|access-date=5 January 2014|newspaper=Sunday Times|date=10 April 2010}} Boshoff IV also noted that the Orania concept was at odds with the baasskap system of the apartheid period.{{cite news |last1=Donaldson |first1=Andrew |date=2010-04-25 |title=All white, and a bit green, in the far country |publisher=TimesLIVE |url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article418616.ece/All-white--and-a-bit-green--in-the-far--country |access-date=14 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428131335/http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article418616.ece/All-white--and-a-bit-green--in-the-far--country |archive-date=2010-04-28}}

In August 2018, the Orania movement met with the previous president, Thabo Mbeki, as part of their public relations efforts.{{Cite web|date=9 August 2018|title=Thabo Mbeki meets with the president of Orania|url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/thabo-mbeki-visits-orania/|access-date=31 January 2021|website=The South African}}

In July 2022, two tribal leaders visited Orania on diplomatic missions. Representatives from the AmaBhele kaJamangile of the Xhosa people and king Seleka Barolong of the Tswana people met with Orania's leadership. The purpose of the visits was ‘to learn more about self-determination’.{{cite web | url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/offbeat/breaking-why-tribes-traditional-leaders-visit-orania-this-week-updates/ | title=Traditional leaders visit Orania - as tribes look to build ties with town | date=27 July 2022 }}

Since 1994, citizens of Orania have voted in the six national elections. Over the last three elections, Orania had an average vote turnout of 65%, based on registered voters. In the South African general elections in 2004,{{cite news |url=http://www.news24.com/elections/results#year=2004&map=previous&election=national&provid=NC&level=vd&munid=NC076&showvd=true&vd=65320017 |title=2004 National Results |newspaper=News24 |access-date=3 May 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502171347/http://www.news24.com/Elections/results#year=2004&map=previous&election=national&provid=NC&level=vd&munid=NC076&showvd=true&vd=65320017 |archive-date=2 May 2014 }} 2009,{{cite news|title=Orania votes for FF+|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3086&art_id=nw20090423062148232C569880|access-date=5 January 2014|newspaper=IOL News|date=23 April 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218073313/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3086&art_id=nw20090423062148232C569880|archive-date=18 February 2010}} and 2014,{{cite news |url=http://www.news24.com/Elections/Results#map=live&election=national&provid=NC&level=vd&munid=NC076&ward=30706002&vd=65320017 |title=2014 National Results |newspaper=News24 |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509042355/http://www.news24.com/Elections/Results#map=live&election=national&provid=NC&level=vd&munid=NC076&ward=30706002&vd=65320017 |archive-date=9 May 2014 }} the community voted decisively for the Freedom Front Plus party. The four votes recorded for the Economic Freedom Fighters party in the 2014 election elicited a number of comments from South African media.{{cite web|title=No problem with EFF votes in Orania|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/special-features/no-problem-with-eff-votes-in-orania-1.1685338|publisher=IOL News|access-date=31 March 2015|date=8 May 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924133040/http://www.iol.co.za/news/special-features/no-problem-with-eff-votes-in-orania-1.1685338#.VRsAsWbv4T0|archive-date=24 September 2015}}

In the 2019 general elections, the EFF took its members from surrounding areas to the voting station in Orania.{{Cite web|title=Warm welcome for EFF members voting in Orania|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/warm-welcome-for-eff-members-voting-in-orania-22886005|access-date=2021-06-04|website=Iol.co.za|language=en}} In the [[2021 South African municipal elections|2021

municipal elections]] the FF Plus garnered some 88% of the votes, the DA almost 11% and the ACDP over 1%.{{cite news |last1=Head |first1=Tom |title='It's a landslide' – here's how Orania voted in the 2021 Elections |url=https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/municipal-elections-2021/how-orania-voted/ |access-date=5 November 2021 |work=Municipal Elections 2021 |agency=The South African |publisher=thesouthafrican.com |date=5 November 2021}}

{{election table|title=Summary of 2024 South African general election in Orania.}}

|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"

!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Party

!Votes

!%

! +/−

|-

|{{Party name with color|Freedom Front Plus}}

|376

|65.62

|{{loss}} 13.78

|-

|{{Party name with color|Democratic Alliance (South Africa)}}

|127

|22.16

|{{gain}} 11.15

|-

|{{Party name with color|Hope4SA}}

|38

|6.63

|New

|-

|{{Party name with color|African Christian Democratic Party}}

|17

|2.96

|{{gain}} 1.72

|-

|{{Party name with color|United Independent Movement}}

|4

|0.70

|New

|-

|{{Party name with color|Referendum Party (South Africa)}}

|3

|0.52

|New

|-

|{{Party name with color|The Organic Humanity Movement}}

|2

|0.35

|New

|-

|{{Party name with color|Patriotic Alliance}}

|2

|0.35

|{{gain}} 0.35

|-

|{{Party name with color|Democratic Liberal Congress}}

|1

|0.17

|{{gain}} 0.17

|-

|{{Party name with color|Economic Freedom Fighters}}

|1

|0.17

|{{loss}} 3.36

|-

|{{Party name with color|Free Democrats (South Africa)}}

|1

|0.17

|{{gain}} 0.17

|-

|{{Party name with color|ActionSA}}

|1

|0.17

|New

|-style="background:#e9e9e9;"

!colspan="2" style="text-align:left"|Total 573

!

!colspan=7|

|-

| colspan=7 style="text-align:left;" |Source: [https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/who-is-that-one-person-from-orania-who-voted-for-the-eff/ar-BB1nkwsX MSN]

|}

;Notes:

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) shut down the first local community radio, Radio Club 100, in November 2005 for broadcasting without a licence and being a "racist-based station". The station's management contended they had repeatedly applied for a licence and were merely carrying out tests, and that they broadcast news about birthdays and social events.{{cite news|title=Orania radio station kicked off the air|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/orania-radio-station-kicked-off-the-air-1.258326|access-date=6 April 2015|publisher=IOL News|date=9 November 2005|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404113938/http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/orania-radio-station-kicked-off-the-air-1.258326#.VSLjvmbv4T0|archive-date=4 April 2015}} ICASA granted a licence to the new Radio Orania in December 2007,{{cite news|title=Radio Orania gets green light from Icasa|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2007-12-04-radio-orania-gets-green-light-from-icasa|access-date=6 April 2015|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|date=4 December 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426074012/http://mg.co.za/article/2007-12-04-radio-orania-gets-green-light-from-icasa|archive-date=26 April 2016}} and the station began broadcasting on 13 April 2008 on 95.5 MHz.{{cite web|url=http://www.sabcnews.co.za/entertainment/other/0,2172,167572,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009023101/http://www.sabcnews.co.za/entertainment/other/0,2172,167572,00.html|archive-date=9 October 2008|title=Radio Orania on-air again|publisher=SABC News|date=13 April 2008|access-date=12 December 2013}} The community station is run by volunteers and counts over 50 contributors.{{cite tweet|number=450611593903341568|user=OraniaBeweging|title=@siithe @Outta_Ctrl It's called Radio Orania and don't have a single paid employee. More than 50 volunteers work for our community station. |access-date=6 April 2015|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305143916/https://twitter.com/oraniabeweging/status/450611593903341568|date=31 March 2014}}{{Primary source inline|date=February 2021}} Programmes include readings of Afrikaans literature such as Mikro's Die ruiter in die nag.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Dorpnuus, the town hall's newsletter, was launched in November 2005 and reports on local events and meetings of the town council. Volkstater is an independent local publication that is sent to supporters of the Volkstaat idea, mostly non-residents of Orania, and deals with local events and Afrikaner history. Voorgrond, a publication of the Orania Beweging, is aimed primarily at non-residents who support the movement.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

File:Koppen-Geiger_Map_ZAF_present.svg

The climate of the area around the town is that of a dry-winter desert (Köppen BWhw or BWkw, depending on how these designations are defined). Orania is part of the Nama Karoo biome, and receives {{convert|191|mm|in}} of rain a year. More than 30,000 trees have been planted in Orania and the surrounding farmlands.{{cite magazine|date=March 2012|title=Voorbladfoto|url=https://issuu.com/oraniabeweging/docs/orania_voorgrond_maart_2012|language=af|magazine=Voorgrond|page=3|access-date=31 January 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031212353/http://issuu.com/oraniabeweging/docs/orania_voorgrond_maart_2012|archive-date=31 October 2013}}

The tree vegetation of Orania includes common karee (karee), white karee (witkaree), buffalo-thorn (blinkblaar-wag-’n-bietjie), shepherd's tree (witgat) and common acacia (soetdoring).{{cite news|title=Orania is 'self- determining' and even has its own currency|url=https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-new-age-free-state/20160111/282432758145039/TextView|access-date=11 February 2018|work=The New Age (Free State)|date=11 January 2016}}

{{Weather box

|open = yes

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|location = Orania, South Africa

|Jan high C = 30.4

|Feb high C = 29.1

|Mar high C = 27.8

|Apr high C = 22.7

|May high C = 19.9

|Jun high C = 15.4

|Jul high C = 15.6

|Aug high C = 18.8

|Sep high C = 23.4

|Oct high C = 26.1

|Nov high C = 28.2

|Dec high C = 30

|year high C = 21.4

|Jan low C = 19.5

|Feb low C = 18.6

|Mar low C = 16.8

|Apr low C = 12.3

|May low C = 9.6

|Jun low C = 5.4

|Jul low C = 5.0

|Aug low C = 6.5

|Sep low C = 10.1

|Oct low C = 13.6

|Nov low C = 15.4

|Dec low C = 18.1

|year low C = 11

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan rain mm = 32

|Feb rain mm = 41

|Mar rain mm = 24

|Apr rain mm = 20

|May rain mm = 6

|Jun rain mm = 9

|Jul rain mm = 5

|Aug rain mm = 3

|Sep rain mm = 3

|Oct rain mm = 11

|Nov rain mm = 12

|Dec rain mm = 25

|year rain mm = 191

|source 1 = {{cite web | url=https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/south-africa/orania-climate#:~:text=The%20warmest%20month%20(with%20the,June%20(15.4%C2%B0C).&text=The%20month%20with%20the%20highest,July%20(5%C2%B0C) | title=Orania, South Africa - Climate & Monthly weather forecast }}}}

The unusual and controversial nature of Orania has drawn the interest of researchers,{{sfn|Seldon|2014|p=16}} especially in the field of anthropology. Kotze (2003) examines Orania as a case of a non-declining small town in South Africa.{{Cite journal |last=Kotze |first=Nico |date=2003-01-31 |title=Changing economic bases: Orania as a case study of small-town development in South Africa |url=https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/805 |journal=Acta Academica: Critical Views on Society, Culture and Politics |language=en |issue=1 |pages=159–172 |doi=10.38140/aa.v0i1.805 |issn=2415-0479}} Steyn (2004) elaborates on the town's bottom-up approach to development.{{Cite journal |last=Steyn |first=J.J. |title=The "bottom-up" approach to Local Economic Development (LED) In small towns: a South African case study of Orania and Philippolis |url=https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/trp/article/download/723/722 |journal=Town and Regional Planning |pages=55–63}} De Beer (2006) considers the achievements of Orania, deeming it unlikely that it will ever succeed in bringing about self-determination.{{Cite journal |last=de Beer |first=FC |title=Exercise in futility or dawn of Afrikaner self-determination: an exploratory ethno-historical investigation of Orania |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23323256.2006.11499936 |journal=Anthropology Southern Africa |year=2006 |volume=29 |issue=3–4 |pages=105–114 |doi=10.1080/23323256.2006.11499936 |s2cid=220273149 |via=Taylor & Francis Online|url-access=subscription }} Terisa Pienaar analyzed the Volkstaat concept, and the suitability of Orania as a growth point for a Volkstaat.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|p=45}} Lindi Todd included Orania in a study on how the Afrikaner identity developed after the end of apartheid.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|p=45}} Liesel Blomerus focused on the identity of Afrikaner women in the town. Lise Hagen addressed the concepts of space and place in Orania.{{sfn|Seldon|2014|p=45}} South African economist Dawie Roodt described the town as being "like a Petri dish" for economic research.{{cite news|last1=Stadler|first1=Hanlie|title=Dawie Roodt se Orania-app lei dalk tot nuwe geld|url=https://www.netwerk24.com/Sake/Ekonomie/dawie-roodt-se-orania-app-lei-dalk-tot-nuwe-geld-20170703|access-date=2 February 2018|work=Netwerk24|date=3 July 2017|language=af|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202071716/https://www.netwerk24.com/Sake/Ekonomie/dawie-roodt-se-orania-app-lei-dalk-tot-nuwe-geld-20170703|archive-date=2 February 2018}}

In September 2012, a German documentary film titled Orania premiered at London's Raindance Film Festival. The film is a sociological study of the town.{{cite web|title=Orania|url=http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/index.php?id=595,8883,0,0,1,0|publisher=Raindance Film Festival 2012|access-date=5 January 2014|first=Dean|last=Bowman|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106040408/http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/index.php?id=595,8883,0,0,1,0|archive-date=6 January 2014}} The town was also featured in a 2009 documentary produced by France Ô, Orania, citadelle blanche en Afrique{{cite web|title=Orania, citadelle blanche en Afrique|url=http://www.africultures.com/php/index.php?nav=film&no=8514|publisher=Africultures|access-date=12 April 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095029/http://www.africultures.com/php/index.php?nav=film&no=8514|archive-date=4 March 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Martin|first1=Eric|title=Orania, cité blanche d'Afrique du Sud|url=http://www.ndf.fr/nos-breves/04-07-2011/orania-cite-blanche-dafrique-du-sud|publisher=Nouvelles de France|access-date=12 April 2015|date=4 July 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412175638/http://www.ndf.fr/nos-breves/04-07-2011/orania-cite-blanche-dafrique-du-sud#.VSo1f2bv4T1|archive-date=12 April 2015}} and in 2018, the town featured in "Farmlands" a documentary about farm murders in South Africa, produced by Lauren Southern.{{Cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_bDc7FfItk | title=FARMLANDS (2018) | Official Documentary | website=YouTube | date=25 June 2018 }}

On 17 May 2023, Channel 4 commissioned a documentary in which British television presenter Ade Adepitan travels to Orania to understand the mindset of its people.{{cite web |title=Channel 4 commissions Ade: My Week in the Whitest Place on Earth (w/t), a new film by Ade Adepitan exploring one of the most extreme communities on the planet |url=https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4-commissions-ade-my-week-whitest-place-earth-wt-new-film-ade-adepitan-exploring |accessdate=20 May 2023 |website=channel4.com/press}} The film was entitled Whites Only: Ade's Extremist Adventure, and it premiered on 18 March 2024.{{Cite news |last1=Richardson |first1=Hollie |last2=Catterall |first2=Ali |last3=Virtue |first3=Graeme |last4=Seale |first4=Jack |last5=Wardell |first5=Simon |date=2024-03-18 |title=TV tonight: what happened when a Black broadcaster visited a 'whites-only' town in South Africa? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/mar/18/tv-tonight-what-happened-when-a-black-broadcaster-visited-a-whites-only-town-in-south-africa |access-date=2024-05-29 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} In the documentary, Adepitan concluded that it's "too simplistic to brand everyone in Orania a racist",{{Cite web |title=Whites Only: Ade's Extremist Adventure |url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/whites-only-ades-extremist-adventure |website=Channel 4}} but that they are prejudiced. He thought that many in Orania are traumatised by the end of apartheid, and that they want to recreate their past. But Adepitan sees this as a form of extreme racial separatism, and says he doesn't want to live in a world where people are "segregated into ethnically cleansed states".

{{Portal|South Africa}}

• Afrikaner nationalism
• Eureka City
• Gated community
• Homeland
• Intentional community
• Kleinfontein
• Carel Boshoff
• Carel Boshoff IV
• Volkstaat
• Cape Republic

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}

• {{cite book|first=Edward|last=Cavanagh|title=Settler Colonialism and Land Rights in South Africa: Possession and Dispossession on the Orange River|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2X7u84325h0C&pg=PA69|date=2013|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-30577-0}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Cavanagh|first1=Edward|title=The History of Dispossession at Orania and the Politics of Land Restitution in South Africa|journal=Journal of Southern African Studies|volume=39|issue=2|year=2013b|pages=391–407|issn=0305-7070|doi=10.1080/03057070.2013.795811|s2cid=216091875}}
• {{cite book|last=Christopher|first=A.J.|title=Atlas of Changing South Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdOFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101|date= 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-61674-9}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Delvecki|first1=Ajax|last2=Greiner|first2=Alyson|title=Circling of the Wagons?: A Look at Orania, South Africa|journal=Focus on Geography|date=December 2014|volume=57|issue=4|pages=164–173|doi=10.1111/foge.12042}}
• {{cite book|first=William|last=Dicey|title=Borderline|date= 2007|publisher=Kwela Books|isbn=978-0-7957-0189-4}}
• {{Citation |last=Haleniuk |first=Aleksander |date=October 2013 |title=Orania – the embryo of a new Volkstaat? |publisher=Uniwersytet Warszawski |url=https://www.academia.edu/5739310 |access-date=25 August 2014 }}
• {{cite book|first=Caille|last=Millner|title=The Golden Road: Notes on My Gentrification|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIdh45ze0I4C&pg=PA231|date=29 January 2008|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-311297-6}}
• {{cite book|last1=Naudé-Moseley|first1=Brent|last2=Moseley|first2=Steve|title=Getaway Guide to Karoo, Namaqualand & Kalahari|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jvIwAQAAIAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Sunbird|isbn=978-1-919938-58-5|quote=If you want to taste regte egte (real genuine) Afrikaans culture, arrange a visit to Orania during one of their special occasions when they'll host traditional dancing, volkspele (games) such as jukskei (yoke-pin) and eat skaapkop (traditional sheep-head delicacy).}}
• {{cite book|last1=Norman|first1=Kajsa|title=Bridge Over Blood River: The Rise and Fall of the Afrikaners|date=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9781849048552|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pvcgDgAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book|last1=Pogrund|first1=Benjamin|author-link=Benjamin Pogrund|title=Drawing Fire: Investigating the Accusations of Apartheid in Israel|date=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442226845|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KOgLBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA131}}
• {{Citation |last1=Schonteich |first1=Martin |last2=Boshoff |first2=Henri |year=2003 |title='Volk' Faith and Fatherland. The Security Threat Posed by the White Right |url=http://www.issafrica.org/Pubs/Monographs/No81/Chap3.pdf |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |access-date=5 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106034410/http://www.issafrica.org/Pubs/Monographs/No81/Chap3.pdf |archive-date=6 January 2014 }}
• {{cite thesis|type=PhD thesis |last=Seldon |first=Sylvia |year=2014 |title=Orania and the reinvention of Afrikanerdom |publisher=University of Edinburgh |hdl=1842/14194}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Veracini|first1=Lorenzo|title=Orania as Settler Self-Transfer|journal=Settler Colonial Studies|year=2011|volume=1|issue=2|pages=190–196|doi=10.1080/2201473X.2011.10648821|hdl=1959.3/355259|s2cid=51849119|url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/26229299 |hdl-access=free}}
• {{cite thesis|type=Masters thesis|last1=Vestergaard|first1=Mads|title=Afrikanerdoom?: negotiating Afrikaner identity in post-apartheid South Africa|year=2000|pages=107–110|hdl=11427/9736|publisher=University of Cape Town}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}

• {{cite thesis|type=MA-dissertation|hdl=11660/9277|last=Blomerus|first= L.|year= 2009|title='n Antropologiese studie na die identiteit van vroue in Orania|publisher= Universiteit van die Vrystaat|location=Bloemfontein}}
• {{cite thesis|type=MA-dissertation|last=Cavanagh|first= E.|year= 2011|title=Dispossession and Restitution: Property in Land and the Politics of History in South Africa|publisher=University of the Witwatersrand|location=Johannesburg}}
• {{cite journal|last1=de Beer|first1=F.C.|title=Exercise in futility or dawn of Afrikaner self-determination: an exploratory ethno-historical investigation of Orania|journal=Anthropology Southern Africa|year=2006|volume=29|issue=3–4|pages=105–114|doi=10.1080/23323256.2006.11499936|s2cid=220273149}}
• {{cite journal|last1=de Beer|first1=F.C.|title=Exercise In Futility, Or Dawn Of Afrikaner Self-determination: An Exploratory Ethno-historical Investigation Of Orania|journal=Ethnoculture|year=2007|volume=1|pages=45–58|url=http://www.emich.edu/coer/Journal_2007/De_Beer.html|publisher=Eastern Michigan University|access-date=4 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411120339/http://www.emich.edu/coer/Journal_2007/De_Beer.html|archive-date=11 April 2015}}
• {{cite journal|last=Geldenhuys|first= D.|year= 2006|title= 'n Internasionale perspektief op selfbeskikking|journal=Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe|volume= 46|issue=4|pages=443–455|hdl=10520/EJC20011|issn= 0041-4751|language=af|trans-title=An International Perspective on self determination}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Hues|first1=Henning|last2=Morgan|first2=Katalin|title=The raising of the flag in 'Volkstaat' Orania: Perspectives on a school ceremony|journal=Education as Change|date=July 2010|volume=14|issue=1|pages=33–46|doi=10.1080/16823206.2010.487367}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Kotze|first1=Nico J.|title=Changing economic bases: Orania as a case study of small-town development in South Africa|journal=Acta Academica Supplementum|date=January 2003|issue=1|pages=159–172| url =http://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/805/800|access-date=31 January 2018|publisher=University of the Free State}}
• {{cite journal|hdl=10520/EJC28454|last=Labuschagne|first= P.|year= 2008|title= Uti Possidetis? versus self-determination: Orania and an independent "volkstaat"|journal=Journal for Contemporary History|volume= 33|issue=2|pages=78–92}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Steÿn|first1=J.J.|title=The "bottom-up" approach to Local Economic Development (LED) in small towns: A South African case study of Orania and Philippolis|journal=Town and Regional Planning|date=November 2004|volume=47|pages=55–63|url=http://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/trp/article/view/723/722|access-date=31 January 2018}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{official|http://www.orania.co.za/ }} (in Afrikaans)
• [https://issuu.com/oraniabeweging Issues of Voorgrond], the town's newsletter
• {{youTube|id==csrfAY4Obo8 |title=Ripping the rainbow}} – eNCA CheckPoint feature on the town (December 2014)

{{Geographic Location

|Centre = Orania

|North = Belmont

|Northeast = Koffiefontein

|East = Luckhoff

|Southeast = Petrusville

|South = Philipstown

|Southwest = Kraankuil

|West = Strydenburg

|Northwest = Orange River

}}

{{Pixley ka Seme District Municipality}}

{{Freedom Front Plus}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1991 establishments in South Africa

Category:Afrikaner nationalism

Category:Ethnic enclaves in South Africa

Category:Intentional communities in South Africa

Category:Karoo

Category:Populated places established in 1991

Category:Populated places founded by Afrikaners

Category:Populated places in the Thembelihle Local Municipality

Category:Utopian communities

Category:White separatism

Category:White supremacy in South Africa