Thirty-two years after the fall of apartheid, black South Africans are barred from living or working in the town of Orania.
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Africans → bar → Orania
Situated along the Orange River in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape province, this entirely white town is a disturbing vestige of decades of government sanctioned racial segregation.
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town → situate → segregation
In this 3000-person hamlet that was built on 8,000 hectares of farmland, entry is exclusively granted to Afrikaners, an ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.
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who → build → 1652
Frans de Klerk has spent the majority of his life in the secluded town and he intends to die there.
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he → spend → town
At 26 years old, his mind can conjure nowhere better than the isolated enclave, founded a year after Nelson Mandela’s release from Robben Island, shortly before white-minority rule ended in the rest of the country.
‘It’s not separatism as much as it is preservation, or just finding a place that we can simply call home,’ he says, insisting Orania is not motivated by white supremacist ideology, but cultural conservation.
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Orania → conjure → ideology
Yet everywhere you turn in the gated community are old apartheid flags and sculptures dedicated to apartheid-era prime ministers, as if time stood still in this eerie settlement that wants nothing to do with black South Africa.
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that → turn → Africa
Detractors have likened the hamlet to a modern-day ethnic Bantustan established under former prime minister, Hendrik Verwoerd, often dubbed the 'architect of apartheid'.
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Detractors → liken → apartheid
Frans de Klerk has spent the majority of his life in the whites-only Afrikaner town of Orania, and he intends to die there
Cara Tomlinson, 24, poses for a portrait in the 'Kultuurhistoriese' (Cultural History) Museum in Orania, on January 27
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Tomlinson → spend → January
A spectator grills meat on a braai (barbecue) during an oval dirt racing event at the Orania Ovaalbaan Club in Orania, on May 30
‘What we are against is forced integration,’ he says over Zoom from his office desk, behind which the Orania flag hangs proudly, with its design bearing a striking resemblance to the old republic's orange, white and blue stripes.
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design → grill → stripes
Every year on April 27, South Africa celebrates Freedom Day, commemorating the country’s pivotal first democratic elections in 1994 that heralded the official end of decades of racial oppression.
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that → celebrate → oppression
But in Orania, which this year celebrated its 35th anniversary, the spirit of apartheid lives on just 380 miles southwest of Johannesburg.
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spirit → celebrate → Johannesburg
‘Orania is a town, certainly, but in a much more real sense, it is a project,’ de Klerk says.
'A project for Afrikaners to build their own freedom, to be able to make their own decisions.’
The growing community - which has two schools, a college, shops, bars, hair salons, and numerous churches - is increasingly attracting more young people, drawn to the prospect of ‘coming back to their roots’ and ‘finding their identity once again’.
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which → say → identity
To be permitted entry into Orania, residents need to apply.
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residents → permit → Orania
Only Afrikaners with a clean criminal record and fluent Afrikaans are accepted.
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Afrikaners → accept → record
For many Oranians, a big draw to the enclave is a feeling of protection from the danger they associate with the outside world.
‘There is a safety and security in this community that you will rarely see elsewhere in South Africa.
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you → associate → Africa
In Orania, you are safe to wander the streets, even late at night.
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you → wander → night
Children can safely ride their bicycles or walk to school and back,’ de Klerk says.
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Klerk → ride → school
‘I see the interviews people do with residents of Orania, and many of them say they moved here for their own safety.
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they → see → safety
I've heard stories about people's houses being broken into, and afterwards, they made the decision to come.
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they → hear → decision
‘I spoke to a lady this year, who was a victim of a farm attack in South Africa and is looking for solutions, and is considering Orania.’
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who → speak → Orania
De Klerk suggests Arikaners, who number more than 2.5 million out of a population of more than 60 million, are a persecuted minority.
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who → suggest → million
As he speaks of politicians calling for Boers to be killed, he echoes the language of US President Donald Trump, who in February 2025 delivered a controversial executive order announcing a refugee resettlement programme for Afrikaners who he said were fleeing a ‘white genocide’.
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he → speak → genocide
Since then, more than 13,000 have moved to the US, according to state department figures.
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13,000 → move → figures
Arrivals are also accelerating, with more than 2,600 admitted in August.
But the South African government has criticised Washington's decision to prioritise refugee applications from white Afrikaners, saying claims of a white genocide have been widely discredited and lack reliable evidence.
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claims → accelerate → evidence
In February last year, a South African judge dismissed the idea of a white genocide as ‘clearly imagined’ and ‘not real’, and ministers have tried to emphasise that official crime data does not show farmers or white people experiencing crime at higher rates.
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farmers → dismiss → rates
White South Africans still hold three-quarters of privately held land in the country, and control about 60 per cent of top corporate management jobs, despite comprising only 7 per cent of the population.
And while affirmative action policies have helped to develop a black elite and middle class, about 38 per cent of black South Africans are unemployed, compared with 9 per cent of white South Africans, according to official data.
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cent → hold → data
Three decades after apartheid, the average white household in South Africa still holds 20 times more wealth than the average black household.
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household → hold → household
But de Klerk insists white people are the victims in the democratic nation.
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people → insist → nation
‘The race-based laws of apartheid have certainly switched to a more discriminatory law system, discriminating against white people,’ he says.
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he → base → people
The growing community - which has two schools, a college, shops, bars, hair salons, and numerous churches - is increasingly attracting more young people, drawn to the prospect of ‘coming back to their roots’
Norman van Heerden (left), 18, Belly Sharpe (centre), 18, and Eben Mans (right), 20, pose for a portrait in a room at the 'Vaalbos Manskoshuis', Vaalbos boys hostel, in Orania, on January 28
A group of students look into a room of the Steenbok hostel in Orania, on January 29
The community’s totem is the De Kleine Reu or ‘the little giant’ - a man with rolled-up sleeves, symbolising self-reliance and manual labour
On Friday nights, the younger generation of the town congregate at Stokkies bar, where students from the enclave’s new training college gather for country music and drinks.
Nearly all its 250 students come from elsewhere, selected - as are all residents - on the basis of ethnicity, religion and a strong work ethic.
The college is planning for an intake of 800 students within four years, according to town spokesman Joost Strydom, noting the dormitories under construction.
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college → grow → construction
But few are likely to stay after graduation: jobs are scarce and the biggest nearby town, Hopetown, with 10,000 inhabitants, is 25 miles away.
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town → stay → inhabitants
Nevertheless, de Klerk posits that within the settlement, quality of life is vastly better than anywhere else on the outside.
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quality → posit → outside
‘You have the freedom to organise your own jogging club, go for a swim in the river, or at the swimming pool.
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You → have → pool
there are sporting clubs, movie nights, the churches also have their own youth groups organising coffee [outings].
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churches → be → coffee
'
Try as he might to paint the enclave as a quaint idyll, anybody who does not fit the white-only racial profile of inhabitants is likely to feel like an unwelcome outsider in the arid land.
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who → try → land
The town, which he says is supported by ‘strategic relationships’ with sympathisers in Belgium and American Republicans, has its own distinctive calendar, different to the rest of the nation.
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he → say → nation
April 6 marks Founder's Day, commemorating when Dutch colonial administrator Jan van Riebeeck, working for the Dutch East India Company, established the settlement at the southern tip of Africa that became Cape Town in 1652.
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that → mark → 1652
The day was once celebrated country-wide as a national holiday, but was abolished by the new democratic government in 1994.
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day → celebrate → 1994
The face of van Riebeeck also formerly adorned the national currency, the rand, which now bears the image of the first black president.
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which → adorn → president
Other historical events are granted special importance such as the Day of the Vow, when a small force of Voortrekkers (people of Dutch extract) defeated a Zulu force on December 16, 1838, during the Battle of Blood River.
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force → grant → River
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
