The Wildebeest's guide to South Africa
Orania
Orania
Photo © Johan van Zyl
The town of Orania has existed in a number of forms and names over the years. The origins of the town as it is now are from 1990 when a group of 40 Afrikaner families bought the town with a plan to establish a town to preserve the identity and culture of the Afrikaans community.
Orania only accepts new residents after going through an application process which has led to it being populated only by white people, virtually all of whom are Afrikaans. This has created a lot of attention to the town and it has had to fight off legal cases to preserve its identity.
Residents of Orania run a variety of businesses and a lot of farming activity takes place. There is a very large pecan nut plantation on the towns lands.
Succulent plants thrive in this semi-arid environment