Figure 1.--Orania, located along the Orange River in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, aims to be an Afrikaner town. About 98 percebt of the inhabitants are Afrikaans speaking white people. It was founded in the 1990s. The photo shows the children performing traditional dances. The girls wear 19th century-style dresses recreating the period when the Boers left the Cape colony to escape British rule.

Following the transferal of power to the African National Congess (ANC) and the dismanteling of the Apartheid System (1994), there has been significant emigration of South African whites. It is not as significant as some had predicted. The almost total flight of Whites in Zimbabwe (Southern Rohodesia) has not been repeated in South Africa. This is largely due to the ANC's moderate wing and Nelson Mandela's leadership. There is a general recognition that the White minority is essenhtial for the economic health of the country. (This is certainly the residual impact of colonialism, but it is also a very real fact of South Africa's modern life.) While the entire white population has not fled, a substantial numbers of whutes have fled. The White population at the time the ANC came to power was some 4.3 million people (1994). Accounts vary somewhat, but it is believed that some 1 million Whites have left the country. [Van Aardt] The reasons cited are commonly rising crime and racially motivated violence. Black on White crime as the main reason as well as the lack of employment opportunities for whites. Importantly what is not mentioned is political oppression by the Black majority Government. The rising crime rate is not uniquely experienced by whites, but the other racial groups in South Africa as well. As a result of the White emigratiom, there are now Afrikaner and English-speaking South African communities in the United Kingdom, Australia and other developed countries. What we are not sure about is the extent to which the Afrikaner population has participated in this exodus. We know that they are part of the exodus, but we are unsure if they have emigrated to the same extent as other South Africans. We believe that much of the emigratiinnhas come from urban areas where the crime problem is most pronounced so they may be a lesser part of the migration. nd notavly the redistributionnof farm land, transfer from White to Black ownership has gime more slowly than planned as of 2000. This may well be accelerated in the future. But the realtive contribytiion of the emigrants we cannot yet confirm. One author identified 'Ordentlikheid' (essentially ethnicised respectability) as kind of glue that holds the Afrikanaer commuity togther. It should be strssed that race is part of Ordentlikheid, but only part and probably a lesser element than other White communities in South Arica. Ordentlikheid respectability within the Afrikaner community includes , its meanings include presentability, proper manners, basic decency, politeness, and humility with a 'Calvinist tenor'. Religion is a very important element. [Van der Westhuizen]

Sources

Van Aardt, Peet. "Million whites leave SA - study," 24.com (April 16, 2008). 24.com is a leading African network of popular digital publishing brands and online services.

Van der Westhuizen, Christi. White Power & the Rise and Fall of the National Party (2007).

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Created: 3:42 PM 8/21/2020
Last updated: 3:43 PM 8/21/2020