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ORANIA AND THE REINVENTION OF AFRIKANERDOM Sylvia Seldon PhD in Social Anthopology The University of Edinburgh 2014 I declare that this thesis is entirely my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. ABSTRACT In 1991 a private town for Afrikaners was established on the bank of the Orange River, in the semi-desert of South Africa’s Northern Cape Province. As a deliberately Afrikaans, and thus white, community, the town’s aims and existence are controversial, but both its principles and practicalities are not unique. Endeavouring to build an Afrikaner homeland in multiracial South Africa seems incongruous, signalling a retreat from social heterogeneity as a fact of the contemporary world. It raises questions about what people do following a social, political and economic paradigm shift, and about what is occurring within a country with multiple and contradictory accounts of history and a traumatic recent past. It also means resisting the pressure to deal with the past, and therefore the present, in a certain way. Consequently, the frequent question of whether or not the town as an enterprise, or its residents, are racist, reveals instead a complex ordering of society. Life in Orania is filled with ordinary everyday activities of earning a living, raising and educating children, socialising, and practising religion in a town where Christian principles are explicit, each combining elements of intentionality and contingency. Once superficial similarity between residents can be taken for granted, the focus shifts to the differences between them, which rise and fall in importance, highlighting the circumstantial nature of group solidarity. This raises the question of what the differences within the community are, how deeply they reach, and where fundamental commonalities lie that prompt them to choose to build a future together. For the few hundred people involved in the enterprise, Orania is the only way they think they will have a recognisable future: they fear the demise of Afrikaners as an ethnic group through cultural assimilation or dispersal, emigration, and population decline. Their position of victimhood and vulnerability, shaped by the past, shapes their present actions in turn. Afrikaners’ interpretation of themselves as victims is easily supported by the popular historical narrative that Afrikaners have always struggled against outside authorities to be self-determining. This ethnographic study reveals that Orania is a concrete response to the fear that there may not be a place for Afrikaners in South Africa’s future, in the country to which they feel they belong and where their identity is rooted. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During my stay in South Africa I was hosted by John Sharp at the University of Pretoria whose thoughtful discussions helped greatly. The department was friendly and supportive, and in particular the insights of Rehana Vally and Johann Kriel remained with me. Bertus en Shaun het vir my Afrikaans geleer, al het hulle partykeer getwyfel of ek dit sou regkry, en hulle het met my vriendskap en lekker belewenisse sowel as ’n taal gedeel. Jacomien, Cori and Kevin welcomed me into their social circles and always provided stimulating discussion. Lara’s help was invaluable. I met Tobi and Sam whilst in Orania and our shared interests developed into friendships beyond the field. Hierdie navorsing was net moontlik omdat die gemeenskap van Orania my verwelkom het. Daar is so veel mense wat my vertrou, ondersteun, en vriendelik hanteer het. Party mense het my geleer oor die dorp, en wat vir my meer belangrik was, my vriende geword. Ek is deur André, Karin, Daniel, Jana en Lize in hulle huis en familie verwelkom. Deur hulle het my vriendskap met Tanja en Johan gegroei, en dit het gemaak dat ek meestal by Orania Hardeware te vinde was. Baie van die lekkerste tye het ek met hulle as ook Wynand, Esme, Benjamin en Elisma, Jaco, Ludwig en Retha, Carel, Anje, Hendrik, Carel, Alida en Willem, Dissie, Esmien en Derius verbring. Die herinnering van Prof Carel laat my altyd glimlag. Celeste en Dawie, Pierre and Ursula, Jessie and Lael, Koos en Rika, mev. en prof. Jooste, en Maryna het my ook hartlik verwelkom. Veral Koos het baie tyd vir my gehad om oor alles te gesels. Manie Opperman het toestemming van die dorp gekry en verblyf gereël as deel van sy groot ondersteuning vir my navorsing. Die mense by die Orania Beweging en dorpskantoor was altyd vriendelik en geduldig met al my vrae, veral Lida en John Strydom. Roelien de Klerk was ook altyd geduldig, al het ek haar by die werk gepla. I owe much of my development as an anthropologist to E. Douglas Lewis. This PhD journey began with Alan Thorold, but without the support and encouragement of Jeremy Baskin it might never have happened. Alan Barnard’s support and encouragement was evident from the first communication in 2007 and has continued unfailingly. Sandy Robertson has given so much time and enthusiasm. I have benefited from conversations with other members of the anthropology department at Edinburgh, especially Richard Baxstrom, and Jon Bialecki, to whom I am particularly grateful for his time and energy. I am extremely grateful to Koos Kirsten and Jeremy Baskin for reading parts of my thesis, and to Wynand Boshoff, Sarah Walker and Maggie Seldon for comments and feedback. My friends have provided the fun, encouragement and consolation that was the backdrop for these years. Yoko, Fang and Zengsiu, Heather and Gethin, Izi and Debbie, Kim, Paul, Julie, Shaun, Shishu, Dennis, Sophia, Sarah and Iain, Siobhan and Corey, Lucy, Kim, Lucy, Heid, Tom, Ali and Liv exemplify that. Iragira Proust has encouraged me even though there are always bigger things to worry about. Judy and Klaus took me in. So many other people’s encouragement has meant a lot to me. Without Sarah Walker’s advice, organisation, comments and sympathy nothing would have held together. Nico Smit se vrygewigheid was van die eerste 4 oomblik af duidelik. Hy luister vir my altyd en ondersteun my. My thanks to Heather, for everything. But ultimately I owe it all to my parents. 5 CONTENTS Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 Contents 6 Glossary 8 I: Introduction – Welcome to South Africa 13 Moral Relativism 17 Afrikaners and Apartheid 21 European Settlement in South Africa 24 Two Interpretations of the Past 30 Abandon the Plan and Adapt to Society, or Abandon Society and Adapt the Plan32 Liminal People 35 The debate about what Orania’s shared purpose actually is 36 II: Welcome to Orania – Painting the Town Orange 51 Tales of the Unexpected 51 Prominent Guests 54 Setting the scene 58 A Tour of The Town 60 The Genealogy of an Idea 64 Joining the Volkstaat 69 A Social Taxonomy of Orania 71 Life in the Volkstaat 81 Terminology 43 Existing Literature 45 Methods 47 III: Philosophy and Pragmatics – The Economy and Labour Practices 89 Volkseie arbeid – People’s Own Labour 89 Orania’s Corporate Structure 92 Housing market 95 Types of Employment and Sources of Income 96 Elim 99 Exploitation? Class and Labour 99 Women’s roles 104 Through Labour to Freedom 107 IV: The Cosmological Ordering of Humankind 109 The town’s congregations 112 Community Services 121 What Do the Differences Mean? Comparisons and Groupings 123 What Colour Means, and Axes for Social Differentiation 127 Afrikaner Social Cosmology 135 Keeping Order 142 V: Educating for Which Future? 146 Afrikaners in Relation to Cultural and Biological Neighbours 147 European/African 149 The Mixing Properties of Culture 151 The Two Schools 153 Boundaries: For Keeping People Out or In? 156 6 Engaging With The Outside 159 Doing the Best You Can 161 Orania’s Debate 162 VI: How People in Orania Talk About Their Past 165 Which Apartheid? 166 Communism 172 Orania’s Historical Commemorations 174 Youth, or History For Those Who Did Not Live Through It 178 Conspiracy Theories 181 Narrative Threads 186 VII: Suffering, Morality and Victimhood 188 The Social Politics of Suffering 191 On the Moral Community and Not Being Part of the New South Africa 193 Fear of Extinction Through Physical and Cultural Means 199 Trust and Belonging 208 Outsiders 213 VIII: Conclusion – Diversity in Unity 215 Bibliography 223 Websites 231 7 GLOSSARY aandeleblok maatskappy shareholding company bakkie pick-up truck, utility vehicle boer farmer, or synonymous with Afrikaner boeremeisie a real boer girl regte boer/boeremeisie: proper Afrikaner (girl) braaiing barbecuing dorpskantoor town council office dorpsraad town council Engels English: English-speaking, English-speaking South African, English nationality gatvol fed up, pissed off gebedsaksie prayer action gelykstelling equality, social levelling gelykvoeling feelings of equality,