In the latest attempt by the so-called “progressive caucus” (the MK Party and the EFF) to outdo each other in demonstrating their “revolutionary zeal,” the EFF on Tuesday handed over a memorandum of demands regarding Orania to the Office of the Northern Cape Premier in Kimberley.
At the heart of the memorandum lies the EFF’s argument that Orania contradicts both the spirit and the letter of the South African Constitution and should, therefore, be dissolved.
The memorandum emphasises that Orania is not just a place, but an idea that threatens the soul of South Africa.
Since its founding, the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) has been advocating self-determination, as embodied by Orania, among others. Therefore, the party unequivocally rejects the EFF’s demands.
In a multi-ethnic country like South Africa, there is often a majority that pays lip service to recognising diversity but, in reality, denies it. Such a policy denies minorities the leeway to maintain a dynamic culture through various institutions. This is typically done in the name of national unity.
The opposite approach is to grant minorities all the room they need for cultural expression and even for government to promote such expression.
Ironically, this reduces the pressure on minorities to seek liberation from government, thereby preserving national unity.
Over the past thirty years, the ANC government has increasingly marginalised Afrikaners by enforcing quotas in all spheres, from who may play in sports teams and which students may pursue which careers to businesses’ management and employees.
Nevertheless, government has tolerated groups that opted to establish their own institutions on a cultural basis without discriminating on the grounds of race. Orania is one such example.
According to the EFF’s memorandum, this is wrong and Orania’s case should be tested in the courts.
The EFF’s actions once again highlight why it is essential for Afrikaners, and other minorities, to mobilise, politically and otherwise, in order to protect themselves.
The EFF is right about one thing, though: Orania is more than a place; it represents an idea. Contrary to the EFF’s view, however, that idea is freedom.
And because freedom is a timeless ideal, Orania will not fall.
