Mufamadi praises report on Orania

Sydney Mufamadi, the Provincial and Local Government Minister, has praised the report compiled by a technical committee on the municipal status of the Afrikaner community in the Northern Cape, Orania.

Brent Simon, the ministerial spokesperson, said that Mufamadi was of the opinion that the report recommended a possible solution to the municipal status of the town, which opened up new possibilities. He said a Cabinet memorandum would now be compiled and possibly be discussed by a committee on May 9.

Orania obtained a court order in December 2000 to stop it being demarcated with Strydenburg and Hopetown into a single municipality. The town was granted a transitional representative council in 1995, giving it autonomy.

The court recommended that a technical committee be appointed to investigate the feasibility of Orania having its own municipality. The report also said that Orania should not have its own municipality, but that it should be demarcated with Vanderkloof, a town at the Vanderkloof Dam.

It recommended that a Cabinet committee should investigate the implementation of Section 235 of the Constitution, which guarantees self-determination to groups with a common language, culture and interests.

Mufamadi congratulated the committee on the completion of its task, but did not disband it, as was expected. The committee might have more work to do once Cabinet has reached a decision on the issue.

Orania is an exclusively white Afrikaner community of about 600 people. The conservative area's main industry is agriculture.

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