The FF Plus in Northern Cape is expecting the governing ANC to formally sign on the dotted line a coalition deal that would, among other things, bless Orania with “constitutional status.”
FF Plus provincial leader Wynand Boshoff told Sunday World that the ANC had from the start found the proposal for Orania’s self-determination to be “reasonable,” and that the idea was among the trade-offs tabled when the agreement was sealed that the party would vote for the ANC’s Zamani Saul to become premier.
“We agreed to vote for this premier once, but they said: ‘Let’s put what you still want in writing.’ We forwarded our proposal to them, and during a subsequent meeting, they expressed that everything seemed quite reasonable. It is good,” said Boshoff, adding that at that time the agreement was only “oral”.
“I think the signing process will happen next week. We anticipate that they will propose alterations to the information we submitted. But in general, there has not been a problem.”
Orania, a whites-only settlement in Northern Cape, was founded in 1991 during the last days of apartheid under which racial segregation was law. Under the new democratic dispensation, the settlement is recognised under the Constitution through a clause that allows for the right to self-determination.
However, its existence and renewed calls by right-leaning Afrikaner parties for it to be granted further recognition status under the Constitution remains controversial.
Social media, erupted in outrage, misunderstanding the term “selfstandig” as “independence”, said Boshoff.
“The FF Plus simplyused the Afrikaans term ‘selfstandig’, which some could misinterpret as independence. Maybe somebody could have translated this plea for an autonomous local community of Orania as independence, but that does not equate to sovereign-state independence,” he explained.
The proposal simply entails not relying on services provided by the local Thembelihle municipality, according to Boshoff. He said the Constitution fully recognised Orania’s self-determination and distinguished it from an independent sovereign state.
Since the announcement of the deal, the ANC has included the PA in the provincial government of unity.
Some ANC insiders have suggested this move might dilute the FF Plus demands.
“We would have preferred to sign the deal by now, as parties can change their minds. However, I do not anticipate this happening,” he stated, adding that he wouldn’t be comfortable until the ink has dried on the deal.
The core of the deal is a three-point plan: voting for the ANC’s premier candidate, gaining the chairpersonship of the oversight committee on local government, and reaching an agreement on Orania’s constitutional status.
“We weren’t talking about an independent state or something against SA’s Constitution, as some people thought.”
Orania is just striving for some kind of autonomy, he said.
