Orania: Nowhere Else

People with the sense of values take pride in what is theirs In themselves, in their language, traditions, culture Expectations of the future The choice of opportunities for their children The legacy for their offspring In short - their identity and what it stands for That is what Orania offers Afrikaners who have decided where and how they want to live their lives Orania is not just a place it is also the embodiment of an idea The idea of freedom to meet your own expectations and ideals We are purpose driven It informs our intellectual grounding We offer the extraordinary, rather than the mediocre That which is ours is worth more than that many other promises And it happens only here Here in Orania These are worthy and high ideals All very attractive But people will ask would it work? And what would it achieve and with what? Are your plans sufficient? What is the story of Orania? In the sixties Orania was home to workers at the Orange river scheme In the eighties it was vacated and left to the mercy of vandals and increasing decay In 1991 we bought Orania What other people saw as a burden was for us as a future of our own thinking and doing Orania is an idea that grew into a movement A dream with a viable future People often ask us in short: What have you achieved over the years? The short answer is: We bought Orania for 1,6 million rands (ZAR) and our investment is now worth more than 500 million rands We started off with about 500 hectares We are now working on 8000 hectares Further expansion is still part of our strategy In Orania people choose how they want to live Steel frame Old cape Ultra modern In the orchards along the river, over against the hills or in the town itself Personal choice More than a thousand people live and work here From beginners to those who have retired We meet all infrastructure needs Here every day takes its normal course Whether it is shopping Something to eat at the restaurant Browsing in the giftshop Or something that needs fixing Orania has practised their Christian faith according to their persuasion Our schools offer a variety of learning methods One is a self driven model where children set their own goals and progress And that is supported by computer technology And the other is where people are thought in traditional learning environment with good discipline and professional teachers Orania´s CVO-school also focuses on being a regional school with a large number of learners from the environments and even other provinces Folkskool Orania hosts a distance learning product to children outside Orania Since 1991 our local learners in great 12 have achieved a 100% pass rate Many of them go on to study at the university of their choice Orania is justifiably proud of its infrastructure that offers services to its residents and investors sustainably and in full accordance with the international industry standards One of our drivers is economic growth Our industrial area can handle any operational activity We lie on the main routes connecting our region Bloemfontein, Kimberley and Beaufort West We are the center point between Johannesburg and Capetown In a time when food security has become an urgent point on the agenda worldwide Orania makes a positive contribution We lie on the banks of the sustainable Orange river We have water rights, fertile soil and our own water network We grow pecans, lucerne maize almonds and olives and also farm with livestock Another great agricultural opportunity is the production of fruits, vegetables and flowers through greenhouse technology In Orania we are increasingly following ecologically friendly agricultural practises Orania is where the pioneer and entrepreneur can stake his or her claim There are many examples of people, who have made the economic possibilities of Orania their own by establishing new businesses Technology shrinks distances so your intellectual property can work for you not only with clients in South Africa but also around the world People talk about green we DO green How? We separate our waste use solar power and other alternative sources of energy The whole of Orania is a conservancy a place with plants and animals are protected We are grounded in a green consciousness It is to everyone´s benefit and everyone profits Every holiday season Orania is fully booked by holidaymakers This is because its a homecoming for our people It is safe, it is friendly There are many activities All choices All preferences But people say: Can the carpet not be pulled from underneath you any day? Our right to self determination is grounded in international human rights and is also guaranteed by the South African constitution This gives us the confidence to continue to perform better This is a growing and contagious dynamic This ensures a sustainable future for our views and for the future of our people So when we speak of Orania what do we say? It means we are independent, because we have our own land, own institutions, own workforce and our own thinking All this ensures a life for our spaced on our own point of view grounded in freedom and a fulfillment of our ideals Orania: Nowhere else