How the US far right bought into the myth of white South Africa's persecution

"Orania's founders established it in 1991, the year after South Africa's best-known Black liberation leader (and future president), Nelson Mandela, was freed following 27 years in prison. Understanding that Mandela's liberation meant that white-minority rule was coming to an end, the founders trekked into the desert, bought a disused mining town wholesale and established a colony."

"Orania's founders said they wanted to run an experiment: could people of European descent live in South Africa without relying on people of colour to do manual labour, pump their petrol and clean their houses? In Orania, they stressed, white residents would do such work."

"No people of colour are allowed to live in the town, called Orania. The name is a nod to the river that runs nearby and to the Orange Free State, the apartheid-era designation for the province in which it lies."

Orania is a small, remote town in South Africa's scrub region, approximately 9 square kilometers with about 3,000 residents. Established in 1991 following Nelson Mandela's release from prison, the town was founded as a response to the anticipated end of white-minority rule in South Africa. The founders purchased a disused mining town and established it as private property to circumvent newly abolished racial segregation laws. Orania's stated purpose was to conduct an experiment testing whether people of European descent could live self-sufficiently without relying on people of color for manual labor and services. The town maintains strict racial exclusivity, with no people of color permitted to reside there. Despite its controversial nature and international scrutiny from numerous news outlets, the town has remained largely unchanged since its founding.

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