Orania and Money.
The loss of money by the majority living in the town of Orania and the desire for money by most (because of the lack of it) is what this article is all about.
It is incredible how much the town of Orania sucks in money and to be more specific your money (an individual’s money). Where this comes from I have yet to determine.
Of course some of it lies in the fact that the goods that get here come from far and is somewhat limited and the services are also limited and MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE.
But this is not the only reason Orania can be considered a town that puts an extreme tax on your money.
Some of the stranger reasons I can think of is the following and it might be true.
The Sun:
The extreme weather conditions of Orania, including the winter cold, might have something to do with it being such an expensive town.
Orania’s extreme weather and more specifically extreme heat makes it many times more difficult to do something and to get something done.
Heat makes the air-conditioning run out sooner; the heat makes a car engine over heat easier; it makes you drink more water; quit your job easier; fight with your wife more (and cause marital problems, even divorce); do your job shabbier or over a longer period of time (which costs money then to repair or finish-up); it causes the roads to lift up and have to be repaired by the town council. The heat causes internecine conflict and dissatisfaction between the residents of Orania and the town’s leaders and institutions, or conflict between each other and causes many people to leave town and this causes damage (and also exacts a monetary toll on the town and on the people leaving).
Orania: a different kind of town:
Those who handle the propaganda of the town; those who busy them with it, like to say: “Orania is nie vir sissies nie” (meaning Orania is not for the weak), or they also like to say Orania is a pioneering town.
Orania is certainly different and in this might lie some of the reasons why it is also such an expensive town.
A new town with expanding infrastructure will obviously costs more money. A town with people migrating to it and settling in will cost more money than people living in Orania for a generation or two already.
Houses have to be built or bought (and are so expensive!) and salaries are too small (except for those lucky few who are paid handsomely by Solidarity/AfriForum) – most come to town and use their pension/savings for this, and run out of money due to the cost of the house, the building cost of the house or services and then start to work and then find the remuneration is not at all what is needed to sustain one or one’s family and many end up doing second or third jobs, many older people work into their seventies and many eventually go and work abroad (especially husbands to support their families).
So, the heat, oh heat the heat…
So, be warned Orania is a hot and expensive town.
- Written by Omar Daniel Fourie, Orania, 17 December 2018.