FF+ not calling for Orania independence, says Wessels

THE FREEDOM Front Plus (FF+) says it is not calling for an independent state in Orania.

The party’s spokesperson, Wouter Wessels, said the FF+ was literally calling for the advancement of Section 235 of the Constitution, which according to him was not just limited to territorial self-determination.

Wessels said the agreement the party had with ANC in the Northern Cape was not only limited to the “self-determination” of Orania but also included the promotion of communities.

“Our agreement includes promoting communities’ constitutional right to self-determination as provided for in Section 235 of the Constitution. This includes Orania, but is not limited to such. We agreed upon an agency which will advance private-public partnerships regarding infrastructure development in the Northern Cape,” he said.

Orania is an Afrikaner-only town in the Northern Cape. It is located along the Orange River in the Karoo region.

The agreement between the ANC and the FF+ saw the re-election of Dr Zamani Saul as the Province’s premier for the second time.

In 2023, the FF+ had also called for the “right to self-determination” which sought the independence of the Western Cape.

The bill at the time was submitted to the Western Cape government by the FF+’s Peter Marais.

The committee recommended that a legal opinion on the bill should be obtained.

The move was characterised as “historically significant“ given that it was the very first time that self-determination was formally discussed on this level in the new dispensation.

“Section 235 of South Africa’s Constitution makes provision for self-determination by any community sharing a common cultural and language heritage, within a territorial entity in the Republic or in any other way, determined by national legislation.”

The FF+’s team that presented the briefing was Peter Marais (MPL), the party’s Western Cape leader, Dr Corné Mulder, and advocate Gert van Niekerk (deputy leader: Western Cape). Phil Craig of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group supported the initiative.