Francois Joubert, an engineer who designed the Orasol solar farm, poses at the farm in Orania, on 24 July 2022. Photo: MARCO LONGARI / AFP
The settlement of Orania in the Northern Cape sticks like a haak-en-steek acacia thorn in the minds of the ANC.
The whites-only enclave has been attacked by ANC politicians in need of more political windmills at which to tilt. That the town is whites-only and reveres Hendrik Verwoerd, architect of apartheid, is reason enough that the ANC hates it.
But now, there is another one: things work so well there that Orania may soon be one of the first towns to go off the electricity grid. Its R10.5 million solar panel “farm” provides for the bulk of its energy and the manager of the project looks forward to the time, soon, when it will “export energy”.
ALSO READ: Watch: Orania close to ditching Eskom, SA’s load shedding struggles
Politically, Orania is – and will forever be – an affront to those who suffered under apartheid. But that should not blind us to the example that it is setting.
The town runs well – unlike most across the country, which are riddled with corruption and where the inefficiency of ANC-deployed cadres causes taps to dry up and sewage to run in the streets.
People – of all colours – need to unite, work together and build themselves better lives. Because the government isn’t going to…
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