Orania Representative Council

In 2000 the South African government created a new form of local government with a municipal system. In general these municipalities are a combination of several towns and villages. In the process of this merger, the South African provincial governments informed local transitional representative councils about the intended merger and held a deliberation process, after which a final decision was made. These decisions - with the intended abolition of the transitional representative councils - were published in the provincial government gazettes.

Carel Boshoff and other inhabitants of Orania in front of the Northern Cape High Court in Kimberley on 4 December 2000

In the case of Orania the provincial government of the Northern Cape did not publish the intended abolition of the Orania Transitional Representative Council, which was a legal obligation for a merger with Hopetown and Strydenburg into one single municipality.[4] Since the provincial government learnt of this mistake, it has published a notice in the provincial gazette announcing its intention to abolish the Orania Transitional Representative Council. There was a possibility to object this announcement till 30 November 2000. Objections were sent in by Orania that day. When the Northern Cape government could not react in time, the Orania Transitional Council went to court. This lawsuit was handled by the Northern Cape High Court on 4 December 2000, one day before the nationwide local elections.[4] In the light of the 1994 Accord on Afrikaner self-determination and the mistake of the South African government to not publish the abolition of the Orania Transitional Representative Council it was very likely that Orania would win the case, with the result that the High Court would cancel the elections scheduled for the next day.

On 4 December 2000 the case was settled between Orania and the South African government. This agreement was affirmed by the Northern Cape High Court that same day. They agreed that:[5][6]

1. The Orania Transitional Representative Council will remain in place indefinitely[7] and will not be dissolved by the South African government by the implementation of the Municipal Structures Act (Act 117 of 1998);
2. The Orania Representative Council will remain in place with all its powers until there is an agreement between the South African government and the inhabitants of Orania about the status of Orania.;
3. Orania will lie within the geographical borders of the Thembelihle Local Municipality, but the Thembelihle Local Municipality will not have any power within the area that is governed by the Orania Representative Council. The Thembelihle Local Municipality will not deliver any services in Orania.

The special status of Orania only exists at the local level. At the district, provincial and national levels Orania is integral part of the South African political system.

In April 2001 a commission was installed by the Cabinet of South Africa on the question of Orania's municipal status.[8] In 2002 the commission reached agreement and sent a proposal to the Cabinet of South Africa to merge Orania with Vanderkloof to become one municipality.[9] Nothing was done with the proposal.

In 2007, the Orania Representative Council and the Northern Cape government agreed that the (municipal) status of Orania should be discussed at all government levels.[10]

As of 2017 the negotiations about the status of Orania are still not finalized.

The elections of 1995-96 were the first local elections in which citizens of all races were allowed to take part.

One day after the settlement of the case between Orania and the South African government on 4 December 2000, Orania held its own elections for the Orania Representative Council during the municipal elections of 2000. At the voting station of the Independent Electoral Commission in Orania, where people could vote for the new (Oranje-Karoo) Thembelihle Local Municipality, zero people voted,[12] while the voter turnout at the voting station for the Orania Representative Council was above 90%.[13]

In 2006, 2011 and 2016 citizens of Orania also voted for their own representative council. Elections are held on the same day as the municipal elections in the rest of South Africa. Between 2011 and 2016 the council consisted of eight members.[14] In 2016 inhabitants voted for a twelve-member council.[15]