A bit of a mystery for the folks in Orania

SHORTLY before the close of Wednesday’s poll, a thunderstorm disrupted a braai outside the community hall in Orania, the self-styled Afrikaner community living on a private farm on the banks of the Orange River about 150km south of Kimberley in the Northern Cape.

Most people ran for cover, but a few die-hards endured the rain, drinking mampoer and joking.

By the time the rain had cleared an hour later, they had a mystery to dissect: four people had voted for the EFF at the polling station in the heart of Afrikanerdom.

And that was not the only anomaly. Of the almost 300 voters, five people voted for the ANC, 44 for the DA and two for the Ubuntu Party. Almost everybody else voted for the Freedom Front Plus.

The provincial result was not a complete surprise for Northern Cape FF+ leader Nic Aldrich, a former butcher and refrigerator technician now living in Orania.

“We drew more votes than last time, but demographically we are a minority. It is not really a disappointment. We must sit down and make an assessment,” said Aldrich.

He played down the unexpected support in Orania for the EFF and the ANC. He said black staff from a factory outside town had come to cast their votes in the early morning.

“I’m 99.9% sure that the EFF

But the Ubuntu Party? . . . I haven’t got a clue

votes came from that side. They would definitely not come out of town, I can assure you,” said Aldrich. As for the ANC votes, he reckoned they could have come from the policemen on duty on election day.

“But the Ubuntu Party? Where those votes came from, I haven’t got a clue. I wasn’t even aware there was such a party,” Aldrich said.

A black voter said he had no problem voting in Orania.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “To us it is just another polling station.”