Everyone is wondering why Orania is erecting a giant statue of Paul Kruger.
According to a post on Orania Ontwikkelingsmaatskappy (‘Orania Development Company’), Orania is getting a giant replica statue of controversial figure Paul Kruger. Kruger once served as the first Transvaal State President, and he is considered by some as a founding figure of Afrikaans culture.
However, others want nothing to do with him or his legacy and have shunned his old traditional values. The South African reports that the statue is a replica of the one in Church Square, Pretoria.
Information about it was shared in a post on Facebook that read, “This project’s unveiling will take place during a dinner, which coincides with President Paul Kruger’s date of death on 14 July, 1904.”
While some have noted that it is wrong to erect the statue of a controversial figure, others aren’t very surprised because Orania is regarded as South Africa’s only “Whites Only” town. The South African writes that “the town focuses on self-sufficient living, but has also been under fire for its traditional white church-driven values – and some YouTubers have called it ‘the controversial whites only town’.” While some have called it a racist town, its supporters claim the only requirement to live in it is being Afrikaans.
