The place where people don’t vote

Published May 7, 2014

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Pretoria - While thousands of citizens of the capital city were voting on Wednesday, most of residents in the nearby Afrikaner community of Kleinfontein chose not to vote.

The community - a group of white Christian Afrikaners or Boere - is known for living separately from the rest of the city.

Spokeswoman Marisa Haasbroek says that not voting does not mean they are “apathetic” towards the country and who runs it.

“A large portion of the community, myself included, did not vote,” she said.

She said residents do not believe the one-man one-vote system works for a country as diverse as South Africa.

“We would prefer a federal system where minority groups have more of a say in matters that affect them directly,” she said.

That is why they are building their community 30km east of Pretoria.

Kleinfontein was started in 1988 by chairman of the Kleinfontein board Jan Groenewald, who still lives in the gated community.

Thousands of Afrikaners moved to the farm Kleinfontein in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Great Trek.

“Between 1988 and 1992 it became clear that the government was going to hand over power to the black majority without making provision for the future existence of the Afrikaners,” the website description reads.

In 1992 the settlement was founded as a cultural village.

Currently there are about 650 residents, all white and Afrikaans.

However, not all residents abstained from voting.

“Volunteers of Freedom Front Plus (FF+) organised to transport people from our town to the nearest voting station, Boschkop Primary School, about 7km away,” Haasbroek said.

Freedom Front organiser for Kleinfontein, Awie Erasmus, who is also a resident, said they receive massive support from residents.

“People really support us because we stand for minority rights and the Afrikaners are a minority. They want a solution for the country and they believe we can help them,” he said.

Pretoria News

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