Afrikaner enclave fights zoning battle as apartheid architect's legacy looms

BEHIND a high fence, 20 minutes east of South Africa's capital Pretoria, the Afrikaner enclave of Kleinfontein stands as a postcard from the country's bitter past and is now entangled in a very present-day dispute.

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KLEINFONTEIN 'deputy president' Dannie de Beer accuses the municipality of punitive taxation amid a zoning dispute.

(File)

Moving into the gated community of around 1 500 white Afrikaners entails rigorous screenings and motivational interviews to co-opt residents on an ethnic, linguistic and religious basis.

But the community of Afrikaners - descendants of the first European settlers to South Africa - is accused by the municipality of not respecting zoning regulations.

The administrative dispute comes at a delicate time as Pretoria is anxious to appease Washington's false claims of persecution against white South Africans.

On a recent Saturday, hundreds of blond children faced off in games of tug-of-war and sack races as Kleinfontein's residents - many dressed in typical khaki clothes - marked a harvest celebration.

"To apply for membership you must look like a Boer (farmer) Afrikaner," said Jan Groenewald, one of the community's founders.

Yet, he claims Kleinfontein does not use race as a basis for membership. Afrikaner-led governments presided over the brutal race-based apartheid system that oppressed South Africa's black majority until 1994.