A new generation is coming of age in Orania, the controversial Afrikaner-only town in South Africa, with growing numbers of young white South Africans choosing to move there in search of community, identity and opportunity.
The small settlement in Northern Cape province, founded in 1991, now has just over 3,000 residents. While some young people leave in search of life elsewhere, many are returning after discovering the outside world is not what they expected.
On a Friday evening, younger residents filled Stokkies bar, a popular local venue where Afrikaans-speaking descendants of European settlers gathered alongside students studying subjects such as engineering and plumbing.
Among them was bar owner Thomas de Villiers, 31, whose experience mirrors that of many younger residents. After moving to Orania with his family when he was eight, he later left for Cape Town before deciding to return.
He told AFP that the high cost of living in the city ultimately drew him back to the town.
Charlotte van Niekerk, 22, also returned after spending part of her childhood in Orania. She lived there between the ages of four and 14 before her family relocated to nearby farms.
"Lot of kids that grew up with me can't wait to be 18 so they can just leave this place," she said.
"But it's funny because they go away and then a lot of the time they just come back after a couple of years when they've seen it's not so wonderful out there."
Van Niekerk, who works in marketing, said she misses having access to a cinema but believes a training college launched in 2019 has transformed life in the town, reports the Daily Mail.
The institution currently has around 250 students, almost all of whom come from outside Orania. Like permanent residents, they are selected according to criteria including ethnicity, religion, a strong work ethic and a clean criminal record.
Town spokesman Joost Strydom told AFP the college hopes to increase enrolment to around 800 students within the next four years, with new accommodation already under construction.
Although employment opportunities remain limited in the area and nearby Hopetown, home to around 10,000 people, lies about 25 miles away, students still contribute to the local economy through spending at businesses including the petrol station, supermarket and bars.
For student David Loock, 21, the lifestyle offers a marked contrast to life in South Africa's larger cities.
"The social life is quite different from Pretoria or Joburg," he said.
"We go fishing in our free time."
As he spoke, a friend showed off a photograph of a large catfish caught in the Orange River, which runs alongside the town. Motocross is another popular pastime among residents.
Divan van der Westhuizen, 19, moved to Orania from Johannesburg, roughly 600 kilometres away, and said the adjustment had been significant.
"It's been a big change coming from where you mingle with a lot of people," he said.
"It did me good to be back with my own people, the Afrikaners."
The moustachioed teenager, dressed in what he described as "Boere-style" shorts, said he had grown to appreciate the town's close-knit atmosphere.
Orania represents only a small proportion of South Africa's Afrikaner community, which was estimated at around 2.6 million people out of a national population of 62 million in 2022.
However, its emphasis on preserving Afrikaner identity has found support among some younger members of the community, echoing trends seen among younger supporters of Donald Trump's Make America Great Again movement in the United States and some right-wing parties in Europe.
Afrikaners led successive South African governments during the apartheid era, when the country's black majority was subjected to racial segregation and political exclusion. Universal voting rights were only introduced in 1994.
The transition to democratic rule prompted concerns among some Afrikaners about the future of their language, culture and identity.
While thousands of Afrikaners have been attracted by US President Donald Trump's offer of refuge to white South Africans, others have chosen to move to Orania instead.
One of them is 23-year-old Doret Le Cornu, who relocated to the town three years ago.
"This is a place where we want to build on that culture and not lose it," she told AFP.
"We are the majority here, without having to fear that there are a bigger majority around us."
Cara Tomlinson, 25, believes the town offers a sense of comfort and familiarity.
"Orania is a place where you can be yourself," she said.
"In your house you can just lay down on the couch, watching TV.
"But at a stranger's home you should sit upright, talk to them nicely, and I think that's the difference."
In May 2025, the first group of 59 Afrikaners arrived in the United States after Washington suspended its broader refugee resettlement programme for people fleeing conflict and persecution in countries including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan.
Last month, the Trump administration announced plans to increase the number of white South Africans admitted as refugees this year from around 7,500 to 17,500, arguing that "unforeseen developments in South Africa created an emergency refugee situation".
Afrikaner-led governments oversaw the apartheid system, which enforced brutal racial segregation and discrimination against South Africa's black majority until its collapse in 1994.
