'We do not fly the South African flag'

The people of Kleinfontein vow that no one other than an Afrikaner will ever live among them.

For over two decades the enclave of Kleinfontein went relatively unnoticed on an 800ha stretch of private land in Donkerhoek, on the outskirts of eastern Pretoria.

That was until last year when the Gauteng legislature's portfolio committee on community safety was told that black police officers were not allowed inside the enclave.

Everybody in the settlement - from a camouflage uniform-clad security guard at the gate to the gardener in 71-year-old resident Marike Fourie's yard - is a white Afrikaner.

Asked if a black person could ever be allowed to live there, the chairman of the property's controlling body Jan Groenewald said a resident must be "an Afrikaner with Voortrekker heritage, be a Protestant Christian and abide by the Blood River covenant... we do not think in terms of race, we think in terms of culture... [but] you cannot ignore the fact that we have different races, that is the reality".

He dismissed suggestions that it was an apartheid-style whites-only enclave, saying anybody was allowed to enter provided they had an appointment - but only Afrikaners were allowed to live there.

"It is private property and you have to make an appointment like with any other private property."

He conceded that residents included Afrikaner extremists who were leaders of right-wing groups but pointed out that they were kept in line by the community's directors.

"They are stronger in their feelings for Afrikaner self-determination but here the authority is the board of directors. We do not allow any form of racism ... this is a place where we can neutralise these extremist views," he said.

He said the ultimate goal of the community was self-determination as Afrikaner people, as enshrined in article 235 of the constitution.

"We do not fly the South African flag because [South Africa] is a unitary state - the reason we find ourselves in this situation," he said.

Groenewald said the community will lobby the Tshwane municipality for the town to be declared independent from the municipality .

"Eventually, the ANC government will have to approve what we are doing here."

Within the boundaries of the settlement are the graves of British soldiers killed in the Anglo-Boer War. Game, including antelope and zebra, roam the area.

Housewife Corne Beetge, 38, said the settlement was a "safe haven" for her family and about 1000 other Afrikaners, 450 of whom are shareholders in the property.

Beetge, her businessman husband, and their four-year-old son Waldo moved into a two-bedroom house on Visvanger Laan, in Nedersetting, the working-class section of the enclave, over a year ago from Krugersdorp on the West Rand, where they felt "unsafe".

Their R4500 monthly rent covers electricity, water, waste and rubbish removal and 24-hour security.

Most of Kleinfontein residents are retired people and professionals such as scientists, engineers, geologists, pharmacists, accountants, nurses and business people.

It has its own bank, grocer's and insurance offices.

Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel said some members of his organisation lived in the settlement but "we are not involved in the management of the town".