SA nudist outrages Afrikaner town

Orania residents do not want more white skin on display

Residents of South Africa's all-white enclave of Orania are outraged at plans to open a nudist colony in their town.

Well-known nudist Beau Brummel said he planned to open the resort on a farm in the Afrikaner area despite the protest.

"Tell everyone that Orania is becoming nude. The nudist king is coming to town," he said.

Orania founder Carel Boshoff said he suspected Mr Brummel's move was a joke. A town resident said: "We will oppose it with our whole being."

We will walk naked in Africa Beau Brummel

"We are children of God and we do not want a bunch of kaalgatte (naked people) in our town," Bettie Schutte told The Mercury Newspaper.

Orania was established in the early 1990s by white South Africans who wanted to keep a racially exclusive community after the end of apartheid.

'Cold'

According to Die Burger newspaper, Mr Brummel plans to open his nudist resort in three weeks.

Orania is a very tolerant community, which allows for individual differences, but racism would not be allowed Eleanor Lombard Orania spokesperson

Orania founder Carel Boshoff said the authorities have not been officially approached about the scheme and he is reported to have asked whether Mr Brummel knew how cold it got in Orania.

"I don't worry about permission... we will walk naked in Africa," The Mercury quotes the naturist as saying.

Seven years ago, Mr Brummel was trouble with the South Africa's Human Rights Commission after he wanted to open a whites-only nudist colony in Durban, Sapa news agency reports.

He has dismissed claims that he is being racist by opening up a nudist colony in the Afrikaner-only enclave.

"It's difficult enough to try and get people of different races who are fully clothed to live alongside one another, but what about different races without their clothes?" he said.

But the Orania Movement's spokesperson said Mr Brummel's plan would not be allowed as it was racist and in Orania the focus was on mutual language, culture and historical background.

"Orania is a very tolerant community, which allows for individual differences, but racism would not be allowed," Sapa quotes Eleanor Lombard as saying.

"Brummel's preference to walk around naked is his own business, but when he wants to draw Orania in on his plans to open a nudist farm for whites only he is on the wrong path," she said.