In a conciliatory gesture, then-President Nelson Mandela, visited the town in 1995 to have tea with Betsie Verwoerd, widow of Hendrik Verwoerd.[40] Orania reached 200 permanent inhabitants in 1996,[34] while the 2001 Census found 519 residents.[41] By 1998 R15 million had been invested in the town, for expenses including the upgrading of water and electricity supply, roads and businesses.[42] A vi