The Ministry of Rural Development and Land Reform will spend R66 million for social and economic development in Dysselsdorp, Minister Gugile Nkwinti told Dysselsdorp residents in the Western Cape during his community consultations on Saturday, 6 February 2010.
Minister Nkwinti, together with the provincial government and Dysselsdorp community leadership, undertook inspection and consultations in the impoverished rural area as part of a process of addressing social and economic development and tackling outstanding land reform issues.
Dysselsdorp, which has been selected by the provincial government to be the pilot site for Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) in the Western Cape, has an estimated 22 000 residents and is situated 10 kilometres outside Oudtshoorn in the heart of the Klein Karoo. It is characterised by high employment, lack of water, few social services and a need to address land restitution.
At a local clinic, nutrition advisor June Jantjies told the minister that their food garden could not be maintained as only four out of the 73 workers could be employed due to financial constraints. There was also a major water shortage, which Western Cape Agriculture MEC Gerrit van Rensburg immediately undertook to prioritise by supporting the community with water harvesting technologies including the supply of water tanks and perma-culture.
Some 2 000ha of land was identified for title adjustment and possible establishment of an agri-park under irrigation from the Olifants River. Such a project will contribute to food production, agri-processing and job creation.
Minister Nkwinti also visited residents’ homes during a walkabout and spoke to them about needs and aspirations. He also saw firsthand the cramped and dilapidated conditions in which they lived, undertaking to ease their plight.
He undertook to inject a total of R66 million into the local economy for both social and economic development of Dysselsdorp – R36 million of this amount is financial compensation for the successful land claimants and the other R30 million for overall development of the area as part of the CRDP.
The minster committed his department to compensating the community before the end of next month but cautioned them to use the compensation prudently to lift themselves out of the vortex of poverty. “Politics must be put aside and let’s focus on the needs of the people. If we fight, we must fight about how to take the project forward,” he warned.
As part of the CRDP process to address poverty and lack of development in rural areas and implement a provincial specific rural development programme, the ministry will undertake a comprehensive profiling of the area’s needs, based on house-to-house assessments. An intergovernmental task team made up of 13 departments will be set up to do the CRDP groundwork, before council stakeholders made up of community members take over to oversee the planning and execution of the programme.
Enquiries:
Eddie Mohoebi
Tel: 012 312 9648
Cell: 082 550 1445
Issued by: Department of Rural Development and Land Reform
8 February 2010
