Witzenberg Municipality
School in Ceres

The Witzenberg Municipality is committed to improve the quality of life of its community by.
Witzenberg Municipality will be embarking on a botanical garden project with local schools in Tulbagh and Wolseley.

Local economic development, including planning and development and industrial development management. It is a joint undertaking by national government, local government and the private sector to provide a multipurpose water scheme which supplies sufficient water for the local inhabitants for the next 30 to 40 years. In addition, they supply water to a number of industries connected with the local agricultural sector. The Koekedouw Irrigation Board comprises approximately 50 individual commercial farmers who will use the water to produce fruit which is sold on the local and international markets. About 15% of the water allocated for irrigation will be used to create an irrigation scheme for emerging farmers. The approach to financing of the two parties is a new development with government and private sector playing a role. NATIONAL APPLICABILITY As government funding allocation priorities in the new South Africa change, more and more reliance will be placed on the private sector to provide infrastructure development. The inclusion of water allocation for emerging irrigation farmers together with pro-active input from commercial farmers together with government agencies to create a viable emerging farmer scheme is in line with the Masimanyane principle. TECHNOLOGY Assessment of the site, which is located in the most seismically active area in South Africa, has led to the selection of a rockfill dam with a central asphalt core, the first of its type in South Africa. This type of dam has been used in Europe for the last 40 years, but has only become relatively frequently used over the last 15 to 20 years. Expertise to the construction phase was supplied to the main contractor, Grinaker Construction by a nominated subcontractor which is a joint venture between a South African company, Colas (South) specialising in the manufacture and supply of asphalt and a Norwegian contractor, Korsbrekke og Lorch AS (KOLO) who are specialist in the construction of asphalt cores. KOLO are currently involved with the construction of several other asphalt core dams internally. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS This project was the first private sector funded dam project in South Africa which had implemented the process of determining and providing for in stream flow requirements. Environmental management during the construction process has also been adopted as part of the project. The process has resulted in some changes to the design. The Ceres Koekedouw Management Committee were actively involved with the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, the Department of Agriculture, the Development Bank of SOuthern Africa and other interested organisations in setting up the necessary structures and systems to assist the emerging farmers onto the eland. The intention was that the commercial farming sector, together with funding agencies and government departments will maintain an active involvement in ensuring that the emerging farmer project is successful. Improving the quality of life of the local community and accessibility of service The tariff structure for water is such that industry and the better off sectors of the community will subsidise the cost of water to the disadvantaged community. The price of water to the disadvantaged community forms a relatively small portion of the total water demand once industry and agriculture are accounted for. CONTRIBUTION TO JOB CREATION The agricultural component of the project resulted in the development of a further 800 ha of irrigation which is anticipated to provide some 800 permanent and a further 800 seasonal job opportunities in the agricultural sector alone. The increased fruit production will have spin-offs for local industry resulting in additional job opportunities in the industrial sector. AFFORDABILITY OF PROJECT The affordability of the project has been vetted by the funding agencies including two commercial banking organisations, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. A financial viability study for the agricultural sector was undertaken. This will enable revenue from the scheme to be accumulated over remaining life of the scheme to provide future water supplies and other infrastructure development for the area.