Water

Plans are in place to address shortfalls in water delivery.

The inability to deliver water to consumers reliably continues to affect municipalities and several steps are being taken to fix the problem.

In addition to a Provincial War Room on water which was announced in 2022, a Steering Committee has been established with the National Department of Water and Sanitation. A mobile app is to be introduced to enable citizens to alert authorities to water problems quickly.

A panel of experts has identified water and bulkwater supply as among the sectors that should be prioritised when it comes to creating “Mega Infrastructure Projects”. The projects were identified based on stage of readiness, bankability, socio-economic impact and ability to be implemented timeously.

The N12 highway was badly flooded in November 2022, causing huge delays to traffic and damaging the road itself. The sum of R100million has been allocated to repair it.

The community of Deelpan, near Sannieshof, has agreed to a relocation from the low-lying land which they current occupy and which was prone to flooding.

The province has 83 sewage-treatment plants, and the national Blue Drop award system has found that most of them need improvement.

JB Marks Local Municipality, which has Potchefstroom as its main town, is one of only three municipalities in the country that acts as a water-service authority and as a service provider. It has won awards for its levels of service. The biggest service providers active in the North West are:

• Rand Water.

• Sedibeng Water (which has taken over the service area of Botshelo Water).

• Midvaal Water Company, which supplies water to Matlosana (Klerksdorp).

• Magalies Water serves two of the local municipalities in the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality, Moses Kotane and Rustenburg. It also supplies water to five mines in the province and is active in the provinces of Gauteng and Limpopo.

Blue Drop Awards: www.ewisa.co.za

National Department of Water and Sanitation: www.dws.gov.za

South African Association of Water Utilities: www.saawu.org.za

South Africa is a water-scarce country and water management is critical to economic planning. The western part of North West Province is particularly dry.

In the eastern part of the province, national government has sent water tanks to some parts, and has upgraded the treatment plants upstream from the Hartbeespoort Dam.

Three of South Africa’s six major catchment areas are located in the province: the Limpopo, the Orange and the Vaal. Within these catchment areas, only the Vaal River has a strong-enough flow to allow for significant amounts of water to be taken from it directly to support irrigation or industry. There are four water-management areas in the province, three of which are linked to the Vaal River. Water is imported into the provincial system through transfers between water basins. ■

Tourism revenues have recovered after Covid.

The North West Parks Board will spend R4-million on skills development.

Lowveld, has more than 7 000 animals, 360 bird species, and more than 200km of roads.

The North West relies heavily on tourism to generate revenue and to create and support jobs. The diversity of the province’s tourism offering gave the sector a good chance of recovering more quickly from Covid than some other less agile sectors.

Sun City (golf, conferencing and hotels) and several game lodges within game reserves are world famous, with several private lodges being recognised in international annual awards on a regular basis. Birding, fishing, hunting and hot-air ballooning are among other popular pursuits and Potchefstroom has outstanding sporting facilities.

According to the provincial government, tourism revenue reached R6-billion in 2022, a marked recovery from the R1.1-billion recorded in 2020. The 2023 State of the Province Address included these projections for the period to the end of 2023:

• international arrivals to grow to an estimated 700 000

• tourism revenue to grow to an estimated R8-billion

• tourism-supported jobs to grow to an estimated 25 000

The Provincial Government of the North West is trying to leverage the tourism and hospitality sector to foster employment opportunities. In 2022, the sector recruited and placed 100 unemployed youth at various participating host companies so that they could obtain workbased experience. They were paid a monthly stipend. A further 444 work opportunities were created in the environmental sector and the intention is to create a further 250 job opportunities in the 2023/24 financial year.

The malaria-free Pilanesberg National Park, located in the ecologically-rich transition zone between the Kalahari and the

Although the reserve that lies just to the north of Sun City is known as Pilanesberg National Park, in fact it falls under the North West Parks Board and is one of many parks and reserves controlled by the province. Both Pilanesberg and Madikwe have gained international reputations.

The Seboka Game Lodge, pictured from above, has officially been launched by the MEC responsible for the North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT). The four-star lodge, a redistribution project initiated by the National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, is located on the Koster Dam within 700ha of bush that is home to 13 kinds of buck, giraffe, buffalo and zebra, along with vibrant bird life.

Sun City has a range of venues available for hire ranging from a 12-seater Council Room to the Superbowl which can accommodate 6 000, and just about everything in between. With six kinds of accommodation, two outstanding golf courses, casinos and a choice-filled entertainment complex, the Sun City Resort is a major tourism asset and significant employer in the province.

Sun City is far from being the province’s only conference venue. Tourism North West lists on its website a range of venue from small guesthouses with conference facilities in towns such as Rustenburg and Brits to lodges on the banks of the Hartbeespoort Dam.

In the provincial capital, Mahikeng, there are several options: among them are the Mmabatho Palms Hotel Casino Convention Resort, part of the Peermont group, which has hotels and casinos in six of South Africa’s provinces. Mmabatho Palms offers eight gaming tables and slot machines. Gaming is controlled in South Africa and licences are restricted to certain operators.

The Seboka Game Lodge, pictured from above, has officially been launched by the MEC responsible for the North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT). The four-star lodge, a redistribution project initiated by the National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, is located on the Koster Dam within 700ha of bush that is home to 13 kinds of buck, giraffe, buffalo and zebra, along with vibrant bird life.

The North West Parks and Tourism Board (NWPTB) is investing in the province’s 12 smaller parks with the intention of creating jobs.

In partnership with the National Department of Tourism, work has begun on the Manyane Game Lodge in Mahikeng, with a budget allocation of R43-million. Another project envisages a mega-park in the north-western sector of the province, the Heritage Park.

An additional 24 000 hectares of land is to be conserved through a biodiversity stewardship programme that forms part of the North West Protected Areas Expansion Strategy and Implementation Plan.

The NWPTB aims to protect representative ecosystems in ways that make them resilient to climate change and create opportunities for local communities to make a sustainable living. Finding a balance between agricultural activities and tourism is not the only challenge in an area that also frequently experiences droughts.

The NWPTB is unique in South Africa in that it is the only provincial government entity that runs a hotel school. The Institute of Hotel and Tourism Management (IHTM) has two campuses, one in Mahikeng

Marico Tourism: www.marico.co.za

North West Development Corporation: www.nwdc.co.za

North West Parks Board: www.northwestparks.org.za

Tourism North West: www.tourismnorthwest.co.za and one at Ga-Rankuwa outside Pretoria. High tea in Mahikeng, pictured, can be a special experience.

Several regional tourism organisations market local products:

• Harties Tourism Association

• Matlosana Tourism Association

• Mooinooi: Buffelspoort Valley

• N12 Treasure Route Association

• Potch Tourism Association

• Vredefort Dome Tourism Association

• Taung is the site of the first discovered fossil of Australopithecus africanus.

• The Vredefort Dome is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its significance as the landing site of a meteorite many millions of years ago.

The Fac ulty of Economic and Management Sciences at the North-West University offers Tourism Management and the professors and researchers are at the top of their profession. ■