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New home for Nhlangulene On Friday 07 March 2014 motorists were treated to the sight of a life-size bronze elephant sculpture making its way from the V&A Waterfront to Grande Provence estate. The sculpture by Jean Doyle is of Nhlangulene – one of the first elephant bulls introduced into the Kruger Park. Nhlangulene became famous for his immense size. Standing 340 cm at shoulder height, his tusk lengths were 317 cm (left) and 305 cm (right). The bull died of natural causes in 1987, aged approximately 55 years. As was to be expected moving the behemoth was a challenge. Loading it on a truck in the Waterfront was only the first hurdle. Special arrangements had to be made with the provincial traffic department for the 3 hour journey to Franschhoek, could only start after 10h00 due to traffic. Once here the sculpture had to be loaded on a smaller truck for the final part of the journey along the narrow farm road through the estate to its final destination in the sculpture garden. The sculpture is for sale with proceeds going to the Out of Africa Children’s Foundation, that endeavours to improve the quality of life of children suffering from terminal diseases in South Africa. Kim Highfield, founder of the Out of Africa Children’s Foundation said “Getting to know one of South Africa’s top artists, Jean Doyle, has been amazing. Jean is such a lady and so humble – as for her talent ... well just look at her majestic elephant! Out of the kindness of her heart she has let Out of Africa Children’s Foundation use her elephant as a huge mascot to create awareness for our organization and our children in South Africa. This
Preparing for the last bit of the journey journey with the elephant may be at an end for us but our friendship will go on...” Highfield also had high praise for Tandem Cranes, who on Doyle’s recommendation, have now moved the elephant three times. “We found them to be so very generous in their sponsorship, not to mention professional – nothing was ever too difficult or impossible. And they always did it with a smile on their faces, even at 5 o’clock in the morning.” www.outofafricacf.org
Muni to assess economic advantages Stellenbosch Municipality, as part of its Local Economic Development (LED) function, has embarked on a process to assess its competitive advantages. The process ties in with its strategic goal of establishing Stellenbosch Municipality as a preferred investment destination. The assessment tool being used for the purpose is a Participatory Appraisal of Competitive Advantage (PACA). A PACA aims to formulate and implement economic development strategies at community level and focuses on quick and tangible results while providing a rapid appraisal of the local economy and its competitive and comparative advantages. The PACA exercise commenced on 19 March 2014. The aim of the PACA is to review the Municipality’s LED strategy. This approach is participatory and is based on the active involvement of those key stakeholders in the economy who have relevant resources at their disposal (know-how, money, time, delivery capacity, etc.). Successful local economic development involves a constructive relationship between the public and the private sector.
PACA will be rolled out through a series of miniworkshops and interviews with local stakeholders. The main point, however, is not to overwhelm local stakeholders with a multitude of proposals but rather to limit the number of proposals. When suggestions are made, the following should be asked, can it be done with local resources? Can it be implemented quickly? And, is it achievable? Although PACA identifies the challenges for growing the local economy, it also looks at the opportunities which improve the local business environment within a short period of time. The initial PACA exercise will indicate a variety of market failures and obvious opportunities for businesses and business promotion. With the completion of the first diagnostic, various local actors will start to implement, sometimes jointly, practical activities to address market failures and to exploit opportunities. Contact Widmark Moses on 021 808 8179 or widmark.moses@stellenbosch.gov.za should you wish to partake in the PACA or want more information about the PACA.
Email: info@stellenboschblinds.co.za • Fax: 021 886 8516