Project aims to revive small towns

The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogtha) Small Town Regeneration (STR) project aims to uplift smaller towns through projects that will allow people to reach their full potential and revive the economy through infrastructural, economic, and social development improvements.

The other two towns that are part of the project are Senekal-Matwabeng in the Free State and Piketberg, a town about 120 km north of Cape Town.

Coghta has appointed Citeplan, a company that specialises in spatial planning, land use management, and local authority planning and management, to kickstart the project in Modimolle. Istell Orton of Cite plan has already held two meetings with stakeholders involved in the project.

According to Syd Catton of Waterberg Tourism, there is a team with representatives from the Modimolle-Mookgophong Municipality and one that represents all levels of the community’s social and business structures. The community task team comprises amongst others members of Waterberg Tourism, the Waterberg Business Chamber and Aksie Opknap.

According to Catton, the aim is that neither team will be in charge of the other, but that they will work in collaboration to establish priorities.

“In one of the other two towns they have registered a non-profit company to roll out developments as part of their agreed spatial development plans. There is no budget for team members, and thus will need to raise funds themselves for projects,” he said.

The community team met again last week to discuss possible projects that will benefit the community. Some of the issues they discussed were the possibility of setting up a market space for street vendors and the need for public bathrooms along the main street as well as cleaning up the dam in the centre of town to make it a tourist attraction.

For more information about the project, contact Catton on tel. 071 473 5410.