‘Future looks green’ – Vhembe working to become tourist destination of choice in Limpopo

Limpopo is known by many people as the food basket of the nation, but with a newly purchased fleet of trucks for waste removal, the Vhembe region and its administrative centre, Thohoyandou, may also become a tourist destination of choice.

Yesterday, mayor of the Thulamela local municipality Athongozwidivha Sarah Rambuda handed over a fleet of waste removal trucks to the community, with the aim of turning the dirty and littered streets of Thohoyandou and its surrounding villages into a tourist destination of choice in Limpopo and beyond the province’s borders.

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The mostly rural municipality includes, according to the council, about 500 000 people and 130 321 households. The municipality occupies an area of more than 2 893 square kilometres.

Tourist destination of choice

Located about 100km from the Beitbridge border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe, the municipality is densely populated and its public institutions, such as technical and vocational education and training colleges, and Economic Development Agency premises, the town and roads attract litter.

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“But that stops here and now, if this new fleet of waste removal trucks purchased today is anything to go by,” said Rambuda during a handover ceremony at the municipal buildings yesterday.

“One of the pillars of attracting more visitors to our area is to have an environment which is not only protected from degradation, but also which is aesthetically attractive to visitors.

“We are based within the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, making our area a most viable commodity in terms of attracting visitors.

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“This purchase is bound to make our municipal area and all its towns squeaky clean and because of this we anticipate this town will become a tourist destination of choice and one of the cleanest in Limpopo,” she said.

‘Future looks green’

Municipal manager Masala Makumule said before the arrival of the new fleet, the council had 19 compactor trucks, two skip loader trucks, two tractor-loader-backhoes, two four-ton trucks and four load delivery vehicles.

“We are now hopeful for the future. We hope henceforth we will be able to provide much-needed essential services to all our residents as part of our concerted effort to provide a clean and healthy environment for the people of Thohoyandou, as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

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“We have now bought four skip loader trucks and two compactor trucks, all worth just about R11 million.

“Our new compactor trucks will improve capacity and scaleup waste collection services for the municipality. We didn’t have enough trucks to address all the waste management challenges.

“We are also aware that much more is still needed to address the protracted waste management issues within your communities. But from where I am standing, the future looks green,” Makumule said.

– news@citizen.co.za