Acornhoek (L7)

Acornhoek - near Hoedspruit Limpopo, South Africa

Situated in the former Bushbuckridge homeland area, Acornhoek is historically inhabited by Shangaan and Sotho-speakers. Acornhoek presents an interesting profile of an area that suffers from significant population level factors that influence HIV transmission. These include mobility and migration; gender inequality (rape and gender based violence are common) and extreme levels of poverty and underdevelopment.Historically people who now live in Acornhoek settled all the way up to Phalaborwa in the north and down to Nelspruit in the south, but in the 1940s and 50s people were forcibly removed to “homelands” including Acornhoek. Today at least 750 000 people have settled here. About 25% of residents in the Bushbuckridge area are Mozambican refugees, chronically displaced as a result of the civil war. This has resulted in ongoing trans-migration between Acornhoek and southern Mozambique. Also, 60% of the local men migrate to work, mainly to the mines and other industries in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, some working as labourers on Limpopo farms. Men often only return home twice a year and this has profound implications in terms of social and familial cohesion and gender relationships.

Visitors to Tintswalo Hospital in Acornhoek cross a small bridge over a railway track. It’s impossible to ignore “Elite Funerals” an undertaking concern painted a cheerful purple and that is situated just to the left of the hospital’s main gate. Tintswalo is a collection of outbuildings, some prefabricated, others with peeling paint. A few new brick buildings house the admin section. The buildings are linked by covered walkways that offer scant shelter when the heavens open. Before 1994, the bridge divided Acornhoek. Below the line was declared Shangaan while above was Sotho. If you happened to be Sotho and fell ill, you’d be treated at Mapulaneng Hospital, about 30km to the south. Pronyk explains that doctors and nurses refused to treat patients deemed to be from the “wrong area”.“Doctors wouldn’t care for you, nurses wouldn’t care for you, pastors wouldn’t minister to you in your language. You needed an ID to come in and it was a pretty dramatic thing at the time. Since transition it’s been a real struggle to define district boundaries and rationalize referral patterns based on geographical proximity rather on what ethnic group you belong to,” he explains. Often those who are successful in managing regional structures in Limpopo are outsiders who don’t get caught up in old political squabbles.Getting anything to grow in Acornhoek is almost impossible. The climate is extreme and water is scarce, a situation exacerbated by the commercial forestry industry in the area. The water infrastructure that does exist is mostly stand alone and not well co-ordinated. Apart from this, maintenance of this infrastructure is poor.The result of poor access to water and food is borne out in the nutrition ward at Tintswalo that is often filled with children with Kwashiorkor or Marasmus, consequences of severe malnutrition.The 2000 South African Health Review rated Limpopo as the province with the worst levels of stunting in the country - 34.2% of children between six and 71 months.“You see this all the time here at Tintswalo Hospital and that was long before HIV was a problem,” Pronyk adds, pointing out that malnutrition and diarrhoeal disease are the primary causes of death in young children in the area.

Source: http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20030959

Another snippet:The Department is also aware that there are several more dense areas in this municipality which require potential new waterborne solutions and/or upgrade of existing systems, such as Acornhoek, which comprises of a college, a business complex, a hospital, as well as high density residential areas. The present sanitation service of the Acornhoek urban core comprises septic tanks, pit latrines and localized small sewage systems. Sewage management at present is inadequate and pollution via sewage discharges and seepage towards the Acornhoek Dam has been observed. The Department funded a project to the value of R1,3 million comprising repairs and upgrading of the Ntentswalo installation, outfall sewer and new ponds, which was completed in July 2005.

Source:http://www.dwaf.gov.za/communications/Q&A/2006/662NA19Jun06.doc.Amanzimloti Bush Camp --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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