Meetings per focus group with specific key role-players

Meetings were held during September and October 2022 with the following focus groups: Safety, Health, Education, Agriculture, Business, Tourism, Religion and Sport.

The Municipality asked each focus group the following questions:

• Do you know what your sector is planning for the Swartland area?

• What is the sector's outlook for the next 5 to10 years?

• What strategic interventions have already been budgeted for?

• How can Swartland Municipality and the sector take hands to ensure a more sustainable future for the sector?

• Any other issues that you want to bring under Swartland Municipality's attention.

The inputs received are summarised below per focus group.

AGRICULTURE

• Rising cost of agricultural land that impacts on municipal rates and taxes.

• Safety / Theft / Vandalism - crime should be addressed in a more holistic manner.

• Social issues such as alcohol and drug abuse, school drop outs, teenage pregnancies and unemployment.

• Partnership with Swartland Municipality regarding electricity and water needs as well as the potential for a collective beneficial partnership.

• Traffic problems - agricultural machinery are increasing in size and becoming more and more difficult to move through towns.

• The provision of a municipal household waste removal service on farms should be investigated.

• Municipal land adjacent to provincial or national roads should not be leased to farmers for grazing unless properly fenced.

BUSINESS

• Municipality and business sector to work together to create a safer environment.

• Create a partnership between Municipality and business chambers

• Taxation of businesses (more affordable tax rates)

• Sustainable power (look into sustainable power sources and better rates) in collaboration with businesses

• Generator for traffic department (motor shops are unable to register vehicles affecting business)

• Fibre in industrial area

• Make provision for small businesses (SMME’s)

• Plots for small businesses

• Industrial sector is not "friendly" to businesses.

• TVET Colleges- training and skills school

• Gap in skill development at school

• Industrial area seeks own bylaws 

• Inform people about regulations (session on legislation or regulations for the business sector so that they can understand it better)

• Explain tender process to businesses.

• Construction industries are struggling to find artisans.

• Artisanship (school where children can work with their hands)

• Municipality should not only provide service but also bring sectors in the Swartland together.

• Legislation is the business sector's biggest obstacle.

• The curriculum of the colleges must be adapted so that it keeps up with the realities of the world.

• We need to look at SETA’s for training 

EDUCATION

• More primary and high schools

• Libraries for schools

• Schools with a main focus on agriculture and engineering subjects

• Businesses with Department of Education and Swartland Municipality to discuss initiative of schools

• Collaborative schools to improve education in no-fee schools

• Technical school skills are important for the future. Also the provision of skills development centres.

• Mobile schools may also be an option

• Skills centres 

HEALTH

• More funding and vehicles are needed for Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

• Community structures must work with EMS to help with less serious incidences while EMS only work with emergencies.

• Re-establish full package of care in next 5 years. Make health everyone's business so that we can all work together.

• Infrastructure is not on a level to address all the services in respect of primary healthcare. This is a big need. A replacement is planned for Riebeek Kasteel while plans to upgrade are on the table for Moorreesburg and Darling.

• Clinics in Chatsworth and Abbotsdale will be open five days a week in 2023.

• Mobile dental bus is needed.

• Elective theatre work has become urgent.

• Strengthen current systems to improve quality and efficiency of care 

RELIGION

• Believe must be creating in the community (culture of Swartland)

• The culture of the town. We have to work hard on it. Culture must be lived out.

• Prayer meetings (get together regularly and pray for each other)

• Integration communication

• Town must keep the "tranquillity"

• All parts of religion must come together (churches must be together-one body)

• Help each other and the community

• Contribution to values

• Municipality should involve churches in conversations

• Marriages is a problem in the Swartland (not lasting)

• Socio economic problems

• Street dwellers is a problem

• Reward System is being misuse (people get things they did not work for or vandalize things given to them. They lose the value for things)

• Job creation

• Churches must also pass on the things they are busy with to Municipality

• Pressure of water and sewerage (what is being done so that it can keep up with Swartland’ s growth)

• Swartland eco hub

• With growth, there must also be control

• Municipality must also pass on positive information to the community in the IDP.

• Safe houses / Larger night shelter

• Influx of young professionals, faith sector's focus must be to create a place for the young people

• Struggling with violence in Wesbank & Ilingelethu

• Each church must do its part to avoid duplication

• Parkrun good platform to get community together

• A healthy mind makes the body healthy.

• List of social issues from Swartland so that churches can pray for them

• Division is one of the major issues in the country

• Referral framework must be explained to the church e.g. if someone ends up on the street where they can be referred  

SAFETY

• Problem with protesting groups regarding housing

• Where will all the people who come in live and where will they work

• As our towns grow, so must job creation

• Safety will depend on what the community looks like i.e. no work, food causes people to start doing crime

• Social circumstances of people (roll over to safety)

• Create an environment where people work, children go to school and can play in the road. People can roam freely (law enforcement)

• Safe environment is not just SAPS Municipality also has an important role

• Resources must grow with the development of the town

• Community safety forum

• Funding and manpower are a problem for safety

• Street dwellers is getting out of control

• Land availability for businesses

• Lobby with Minister for expansion of SAPS

• Expanding law enforcement's capabilities

• More money for armed response

• Sustainable future: in evening more visibility of law enforcement and apply discipline

• Accountability of SAPS and Law Enforcement

• SAPS needs to communicate with external partners also 

• SAPS needs active participation from community (Make people aware of the safety in their area. It is also each person's responsibility)

• Economic area gets effected by poverty area

• Crime is a key to the demise of economic growth

• Socio-economic crime

• Accountability and pride of a community = safe community

• Change the mind-set of "runners" - it starts with young children. If children have respect for the blue uniform, they grow up with that mind-set

• Neighbourhood – and farm watches: lobby for a change in legislation for them to get more power (for support)

• Municipal Law Enforcement does not have much power

• Rural reservist (engage with Minister of Agriculture for rural reservists)

• Intervention with Department of Justice

• Work towards having control of crime

• Respond to calls

• Proposal: each town has its own safety hub and this is how they communicate with each other (law enforcement)

• Engagement with Farm safety / Rural safety

• Safety needs of each town in the Swartland area

• Municipal Court 

SPORT

"A child in sport is a child out of court”

• Equipment on fields in place

• Building a stadium could bring in money

• Multipurpose facility - buildings in Wesbank that are empty can be used

• Other avenues of investing in facilities

• Infrastructure needs to improve

• Fields must not belong to one club. It is a community field.

• Proposal: Solar panels on the roofs of field’s podiums

• All sports clubs must be under one union. Make it easy to play sport

• Municipality should communicate more with the sports sector

• Big sports unions should be able to control clubs. Municipality should try to transfer powers to big sports unions

• Surface of courts (tennis and netball) - courts are dangerous to play on

• Look at recreational facilities

• DCAS too much red tape 

TOURISM

• Swartland known as the most diversified and desired tourism destination in South Africa.

• To be one of top 3 regions to visit when visiting the Western Cape

• To have the Swartland region highlighted as an exciting destination with a wide variety of activities for visitors to enjoy.

• The development of each town's unique character and characteristics.

• Good support and maintenance of tourism attractions.

• Assistance to the private sector and tourism organizations' initiatives.

• Development and maintenance of a variety of activities that appeal to the tourist. e.g. bike and walking trails; outdoor gyms and play parks for vacationers;

• Cleanliness of all the towns

• Safety of towns and attractions. (increasing crime - burglaries, theft, gang violence)

• Inclusive development and involvement of all communities.

• Recognition of the role that the private sector and volunteers play in the tourism sector of the Swartland Municipal area.

• Adequate funding to the tourism organization. Their main task is marketing and fundraising. Tourism organizations' financial contribution is indirect.

• Sustainable power

• We would love to see the uniqueness of the Swartland re-focused and promoted, as well as new initiatives to lure more spending feet.

• We see a trendy and contemporary environment that will promote and inspire a high standard of living.

• Financial input from the tourism sector can assist with the upliftment of the homeless and underprivileged.

• High petrol prices, accommodations being too expensive, high living costs

• Municipal services and amenities cannot always keep up in season.

• Yzerfontein’ s Municipal Caravan Park: Upgrade the playground for children and the cottages.

• Upgrade harbour toilets (Yzerfontein)

• Ease the process of applying for road signs and event permits - specifically also the turnaround time with answers 

• Less red tape for entrepreneurs/ tourism (event licence procedure simplified.)

• Openness and encouraging policies that can ignite new development in the existing sectors

• Aggressive promotion of what we already have to offer

• People have different understandings/ideas of what tourism development entails and how the formal tourism structures must get involved.

• The involvement of the wider community in the formal tourism structures is and remains an issue, because involvement is voluntary and unpaid.

• A shortage of public transport for tourists.

• Road sign applications and event permit applications take too long.

• Cooperation between the businesses and respective towns in the Swartland.

• Technology must be used smartly to market the region - web pages are outdated

• Collecting statistics of visitor numbers has always been and still is a problem

• Clear skills development drive to ensure people and competent and can create jobs/ tourism opportunities, rather than seeking jobs.

• Upgrade tourism offices and make it more appealing

• The scattering of litter in reserve areas, e.g. the Triangle Road in Malmesbury and along the beach at Yzerfontein

• Tourism development involves collaboration with other Tourism Departments (DEDAT) to exploit training opportunities for SMMEs.

• The development of tourism routes, e.g. mountain bike trails 

• Upgraded offices and technology, development programs for officers

• Crime, unemployment and addressing social problems surrounding street children and vagrants

• We need to get buy-in from local tourism businesses and products

• Attend tourism expos and shows

• Obtain funding, sponsorship for interesting and sustainable events