July thus far has been a very productive and progressive month in my working schedule. I have managed, inter alia, to formally notify and engage with community members from various wards of Okhahlamba Local Municipality regarding the pending road projects and introduced the contractors that have been tasked with the primary responsibility of improving our road infrastructure. Most importantly, jobs will be created in the immediate and sustained during the course of these projects.

The road projects include but not limited to:-

1. Hoffental, Ward 04 road L1526 – R3 501 391.03 budget – Contractor: Indumiso Yolwazi Holding
2. Sandlwana, Ward 05, road D2311, R2 899 651.78 budget – Contractor: Siyakutakulana
3. Hoffental, Ward 04, road D1376, R5 025 974.04 budget – Contractor: Lekganyago
4. Kwanobadini, Ward 03
5. Ngoba, Ward 03, road P388, R10 785 411.39 budget – Contractor: Jahanna Kalisha Reddy
6. Mhlaza, Ward 01, road P294 – R8 500 000 budget – Contractor JK Reddy
7. Mpondweni, Ward 01, road D742, R 8 300 000 – Contractor: Heshan M Contractors
8. Stulwane, Ward 14, Contractor: Zihlobo’s Trading
9. Ogade, Ward 8, R5 528 044.74 budget – Contractor: Golden Rewards 1850
10. Mazizini, Ward 06, R3 129 551.25 budget – Contractor: Magnacorp 522
11. Greenpoint, Ward 13 (2 roads D285 & D43), R5 933 973.49 budget – Contractor: Rishakwa Construction
12. Bhudlu, Ward 14, road D277 – R8 400 000 budget – Contractor: Global Mycel Investors
13. Acton Homes, Ward 11, Hershan M Contractors
14. Emangwaneni, Ward 11, R5 071 846.63 budget – Contractor: Hershan M Contractors

Overall, the projected value for all the road projects amounts to R30 691 819.40

The Service Excellence Legacy Committee that will lead initiatives to sustain improved service levels in Bergville was announced today. The team comprises of tourism business owners, members of the community and officials from the Okhahlamba Local Municipality.

#ServiceExcellenceStartsWithMe
#WeDoTourism

Bergville – The now formalised multi-million dagga industry of Bergville (Okhahlamba) in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands is now expected to produce its first yield in the first week of April.

According to the mayor of Okhahlamba (Bergville) local municipality, Vikizitha Mlotshwa, the first yield will come from one of their three chiefdoms – Simahla area under AmaSwazi chiefdom.

He said it was a pilot project that has proven to be a success and they would now roll it out in the other two remaining chiefdoms under the municipality.

Mlotshwa was speaking to the media on Wednesday in Bergville where his municipality was giving feedback regarding the project which was first initiated a few years ago when the planting and use of dagga for medical purposes was legalised.

The Bergville area is notoriously known for its dagga trade which until the Constitutional Court in 2018 decriminalised the use of weed for personal use, was an underground activity.

Mlotshwa said it was wrong notion to say dagga was only used for leisure smoking, saying even in ancient times, it was used for medical purposes by the black community.

“This is how it will go, since in April it will be our (first) harvest we will then start preparing the soil since it was a pilot where only small hectares were used to plant.

“From now it would be on a bigger scale. Our bigger scale farming would start in September this year.

“Here our large scale dagga farming will be in the chiefdoms of Emaswazini, eMangwaneni (the Hlongwas) and eMazizini.

“For now we had only planted at Emaswazini because we were still piloting the project to see how it goes and we have realised that our soil is suitable,’’ Mlotshwa said.

In November last year, Mlotshwa told IOL that they have been granted licences whereby local farmers would take their yield to Inkosi (Chief). Some of the dagga from the local farmers will be exported to overseas markets like the US.

He said according to what they have now, all three traditional leaders (amakhosi) under their jurisdiction have been granted a licence to collect dagga from people and send it to a factory located near the town of Winterton.

However, he stressed that it would not be a free-for-all, as licences would be issued after getting a police clearance.

On Wednesday Mlotshwa also announced that they have finally won the battle to exhume from Pretoria and rebury bodies of 22 men from the Hlongwane clan who were executed on March 21, 1957 after what they called the ganja/cannabis war.

The men were sentenced to death after a brief battle between the apartheid police who wanted to stop dagga farming and angry locals. Mlotshwa said these men are heroes to the locals as they were the ones who started the long battle to have the dagga industry formalised since it was their livelihood.

The culmination of the reburial would happen on March 31 this year at the Bergville sports complex, just outside the town of Bergville.

sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
Source: Independent Online

The Department of Tourism, together with the Department of Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs and Okhahlamba Local Municipality today held the Service Excellence Small Town Event at Drakensberg Sun Resort.

The Service Excellence Small Town Initiative is an initiative that is aimed at creating a platform that involves small-town partners, stakeholders, and communities in the implementation of the National Tourism Service Excellence Strategy and standard.

The event is a session that is meant to showcase and celebrate the strides gained in fostering a culture of service excellence at a small-town level.

#ServiceExcellenceStartsWithMe
#TourismIncentiveProgramme

The Service Excellence Legacy Committee that will lead initiatives to sustain improved service levels in Bergville was announced today. The team comprises of tourism business owners, members of the community and officials from the Okhahlamba Local Municipality.

#ServiceExcellenceStartsWithMe
#WeDoTourism

Today the municipality in partnership with Drakensberg Extravaganza and Heritage Experience, the Durban University of Technology and the KZN Department of Education hosted its annual Matric Awards Ceremony.

The Bergville Circuit Office surpassed its target of reaching an 80% pass rate and achieved an 88.7% pass rate in the 2022 matriculation exams, surpassing Ladysmith and Estcourt to lead the district. A total of four schools within Okhahlamba received a 100% pass rate.

Four subjects proved to have challenges. These include Technical Sciences, Accounting, Computer Applications Technology, and Mathematics.

Overall, a large number of schools within the Bergville circuit achieved a pass rate of between 90% – 99%.
Congratulations to all the stakeholders involved in ensuring that education is prioritised within Okhahlamba. A special congratulations to the class of 2022 for the outstanding achievement!