Women take over camping sites
Thapelo Sakoana
25 October 2004
Six women in North West have been awarded a tender to run two camping sites in the Borakalalo Game Reserve outside Brits in an effort to empower them while helping them participate in the economy.
The tender has been awarded by the North West Tourism and Parks Board as part of government's programmes of black economic empowerment and women development.
The women's consortium is called Borakalalo Leisure and employs six people from the local communities while gearing up to create even more jobs to alleviate poverty.
Acting CEO for the consortium Mpho Mogotsi said the company has already spent about R1-million from the Development Bank of Southern Africa to develop infrastructure in the two sites.
"We want to create a conducive environment for tourists to feel comfortable and consider visiting our sites quite often," she said.
Mogotsi said they envisaged attracting more tourists in a move to generate sustainable income while
creating jobs for local villagers.
"We want the surrounding communities to welcome tourists because we are doing this to improve their lives, we want to create jobs for them," she said.
The camping sites are Moretele and Phudufudu, whose concession period will last for 30 and 10 years, respectively.
Premier Edna Molewa congratulated the women for breaking through into the male dominated sector and described this as "history in the making".
"This is women emancipation in real terms. We are humbled by their commitment to develop the people in their locality through job creation," said Molewa.
Meanwhile, in a generous move, the business sector and parastatals have pledged lump sums of money to the Borakalalo Leisure to help sustain and grow the tourism industry.
The Eskom Foundation, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Sasol, and Digital Partnerships South Africa, announced their sponsorship to the consortium on Friday in a quest to help the
women expand their business.
The Eskom Foundation has pledged about R230 000 to upgrade the electricity supply in the two camping sites.
Chief Executive Officer of the foundation Mable Makibelo said there was a need to energise the camping sites and give light to the tourists.
"The tourists deserve the best and it is within this context that we want to provide good electrification infrastructure that will bring light to them," said Makibelo.
The DBSA has already pledged about R1-million for the upgrading of the tents on both sites.
The petrol giant Sasol and the Digital Partnerships South Africa have also pledged various resources for the development of the communities surrounding the game reserve.
Sasol has pledged R20 000 worth of books to four schools in local communities and a truckload of T-shirts and tracksuits for sports development in the area, which falls under the Madibeng Local Municipality.
Spokesperson for the municipality Kenneth
Ngebegusha said the tracksuits and T-shirts will boost the mayoral schools sports development programme in the municipality.
The Digital Partnerships South Africa has donated 30 computers to local schools in an effort to expose children to information communication technology.
Source: BuaNews
| 
