Matzikama – life against all odds

300 kilometers north of Cape Town, you will find the towns Vredendal, Lutzville, Vanrhynsdorp and Klawer. It is a dry barren environment where the strongest of the strongest make a living. The Olifants River is lined with lush green vineyards and in the scorching sun, you will find farmers and their faithful workers tending sheep and growing crops in the winter rain season.

Wouter de Vos (UE Western Cape Regional Coordinator), Zukani Metshane (Youth Coordinator) and I left Cape Town on 3 March 2015 with record temperatures in the mid 45 degrees Celsius and parts of the Table Mountain range in flames, on our way to visit the Matzikama area.

Jan Groenewald, a broker in Klawer and Herman Koordon, the sport coordinator at the Vredendal municipality, want to impact their community. We visited them and was encouraged by their willingness to be available as contact persons for Unashamedly Ethical in this region.

Jan Groenewald, far right

Herman Koordon

Koos Lombaard, chairman of the business chamber is involved in empowering the local community with the necessary skills to assist the municipality address the service delivery challenges they face.

We were then welcomed by friendly staff at Namakwaland FM, the local radio station. The staff all signed up as signatories of UE and station manager, Bernard Lambrecht, made a pledge on behalf of the entire radio station. Zukani and Wouter were excellent spokesperson for the campaign when they were interviewed live.

Staff of Radio Namakwaland

We are looking forward to see what the outcome of this visit will be in the future