Due to the prevailing extreme heat conditions, the public is urged to exercise caution regarding activities that may pose a fire risk, such as discarding cigarette butts and making fires.
Yesterday, the George Fire Brigade was actively managing two veld fires. The good news is that the Pacaltsdorp veld fires have been completely extinguished while mop-up operations are underway for the fire behind Rademacher’s.
Residents are kindly requested to proceed with extreme caution and report any fire emergencies promptly.
General Fire Emergencies: 044 801 6311
After Hours and Emergencies: 044 801 6300
Your cooperation is crucial for public safety. Stay alert!
The Wilderness Heights Reservoir’s level is critically low, and some areas serviced by it might experience low water pressure and even no water.
The pumps and rising main feeding the Reservoir were checked and are fully operational.
The area that the reservoir is servicing is quite vast and some of the lines were walked by our operational staff to check for any leakages, currently, none has been identified, so the search continues.
We appeal to residents to use water sparingly and allow the reservoir to fill up in an attempt to stabilize the network before the next loadshedding segment.
We also request that where residents suspect a possible leak in the network, it be reported to the Fire Department at 044 801 6300 for inspection and attention.
Due to the prevailing extreme heat conditions, the public is urged to exercise caution regarding activities that may pose a fire risk, such as discarding cigarette butts and making fires. The George Fire Brigade is actively managing two veld fires. One in Pacaltsdorp and one behind Rademacher’s and residents are kindly requested to proceed with extreme caution and report any fire emergencies promptly.
General Fire Emergencies: 044 801 6311
After Hours and Emergencies: 044 801 6300
Your cooperation is crucial for public safety. Stay alert!
George Junior City Council extends heartfelt best wishes to all learners in George
The George Junior City Council extends heartfelt best wishes to all learners in George as they embark on a new academic year. Reflecting on the challenges and triumphs of the past year, the Junior City Council acknowledges the resilience and determination of the learners in facing academic, sports, cultural, and spiritual endeavours.
Thomas Smook, Junior Mayor, expressed his congratulations to the learners for their accomplishments, learning curves, and even failures, emphasising that each experience contributes to their growth. “Take on this new year with courage and excitement, aiming to surpass the achievements of the previous year. Embrace the new opportunities that come your way, preparing yourselves for the future while cherishing the present moment,” said Smook.
Smook believes in the untapped potential of the youth, urging them to recognize the vast possibilities within themselves. His message concludes with a wish for all learners to have the very best in the coming year, accompanied by a reminder of the continuous renewal of hope, as “Jesus’s mercies are new every morning”.
As the George Junior City Council encourages learners to face the challenges of the academic year ahead, they emphasise the importance of perseverance, learning, and a positive outlook for a successful and fulfilling educational journey.
Issued by George Municipality, 30 January 2024 @18:05
The Municipality acknowledges complaints of water outages in Wilderness Heights, impacting areas like Seven Passes Road, Ten Mile Lane, and Watsonia Street. Initial findings suggest pump tripping, leading to a drop in reservoir levels. The treatment works team is currently conducting a physical check to assess the situation accurately. Updates will be provided as the situation unfolds.
Percentage storage at new raised dam wall height 95.07
Rainfall for the previous 7 days: 30 mm (Measured up to and including 30 January 2024)
The cooperation of all users of municipal water is essential and is greatly appreciated.
Follow this link for the detailed Stricter Water Restrictions in English/Afrikaans and IsiXhosa.
https://www.george.gov.za/george-doc-categories/public-notices/general/
Contraventions of the Water Restrictions can be reported on 0800 424477.
Report water leaks and burst pipes to 044 801 9262/66 or after hours at 044 801 6300, as soon as you notice them.
The estimated time of repair to supply power at a portion of Denneoord which has been experiencing a power outage since the early hours of today is 30 minutes. The affected streets are Outeniqua, Charlotte, St. Paul, and Leo Bekkie Streets. A Contractor was dispatched on-site for repairs at one of the mini substations.
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Update: Power Outage Repairs are Underway in Denneoord Issued by George Municipality, 29 Jan 2024 @16:15
A portion of Denneoord is experiencing a power outage. The Contractor is on-site busy with repairs. The affected streets are Outeniqua, Charlotte, St. Paul, and Leo Bekkie Streets. The estimated time of repair is not yet available.
The cable fault occurred at approximately 23:30, and the electrician was only notified past 02:00. The Electrotechnical Services did respond and restored all power except for the one mini-substation, which has been attended to since 07:30 this morning.
Stage 3 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 today until 05:00 on Tuesday. Thereafter, Stage 2 loadshedding will resume until 16:00 on Tuesday. This pattern will continue until further notice.
George will be affected as follows:
Monday 29/01/2024
None
A motor vehicle accident occurred at the Outeniqua Pass between George and Oudtshoorn. One lane in the direction of George was closed. The road has now been cleared and is open for traffic.
Motor Vehicle Accident at the Outeniqua Pass One Lane Closed
A motor vehicle accident occurred at the Outeniqua Pass between George and Oudtshoorn. One lane in the direction of George has been closed. A stop-and-go is in place to regulate traffic.
A portion of Denneoord is experiencing a power outage. The Contractor is on-site busy with repairs. The affected streets are Outeniqua, Charlotte, St. Paul, and Leo Bekkie Streets. The estimated time of repair is not yet available.
It was pleasing to be able to attend the preliminaries to a planning meeting between the Municipality’s Planning department and a high-level team from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (“DBSA”) who have earmarked Thembalethu for a showcase pilot project to develop economic activity including business processing outsource (“BPO”) capability. The involvement of the DBSA is very welcome in support of the infrastructure upgrades being envisaged for Thembalethu. The focus on the BPO sector latches on to the promising activity in this sector where George has recently been visited by representatives of another international company exploring the outsourcing of services into the Western Cape.
We have also touched base with the team producing the Ouma Sarie TV series that is flighted on ETV. This is the #1 Afrikaans television show across all genres with more than 1,8m viewers per episode. It is produced and filmed in George by a home-grown team with no formal training in television production experience. We congratulate the team on this excellent achievement and look forward to the planned expansion into a fully-fledged film studio adding more employment in this creative sector.
We met with the Provincial Minister of Mobility, MEC Ricardo Mackenzie to discuss the progressive roll-out of the GO GEORGE bus service into Thembalethu and collaborative efforts on engagements to revive rail freight and growing the Air Access program into George. Readers will have noticed media reports about low productivity within the Cape Town port that are delaying both fruit exports and imported goods awaited by retail operations. Pressure is being placed on the National Government to remedy the ineffectiveness of Transnet’s rail service and ports and the resultant costs to the economy. There are benefits to be obtained from Wesgro’s Air Access program with respect to international tourism and air cargo. Air travel packages are already being offered to tourists visiting the Garden Route from Cape Town.
In their recent report on the South African economy, the Harvard Growth Lab referred to the collapse of the state’s capacity to implement and direct policies to drive progress within state departments and enterprises in the country. This critique extended to corruption and preferential procurement resulting in minimal economic growth for the country. These policies have led to the increase in national debt and the cut-back in expenditure that has already affected Provincial education and health budgets, for example.
Census 2022’s confirmation that George’s population was just below 295000 in February 2022 means that the provision of health and education services and infrastructure will require upgrades, placing further pressure on the already constrained Provincial budget. It is evident from recent interactions with the medical and educational fraternity expressing their concerns about being under-capacitated in serving patients and learners. Regarding education, the Province is exploring an innovative approach where the public and private sectors can partner in funding and delivery models that can conform with legal prescripts.
Even though the above services are not within the mandate of local government, we are actively engaging as we attempt to facilitate solutions to unlock opportunities that will benefit the economy and our communities.
The Workers Collection Point (WCP) which is situated on 12 Industrial Street, George Industrial was established for private individuals and businesses to utilise as a central point for those who wish to employ temporary workers and for job seekers to avail themselves of employment opportunities.
The George Municipality requests that employers in George and people looking for employment fully utilise this facility. The WCP is the only authorised place for job seekers and pick-up of job seekers. The WCP is staffed by officials from the George Municipality’s Economic Development Department. What makes the WCP reliable and safe for both job seekers and employers – is that it is run professionally – with the registration of job seekers, capturing their personal information including names, identification documents and addresses as well as details of the employers to ensure adequate management of the whole process.
The WCP building will undergo renovations until mid-March, therefore the registration and data capturing have been temporarily suspended. Job seekers and employers currently only sign in and out through security. The full operations will resume from 18 March 2024. However, employers and job seekers are still encouraged to utilise the centre as the operating times have not changed.
The WCP is situated at 12 Industrial Street, George Industrial and operates between 07:45 and 15:00, Monday to Friday. For enquiries, please phone the office on 044 801 9462.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is gearing up for the National and Provincial Elections in 2024. The IEC no longer accepts completed forms and walk-ins because it is an online process where the public needs to create online profiles and apply online on the IEC website: https://www.elections.org.za/pw/About-Us/BrowseJobs
To assist the public with the completion of the applications, the George Municipality offers its public libraries assistance to the public to access computers to create their profiles and to complete their online applications.
George Municipality’s libraries that are participating are Blanco, Pacaltsdorp, Thembalethu and Conville. There will be an IEC official on Wednesday, 24 January & 29-31 January 2024 at all the libraries in George from 10:00 – 14:00 where possible.
The Electoral staff, job purpose is to contribute towards strengthening the electoral democracy process by assisting in coordinating and implementing the voting and results programmes of the Electoral Commission at the voting station level. The closing date is 29 February 2024.
REPAIRS TO SLIP FAILURES AND UPGRADING OF STORMWATER AND ASSOCIATED SURFACING ON ROOIDRAAI ROAD: PHASE 1
The repair of slip failures and upgrade of stormwater infrastructure and associated surfacing on Rooidraai Road, Herolds Bay, will have an impact on residents and road users for the period from January to July 2024. The remaining construction duration of Phase 1 is estimated at 6 months.
PROJECT: REPAIRS TO SLIP FAILURES AND UPGRADING OF STORMWATER AND SURFACING – ROOIDRAAI ROAD: PHASE 1
DESCRIPTION:
Repairs to slip failures will be done. Stormwater infrastructure will be upgraded, and the existing block paving will be replaced. Existing electricity cables and waterlines will be relocated at the same time.
PROJECT PERIOD: (remaining)
15 January 2024 to 04 July 2024
SERVICE DISRUPTION:
Municipal services may be disrupted during construction. Advance notification of planned temporary disruptions will be sent out via social media.
WORKING HOURS:
Working hours will be from 07h00 to 18h00 Mondays to Fridays and 07h00 – 14h00 on Saturdays as may be needed from time to time.
TRAFFIC IMPACT:
Caution needs to be exercised by residents, road users and pedestrians throughout the construction period. Adherence to flag persons, temporary road signage and markings will be required. The Road will be closed to the public, but access will be granted to residents living adjacent to the road.
ACCESS TO SITE:
Access to the site will be strictly controlled. Any member of the public who enters the site will have to comply with the relevant requirements in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
PROJECT ENQUIRIES: Mr Fred Wait – 076 393 1177
The George Municipality apologises for any inconvenience and appeals to all residents to be patient and exercise caution during the upgrade. Please look out for and adhere to temporary road signage and roadworks personnel.
On Thursday, 18 January 2024, George Municipality’s leadership and management organised a braai to express gratitude to approximately 150 municipal officials and seasonal workers for their hard work and dedication during the recent festive season.
The group, consisting of cleaning staff, NSRI life savers, law enforcement, and general workers, was celebrated by George Mayor, the Municipal Manager, and other councillors for their exceptional efforts. Three appreciation braais were held at Herolds Bay, Victoria Bay, and Wilderness beaches. In a spirit of servanthood, councillors, and the municipal manager personally prepared and served the officials. Executive Mayor Alderman Leon van Wyk distributed boerie rolls, and the Chief Whip of the Council served ice cream.
Mayor van Wyk highlighted the importance of servant leadership, saying, “We showed our appreciation to the seasonal workers who worked at our beaches over the last few weeks to ensure a bumper holiday season. I believe in servant leadership. It was great to see fellow councillors treating the staff and manning the braais.”
Each worker received a certificate of appreciation from Mayor van Wyk and the Municipal Manager, Dr Michele Gratz. Contracted seasonal staff, along with permanent officials, played crucial roles in cleaning beaches, ensuring safety for visitors and locals, maintaining facilities, and controlling traffic hotspots to facilitate smooth traffic flow.
Mayor van Wyk commended their outstanding work, emphasising their contribution to attracting tourists, boosting the economy, and ultimately creating jobs. The region experienced a bumper season, providing a significant economic boost, with several community markets reporting strong sales during December.
Wilderness teamVictoria Bay teamVictoria Bay TeamEach worker received a certificate from the Municipal Manager, Dr Gratz
Whilst the Generation performance continues to improve, the heightened focus on planned maintenance and expected increase in electricity demand necessitates the implementation of Stage 2 loadshedding from 16:00 today until further notice.
George Municipality has issued numerous media releases over the past week about the recent busy and successful tourism season. We had anticipated an influx of visitors as we commenced our season preparedness meetings in late September. This was our third season of daily meetings to ensure planned law enforcement, safety, care and clean beach facilities, management of traffic and creating a welcoming environment for our visitors over the 6-week peak. This programme is now running smoothly with many of these meetings being completed in less than 30 minutes.
The NSRI were excellent in managing the lifeguard program with our incident command vehicle regularly being stationed at Dolphin’s Point to keep a watchful over the entire Wilderness beach with the aid of its cameras and drone. We need to thank the full municipal and support team for their excellent, friendly service and dedication to ensure a safe and well-functioning season.
The managed and safe environment enabled tourism sector providers to conduct their business. While we are still gathering accurate statistics about the season, it is evident that accommodation establishments, restaurants, activity, and other service providers had a successful season. Our domestic visitors came from across the country and stakeholders noted a marked increase in international visitors.
The economy in the 2023 year was relatively tough for most citizens; nevertheless, we have seen shifts towards online business trading and more markets that popped up. It was noticeable how some tourism operators successfully adapted their offerings, being more agile to produce pleasing results relative to other providers.
In tracking air travel movements, it would appear that passenger movement through George Airport compared well with Cape Town’s (positive) passenger arrivals taking into account the relative size differential. Throughout most of the key peak period, there were 12 flights per day landing from Johannesburg with a daily carrying capacity of 1700-1800 visitors arriving in the Garden Route. One airline had 3 aircraft departing from Johannesburg by 07h30 each morning.
As statistics for the recent holiday period become available, analysts will examine whether holidaymakers have preferred visits to the Western Cape in preference to KwaZulu-Natal where pollution has been impacting the quality of seawater. During 2023, it became evident that many municipalities in other parts of the country were struggling to maintain sustainable standards of service delivery.
Since late November, George has received requests to provide assistance to Knysna Municipality on an ad hoc basis to deal with refuse removal and its transfer to landfill facilities and to provide tankers to deliver water to communities where network failures have occurred. Our advice has been that a comprehensive recovery plan needs to be formulated for Knysna and supported by the administration, council and residents to address and remedy these shortfalls.
Early in December, we were pleased to be informed that we had been placed in 7th position nationally in the Blue Drop Water ratings for excellence in water quality and related systems. Over the last few years, George has been re-building its ratings amidst the combination of pipeline breakages and flood-rated damage, water usage that is often exceeding water treatment capacity and the substantial construction underway to expand treatment capacity by 50%. Since 2021, there has been considerable investment in technology as part of the renewal of ageing infrastructure. These efforts will assist us as we constantly strive to improve.
We extend our best wishes to all residents for 2024.
We would like to inform you of an important update regarding the Thembalethu Bridge construction project across the N2. The switch-over of vehicular and pedestrian traffic from the eastern side to the newly constructed western side is scheduled for Thursday, 18 January 2024, between 11:00 and 13:00.
During this period, all traffic will be diverted onto the new road, and it’s important to note that there will be only one lane in both directions. This adjustment is a crucial step in the construction process as it allows construction activities to commence on the eastern side, where vehicles have been travelling up to now.
Please plan your travel accordingly, and we appreciate your cooperation during this transition. The construction team is working diligently to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and minimal disruption to your daily routines.
In the photo: Bird’s-eye-view of Wilderness beach, with popular paragliders soaring overhead
George experienced a bustling holiday season, particularly from 22 December 2023 to 3 January 2024, with accommodation levels reaching 80% to full occupancy. Shorter stays, around 4 to 5 days, were common, with increased domestic visitors from major cities like Gauteng, Cape Town, and Gqeberha. International visitors also showed growth, pleasing tourism stakeholders. The Local Tourism Bureau, comprising George, Wilderness and Uniondale Tourism were delighted to receive mostly positive feedback from tourism businesses about how the festive season is going for their businesses.
Reflecting on the recent festive season, Executive Mayor Alderman Leon van Wyk expressed satisfaction with George’s tourism performance. “Comparatively, the Garden Route region fared well, aligning with the success seen in Cape Town. Daily flights and passenger numbers reflected similar positive trends, with accommodation levels consistently above 80%, often reaching full capacity,” Mayor van Wyk said.
Mayor van Wyk credited the success to the innovative approaches of participants in the tourism sector and the Municipality’s thorough preparedness for the tourist season. “What we’ve also seen is that those providers who have been able to be adaptive, agile and have novel ideas, have done extremely well. We as the Municipality have also prepared very well for our tourism season and that has certainly helped in giving a pleasurable experience,” he added.
George Tourism conducted a WhatsApp poll with local tourism members, representing restaurants, activities, accommodations, and tour operators. Sixty per cent (60%) of respondents indicated they were busier than last year and 37% said business was similar to last year, with only 3% indicating that business was quieter than the previous season.
The Outeniqua Powervan, a tram-train trip from the Transnet Transport Museum up the Outeniqua Mountains
The Outeniqua Powervan, a tram-train trip from the Transnet Transport Museum up the Outeniqua Mountains, reported a bumper season. According to Directors Vivia and Charl Marais, they were fully booked from 11 December until this Saturday, 13 January 2024. It has been such a pleasure helping locals and visitors enjoy the history of our rails and the beauty of our mountain. We transported 32% more passengers than last December and unfortunately had to turn many, many more people away due to capacity.
Hiking – stunning flora and fauna at the Outeniqua Mountains
Some outdoor adventure operators reported they generally had a good season but that late December wet days slowed down their numbers. Feedback from restaurants was mixed – with some restaurateurs continuing to do exceptionally well, and others reporting fewer feet and spend per head. A tour and transfers operator remarked that the roads were the busiest they’ve ever experienced, creating delays, and the Garden Route to Cape Town trip was particularly busy, even on the traditionally quieter times like Christmas. Laetitia Kotze, owner of the popular Boerevintage Gift Market at Redberry Farm, said they received a remarkable 44 000 visitors over 15 trading days. Several tourism stakeholders remarked that they were back to pre-Covid figures.
By extracting data from software that aggregates information from top Online Travel Agent (OTA) platforms, the Tourism office reported an average occupancy of 77% across George Municipality from 15 December 2023 until 09 January 2024. The best-performing dates on these OTA platforms, where occupancies exceeded 80%, were from 23 December 2023 until 03 January 2024. Twenty-nine December was the crème de la crème, recording the highest average occupancy for the season – at 88%. More good news followed when it was calculated that the destination’s average occupancy had increased by 5% compared to the same period last year. These statistics exclude trade and direct bookings, and through anecdotal feedback, it seems that accommodation was mostly full.
Domestic tourism is still king, with 47% of visitors to the George municipal area originating from within South Africa. The top 5 domestic source markets were Cape Town, Johannesburg, Centurion, Pretoria and Gqeberha. 43% of December visitors were from an international source market, predominantly travellers from Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The average reservation window for December was 80 days, with an average length of stay of 4 days. There were also 62 more properties recorded in December than the previous year, and 118 more properties in January, across OTA platforms measured.
The OTA data also shows that George slightly outperforms its neighbouring Garden Route towns, as well as Hermanus, in terms of occupancy for December 2023. However, Plett, Knysna and Hermanus have more properties on Airbnb.
George’s Tourism office team were out and about over the festive season, distributing tourism information to travellers to help them find things to do, as well as promotional items. “Thank you to the Outeniqua Family Market, the Africa Skills George Tens Festival, as well as the George Airport for hosting the George, Wilderness and Uniondale Tourism Info team over the festive season. This was a great service to travellers and the community, who could pick up tourism maps, brochures, and other information conveniently while exploring the area,” says Joan Shaw, Tourism Manager. Tourism info activations also took place at various beaches across the municipal footprint.
“Additionally, a big thank you to our local private sector stakeholders for providing timely feedback. We appreciate your prompt responses in helping us to obtain a sense of what is taking place during the season beyond the accommodation statistics the office subscribes to”, adds Shaw.
The Wilderness Visitor Information Centre opened slightly later at 09:30 and closed at 18:00 while operating from 11:00 until 15:00 on Saturdays and public holidays. For those planning their next vacation, or still on holiday, get in touch with George, Wilderness and Uniondale Tourism or go to visitgeorge.co.za for more information.
The George Municipality looks at the festive season wrap in numbers during the Festive Season period from the beginning of December to 8 January 2024.
BLUE FLAG STATUS
EMERGENCY SERVICES STATISTICS
NON-ALCOHOL CAMPAIGN STATISTICS
FIREWORKS BAN ENFORCEMENT
JOINT TRAFFIC SERVICES
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICE DELIVERY STATISTICS
While many municipalities across the country closed during the festive period, George Municipality stood out by keeping its offices open, ensuring continuous service delivery to citizens and businesses. The decision to remain open allowed the municipality to respond effectively to various cases and maintain essential services.
STATISTICAL INFORMATION FOR TOWN PLANNING
GO GEORGE OPERATIONS DURING FESTIVE SEASON
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