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1994-05-02
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<text>
<title>
Northern Towns Ruined
</title>
<article>
<hdr>
Foreign Broadcast Information Service, March 18, 1992
South Africa: Drought Crisis Continues; Claiming Victims.
Northern Towns Ruined
</hdr>
<body>
<p>[Article by Dirk Nel: "Sad Days for Struggling Towns Up in the
North". Johannesburg THE STAR in English 20 Feb 92 p 8]
</p>
<p> [Text] Louis Trichardt--Several northern Transvaal towns
are threatened with economic ruin because of the devastating
drought and recession.
</p>
<p> "The profit margins of many businesses here have been
decreasing in recent years, and now farmers' cash flow
problems, unemployment due to retrenchments and the closure of
some major industries have lowered the buying power of the
general public," Len Lemmer, chairman of the Louis Trichardt
Sakekamer, said in an interview.
</p>
<p> Stringent water restrictions are in force in town, with the
nearby Albasini Dam only eight percent full. It has been
confirmed that Tongaat, the countrywide cotton processors, is
one of the industrial firms which are closing their Louis
Trichardt branch.
</p>
<p> "I get depressed when I receive half a dozen sequestration
notices a week for publication," said local newspaper editor
Johan Du Plessis. The victims were mainly farmers and small
businessmen.
</p>
<p> Necessity had forced the local business fraternity to devise
strategies to survive, Mr Lemmer said.
</p>
<p> Special commercials on radio in Zimbabwe, sponsored by the
Sakekamer, had attracted many buyers from across the border,
and this had kept businesses afloat. He claimed the town was
offering some of the best bargains in South Africa. Many shops
were cutting their prices by as much as 50 percent to sell old
stock.
</p>
<p> Meanwhile, THE STAR found the situation of farmers in the
Soutpansberg district was still critical. Cattle farmers have
reduced their herds drastically, due to a lack of grazing,
while game ranchers have had to resort to providing feed for
wildlife on their farms.
</p>
<p> The situation is not much better in neighboring Messina.
However, no water restrictions were in force there because the
town was well-served by a pipeline from the Limpopo Valley,
town clerk Johan Kok said.
</p>
<p> Messina Mayor John Genis said businesses in the town were
surviving well, mainly due to the settling of an increasing
number of De Beers Company workers employed at the new Venetia
Diamond Mine.
</p>
<p> In other respects the future of Messina seemed bleak,
because its 100-year-old copper mine would soon be closed,
businessmen told THE STAR.
</p>
<p> Mr. Genis pointed out that unemployment in the area was
being complicated by a continuous influx of illegal immigrants.
No statistics in this regard could be obtained from police or
immigration sources.
</p>
<p> Regional Development Chairman Jack Klaff has put forward a
three-point plan to transform the Soutpansberg district into an
economically viable entity:
</p>
<p>-- Rebuilding of the border post at Belt Bridge, to
streamline trade with Africa.
</p>
<p>-- Urgent attention to the development of an international
water scheme on the Limpopo River.
</p>
<p>-- The immediate upgrading of the N1 route north of
Pietersburg.
</p>
<p> "Unfortunately our appeals seem to be falling on deaf ears,
despite an undertaking from private sector sources to provide
a percentage of the capital needed," Mr. Klaff complained.
</p>
<p> Smaller towns such as Alldays and Dendron were experiencing
their worst ever economic slumps, while Potgietersrus, a major
agricultural centre, was particularly hard hit, THE STAR was
told by commerce leaders.
</p>
<p> Pietersburg, the region's major town, seemed set to weather
the crisis because of its strong infrastructure and established
public sector activity, a municipal spokesman said. No water
restrictions were being considered at the town at present, he
added.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>