Municipality: Vhembe District Municipality

Documents

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Links

Vhembe Municipality website
CLGF Good Practice Scheme in Vhembe

Address

Municipal offices
Tusk Venda Street Old Parliament, Government Complex
Thohoyandou
South Africa
Phone: +27 (0)15 960 2000

Description

Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) is located in the North of Limpopo Province. The province shares a border with Zimbabwe and Botswana and the District capital is Thohoyandou. The District has four local municipalities namely; Makhado, Thulamela, Musina and Mutale. Vhembe District Municipality has a population of approximately 1.2million according to South Africa Local Government (2009-2011).

The District Municipality’s local economic development vision is to be the legendary cultural hub in the southern hemisphere and a catalyst for agro- and tourism development. The municipality’s LED is focusing on the reduction of unemployment and promotion of economic growth. The municipality seeks to reduce unemployment by creating jobs through supporting SSMEs and offering SMME training. The district is also focusing on the development of the quality of tourism infrastructure.
  

Strengths

Agriculture is the second largest sector after community services. The Agriculture sector currently employs 22% of the labour force and contributes 3% of the GDP. If well supported, the Agricultural sector has the capacity to absorb more entrants to the labour market because it is labour intensive. There is potential for the development of mining and tourism especially eco tourism.

Mapungubwe, an important archaeological and international site is located in the District. The district also plays host to Thulamela traditional heritage sites which gives information on the early settlement and culture in South Africa. Tourism opportunities in the district lie in the Madimbo- Mashakatini reserves and there is need for them to be developed for them to attract more tourists.

Weaknesses

Vhembe District Municipality is a rural Municipality plagued by high rate of unemployment and poverty. Unemployment stands at 53% and poverty rate stands at 32%.

The challenge faced by agriculture at the moment is access to markets by small scale farmers.