Page 35 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

MerweVille
ADVICE OFFICE and deveLopment centRe
Merweville is a small Karoo town which lies between the swart and Nuweveld mountains 45km north-west of Prince Albert Road and 130km south-east of Beaufort West.1 The town’s desolation and aridity has a close resemblance to the Arizona and Nevada desert in the US, and is a popular location for filmmakers.
It was one of the few towns or villages in the Western cape province not to be serviced by a sealed highway until the 40 km stretch of gravel road from the N1 was tarred in 2015.2 Prior to this Merweville (the villagers call it Mirville) could only be reached by driving long distances along dirt roads between Fraserburg, sutherland and Prince Albert station. The town was established on the farm Vanderbylskraal in 1904 and administered by a village management board from 1921. It was named after the Reverend P van der Merwe (1860-1940), the minister of the Dutch Reformed church in Beaufort West and chairman of the church council which established the town.3
The total population of the town according to the 2011 census was 1,592 with 9.3% identifying as Black African, 78.8% as coloured and 8.8% as White. The majority speak Afrikaans (95%).4
Merweville Advice Office is a developing local Advice Office based in the small rural town. The LDA assists farm workers with unfair dismissals and UIF. They also organise youth in the community to deal with issues of unemployment and skills development.
1. Merweville, Western cape - Karoo space. (2019). Retrieved October 4, 2019, from http://karoospace.co.za/merweville/
2. central Karoo District Municipality - Overview. (2019). Retrieved October 4, 2019, from https://municipalities.co.za/
overview/144/central-karoo-district-municipality
3. Raper, P. (1987). Dictionary of southern African Place Names (Vol. 46). https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2015.1113434
4. Frith, A. (2019). census 2011: Main Place: Merweville. Retrieved October 4, 2019, from https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/
place/183009
FAsT facts
NaMe: Merweville Advice and Development Office
LeD By: Jan Bostander and Johnay Mentoor
MaiN cHaLLeNGes faceD By tHe coMMuNity: unemployment; alcohol and drug abuse; gender-based violence
MaiN actiVities: Referral of labour related matters; legal advice; rendering primary legal services to the local community and surrounding farms; empowerment of the local community and surrounding farms thru awareness workshops on consumer, women and youth issues
aDDress: 92 skema street, Merweville
coNtact: Phone: 078 008 6051/ 073 494 5347
Access to Justice
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