Page 45 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

sAron
ADVICE OFFICE
The small rural Western cape town of saron is part of the Drakenstein municipality of the Western cape, located 20km south of Porterville and 31.3km from Tulbagh. The town which is tucked away at the foot of the saronsberg mountain was established as a mission station by the Rhenish Missionary society in 1848 by Johannes Heinrich Kulpmann.1 The name, Afrikaans for sharon, is of biblical origin (1 chronicles 27:29, Song of Solomon 2:1), meaning ‘flats’ or ‘plain’. The main economic activities of the Drakenstein2 municipality are finance, insurance, real estate and business services (21.29%).There are 7,843 people living in saron, 97.3% who identify as coloured 97.3% and 1.8% who identify as Black African. The predominant language spoken by 96.8% of the population is Afrikaans.3
The Saron Advice Office deals with cases involving paralegal disputes such as housing allocations by government. They are also involved with youth empowerment programmes with the ultimate goal of eradicating substance abuse among the local youth. As a member of the community Policing Forum (cPF), the LDA staff volunteer their services to support victims of abuse and other forms of violence at the local police station trauma facility.
1. Raper, P. e. (1989). Dictionary of southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 397. IsBN 978-0-947464-04-2 – via Internet Archive.
2. Drakenstein Local Municipality - Overview. (2019). Retrieved October 14, 2019, from Municipalities of south Africa website: https://municipalities.co.za/overview/1208/drakenstein-local-municipality
3. Frith, A. (2019). census 2011: Main Place: saron. Retrieved October 14, 2019, from census2011.adrianfrith.com website: https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/166001
Access to Justice
FAst FACTS
NaMe: Saron Advice Office
LeD By: shirley Adams
MaiN cHaLLeNGes faceD By tHe coMMuNity: unemployment, labour disputes, gender-based violence, substance abuse
MaiN actiVities: Paralegal support; youth development
aDDress: Alheit street,P.O. Box 27, saron, 8612
coNtact: Phone: 023 240 0066, cell: 073 813 5311
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