Page 81 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

MAsiphAkAMeni
loCAl deVelopment AGenCy
Humansdorp is a small town 93km west of Port elizabeth, north-west of Cape St Francis in the Sarah Baartman district in the Kouga municipality of the eastern Cape. The town was named Humansdorp (at first Human se Dorp) after Matthys Gerhardus Human, owner of the farm rheeboksfontein.1 The town has a population of around 29,000, 63% of whom speak Afrikaans and 31% who speak isiXhosa according to the census of 2011.2 The main economic activities in the area are agriculture (mohair) and tourism.3
Masiphakameni is a developing LDA offering paralegal services. Their offices are based in Humansdorp. The local development agency (LdA) has established farm worker committees with various farming communities in the Kouga district. Through this the LdA is able to reach as many farm workers, ward committee and councillors as possible to communicate their plans and activities. They have also forged partnerships with local schools and are providing much needed career guidance counselling services. The LdA’s collaboration with the Black Sash around social security law and the monitoring of SASSA4 activities has enabled the LdA to assist members of the community with issues relating to social grant payments.
Gender
1. raper, P. (1987). dictionary of Southern African Place names (Vol. 46). https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2015.1113434
2. Frith, A. (2019). Census 2011: Main Place: Humansdorp. retrieved October 4, 2019, from https://census2011.adrianfrith.
com/place/268007
3. municipalities.co.za. (2019). Sarah Baartman district Municipality - Overview. retrieved October 4, 2019, from Municipalities
of South Africa website: https://municipalities.co.za/overview/103/sarah-baartman-district-municipality
4. SASSA is the South Africa Social Security Agency. SASSA’s role is to administer social grants to categories of people who are
“vulnerable to poverty and in need of state support” in order to improve these people’s standard of living.
FAst FACTS
NaMe: Masiphakameni Local development Agency
LeD By: Phumeza Sibengile
MaiN CHaLLeNGes faCeD By tHe CoMMUNity: HIV infections, alcohol and drug abuse, unfair and discriminatory labour practices, and farm evictions
MaiN aCtiVities: Paralegal support; gender equality; community development aDDress: 394 Mjekula Street, Kwanomzamo, Humansdorp
CoNtaCt: Cell: 083 690 3227
masiphakameni@telkomsa.net
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