The first national congress of the civil rights organisation AfriForum voted the AfriForum Louis Trichardt branch as winners.

“The local branch walked away with the provincial Branch of the Year award for the combined Limpopo/Gauteng region. I am so proud of our local committee and all the residents of Makhado (Louis Trichardt) who have supported and encouraged us during some trying times over these past months. The water crisis has reached critical levels … and during this congress, we were assured of AfriForum’s unconditional support in seeing that the battle to ensure a consistent water flow to Louis Trichardt is won,” said Mr Wally Schultz, chairperson of the local AfriForum branch.

“In the finals, AfriForum Louis Trichardt was voted second of 106 branches nationwide. Oudtshoorn was first,” said Mr Tiaan Esterhuizen, AfriForum organiser of Limpopo. 

AfriForum hosted the congress at an exclusive resort near Pretoria from 7 to 9 March, “We were addressed by speakers of exceptional quality and had an opportunity to witness for ourselves the depth of commitment from AfriForum leaders and delegates from across the country. AfriForum does not just ‘talk the talk’, it ‘walks the walk’. We all came away from this congress motivated and determined to make a real difference in our community, knowing we are backed by a civil rights organization that has built up an immaculate record of winning the battles it chooses to fight and knowing that AfriForum has the resources to put its money where its mouth is,” said Schultz.

Delegates of the local branch, Schultz, Mr Lampie Schoeman, Dr Ben van der Waal and Mr Phillip Olivier, participated in a stimulating working programme that included smaller ‘working groups’ where members got to interact with each other and guest speakers.

At the congress, a community plan was launched by Mr Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg, AfriForum’s deputy CEO. The community plan is a practical guideline to assist branches to mobilise their communities in order to secure their human rights. “…the guide … gives recommendations on how to handle civil rights violations, poor service delivery, environmental destruction, crime and violence, high taxes and the deterioration of the infrastructure at local level,“ said  Jansen Van Rensburg in an AfriForum media statement. According to this plan, communities and minorities no longer have to wait for the local government to give them what is rightfully theirs, but they can provide for themselves.

In the meantime, Water Affairs Minister Edna Molewa announced on 12 March that the government has allocated R2 billion for the improvement of water infrastructure nationwide.