Siyathemba Local Municipality (NC077)

Description: The Siyathemba Local Municipality is a Category B municipality situated within the Pixley Ka Seme District of the Northern Cape Province. It is one of the eight municipalities in the district. The municipality was established as a result of the Local Government Municipal Structures Act of 1998 on 22 September 2000.

Initially it was established as ‘Primanday’, which was a combination of the names Prieska, Marydale and Niekerkshoop. However, this was not an acceptable solution and on the 25th June 2001, as a result of a Council decision and Provincial Government notice 22/2001, became Siyathemba. The meaning of Siyathemba is ‘we hope’.

Prieska was originally named Prieschap, a Koranna word meaning ‘place of the lost she-goat’, and used to be a fording place for travellers over the Orange River. Known to the locals as ‘the gem of the Northern Cape’, Prieska is the seat of the municipality and is located on the hills of the Doring Mountains on the southern banks of the Orange River.

Prieska’s infrastructure is impressive – it has Eskom power; an abundant water supply from the Orange River, with the Gariep and the Vanderkloof Dams on the upstream side of the river; easy access to the main railway line to Namibia; good tarred road linkage with Kimberley, Upington and De Aar; two landing strips for light aircraft; and complete and reasonably inexpensive industrial stands, with or without siding facilities. Industrial activities include: grain silos; a cotton mill; a bakery; manufacture of furniture, built-in cupboards; cattle fodder pellets; and a tiger’s eye processing plant.

Niekerkshoop is attractively placed between hills, and large trees shade the streets. There is no domestic water supply but irrigation water is supplied by a spring to the north of the town. On the north-west side of Marydale is a rich underground water source, and the main means of water supply is by borehole and wind pumps. It depends mainly on sheep farming.