Dordrecht

Dordrecht lies nestled in the Stormberg Mountains, just between Queenstown and East London. It is a small town surrounded by a number of farms with a large number of merino sheep and cattle ranchers in the region. Dordrecht is also known for its cheese production. Besides that farmers in this area also grow potatoes. It prides itself on a number of historical sites including a unique 1873 colonial country B&B. It has two high schools, Masikhanyise High School and Dordrecht High School which is 102 years old. Its oldest townships are Sinako townships, Munikville and Marabastad.

What challenges face the Advice Office:

As with most rural communities, unemployment is high while those who are employed work for commercial farms or are part of the government initiative to turn landless locals into emerging farmers. The Advice Office assists community members with various legal issues including but not limited to: identity document applications, facilitating social grants and labour related matters. Most of the organisations case-work comprises of labour matters, UIF, HIV & AIDS grants, domestic violence and unfair dismissals. Delays primarily result from bureaucratic processes although the advice proactively intervened with Home Affairs to smooth the process for child support grants.  The Advice Office also employs an HIV & AIDS activator to run awareness programs in partnership with government health workers. The Advice Office also intervened to ask the local hospital to allow people needing anti-retroviral treatment to be assessed locally instead of having to make the long journey to Queenstown or Lady Frere. One of the Advice Office’s most successful programs is a centre for the elderly where they make handcrafts such as beadwork and traditional clothing that are sold to make an income.

Objectives and Programmes:

Capacity building though training and workshops held specifically amongst inmates from the local correctional facility about opportunities available to youth; youth in the community are also exposed to various government departments and learn how to access funding from these departments.

Employment Creation: Three joint venture projects were concluded with the local municipality during the bucket system eradication programme which created employment opportunities for 200 people.

The Advice Office deals with high volumes of paralegal cases where people are assisted with various issues ranging from unfair dismissal to pension grants, to land issues and many other related matters.

The following quote demonstrates the good work that the Dordrecht paralegal is doing in the community:

‘We helped a pensioner, desperate after waiting six months for her pension benefits, to deal with the insurance companies. She was ecstatic to receive R90 000 and now smiles often as she has reached her goal of creating a decent home for her children. We also helped a widow who had problems accessing her late husband’s death benefits - she had been in the process of separating from him at the time of his death as he had a child by another woman. This was a complicated case but, with our help the widow received R97 000 and we were able to help her to make sound financial decisions, including the funeral, the education of the four children, and extending her house.’

Thandeka Ndyumbu-Kulashe, Dordrecht Advice Office

Programmes focusing on sustainability which are currently underway include a dairy farm which has 26 dairy cows. Each of these cows produce at least 15 litres of milk which are then sold to the people in the community and the surrounding schools; a poultry farm that has received a structure from Department of Agriculture which allows the housing of 500 chickens. The Advice Office organized for the Department of Labour to train the beneficiaries of the Poultry Project. The office conducted training on basic book keeping, leadership, and how to write progress report; vegetable gardens – there is a farm which is 780 hectors. The produce from the farm is sold in local shops and to individual customers.

The Advice Office has acquired a farm through the Department of Land Affairs for 16 local women that specialises in dairy farming. Through their efforts they have established a partnership with the local cheese factory. They also established projects where women are taught sewing and knitting skills, producing garments that are sold in the community and securing contracts with local schools to produce school uniforms and track suits.The Masikhanye Women’s Project was initiated by the Advice Office for 15 unemployed women. Its activities are telephone containers, hiring tents, stoves and catering. The office also provides business skills and bookkeeping training for these women. 

Dordrecht Advice Office
3 Klip Street DORDRECHT, 5435
Tel/Fax: 045 943 1015
NPO: 015-363
Coordinator: Nothemba Tsulo
Email: dordrecht@adviceoffice.org.za