Building SA: One village at a time

Places like Naledi Village can easily be forgotten. It’s nestled on the foothills of the great Maluti mountain range in a picturesque part of the Eastern Free State, concealing deep scars in an otherwise beautiful landscape.

It has all the makings of an apartheid village: inadequate water supplies, sanitary facilities, electricity, schools and access to land. Housing is largely informal as all the residents previously faced the uncertainty of relocation based on the whim of the land owner.

This all changed when the land was acquired by Earth Rise Trust, who transferred 42 hectares of land to the Naledi Village Community.

This ensured the security of tenure for the Naledi residents and the start of hard work to build a community not only to meet their needs but which promises a better life for their children. Over the past three years the Naledi community have been hard at work slowly taking charge of their own destiny.

In three years the community has made progress to ensure more permanent water supplies, they have develop agricultural land for food to feed the community and to sell to neighbouring villages as well as open a crèche as a Mandela Day initiative in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Earth Rise Trust and the Naledi Village Community.

Naledi is a great example of what goodwill exists when communities have the security of land tenure and are supported to develop their own communities. Great opportunity exists if other farmers partner with communities on their land rather than repent on what 22 years of democracy hasn’t delivered.

Look out for a video next week on our Facebook page on the story of Naledi Village.