22 Oct 2013

Residents of the small settlement of Zutshwa in Kgalagadi North remember the once thriving salt project with nostalgia.

Hardly a day passes without reminiscing about the positive impact that the project once had on their lives. The Zutshwa salt project was a community beneficiation initiative that enabled residents to harness their natural resource to generate income and put food on the table. For residents, the project was a blessing, an escape route out of the clutches of poverty and hardship. Sadly, the project collapsed because of mismanagement and misappropriation of funds.

The Zutshwa salt project was initiated by German missionaries belonging to the Lutheran Church in the early 1990’s. The missionaries descended on the small settlement to preach the word of God, but they found another way of improving people’s lives through the salt project. It was a viable and ecologically sustainable income generating project that greatly improved the livelihood of residents.

The project entailed pumping high salt concentration water from underground and allowing it to evaporate in open ponds, leaving behind crystallised residues of salt. The project was ideal because the basic technology used to pump the salt water from underground and extract the salt was simple and cost effective. Most of the work was manual, which created employment opportunities for residents.

It was one of the most successful community beneficiation projects ever created in Zutshwa and residents were empowered to use their wages to build a better life for themselves and their families. In its heydays, the salt project was profitable as some of residents were sent to Namibia for training.

Sadly, what started as a sustainable project under the management of the German missionaries subsequently suffered a major blow after it was handed over to the Qhaa Qhing Community Trust. The trust failed to manage the project on behalf of the community and it finally collapsed in 2003 amid allegations of poor management and abuse of funds.

Residents of Zutshwa once again found themselves with no source of income and struggling to escape the clutches of poverty. Once a thriving society that was able to feed and develop itself, Zutshwa was robbed of its self-sustenance and found itself solely dependent on government poverty eradication and Ipelegeng programmes.

“Some trust members exploited the ignorance of residents and abused the trust’s funds, which led to the collapse of the project,” said Ms Kegomoditse Mokoto, secretary of the trust. She, however, said trust members should not be singularly blamed for the collapse as donor funds that previously sustained the project dried up after the Germans left.

The project was successful largely because it had a ready market in Livestock Advisory Centres (LAC) who consumed all of the produce from the Zutshwa salt project. Buoyed by the desire for a better livelihood and memories of the good times of yesteryear, residents of Zutshwa are currently working to resuscitate the salt project.

They are cognizant of the fact that it will be a tall order that will need hard work and dedication. Almost all the plant equipment is unserviceable and needs to be replaced. But the residents are committed to making sure that the once thriving Zutshwa salt project is once again brought to life. ENDS