25 Aug 2026

The Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs is aware that the Dinokeng Fish Festival is a community-led initiative implemented in collaboration with the Kgatleng District Council, district leadership structures and other partners.

 Answering a question in Parliament, the assistant Minister of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Mr Ignatius Moswaane noted that the ministry provided support and guidance to promote its sustainability, strengthen community participation and maximise socio-economic benefits. The support, he said, was anchored on the Sustainable Livelihoods approach aimed at empowering communities to build resilient and sustainable livelihoods through initiatives such as the festival. 

He said this also supported the transformation of the event from an annually government supported event to a community-owned commercially viable and environmentally sustainable platform for fisheries, tourism and rural enterprise development, capable of generating revenue, sustaining its operations and creating livelihoods. 

“I would like to state that the festival is planned for Oliphant’s Drift and scheduled for the 7^th November and continued stakeholder engagement on the initiative focuses on strengthening coordination, community participation and overall preparedness to ensure the successful hosting of the event,” he added. 

Mr Moswaane said P50,000 had been allocated as a budget for the event, highlighting that the ministry had commenced resource mobilisation and fundraising initiatives to secure sponsorship and other forms of support from stakeholders, especially development partners and the private sector. 

He stated that recognising the potential of the area to support sustainable fisheries, strengthen value chains and promote rural enterprise development, the government has invested P7.5 million through the Ikageng Programme to support a community fish-farming initiative. 

The assistant minister said the investment covered infrastructure and equipment, project operationalisation, capacity building and skills development as well as market facilitation to support value addition and access to markets. 

He also revealed that a total of 36 fishermen havd been identified as beneficiaries of the fish farming projects comprising eight women from Ramotlabaki and 28 men from Oliphant’s Drift.

 Mr Motsamai was answering a question from Kgatleng East MP, Mr Mabuse Pule, who had asked the minister if they were aware that residents, fishers and cooperative societies in his area were still waiting for the implementation of the annual Dinokeng Fish Festival, which they were used to hosting in March every year, which operated as a core socio-economic marker for the region. 

The MP also  wanted to know where and when it was scheduled to take place, how much had been set aside for the event and the clear budgetary allocation that have been authorised under the Local Economic Development finances to secure its continuity. 

Mr Pule also wanted to know the number of fishermen and women expected to participate based on the registered data of local small scale fishers, poverty eradication and destitute beneficiaries, the long term strategy the ministry had in place to ensure the festival becomes self-sustaining and less reliant on annual ministry level approvals. 

He also asked whether there were immediate plans to establish a permanent fishery market centre and cold storage infrastructure within Kgatleng East to ensure that local fishers could safely preserve, process and distribute their catch to national markets beyond festival days. ends