Name & Surname: Thato Mokwena Subject: Geography Grade: 12A School: Potoko High School RESEARCH TOPIC: SETTLEMENT GEOGRAPHY IN BURGERSFORT The Hypothesis of Settlement Geography in Burgersfort. Settlement Geography can be described as a colony or any small group of people, it can be a community that is smaller than a town or like a village. The proposed research aims to develop new methods and tools required to evaluate the lack of planning by the local municipality of Fetakgomo Tubatse in the provision of basic services and model risks within the informal settlement of Burgersfort, so that the appropriate and cost-effective solutions and strategies can be suggested to improve the resilience of Burgersfort informal settlement communities. The research examine the hypothesis that the lack of basic services delivery in Burgersfort rural settlement leads to impacts that affect humans and the settlement. Poor service delivery in Fetakgomo Tubatse Municipality is caused by numerous factors, for instance, the municipality is not financially self-sufficient and lack the necessary infrastructure and resources to carry out their duties to the public. Positive Human Impacts. People share a common language, religion or culture. Increase with population growth. Settlement expansion. Economic growth. Increased consumption Negative Human Impacts. Decline of resources. Zero job opportunities. High rate of job losses. Overall poor living conditions. 1|Page Background information about an area of study Burgersfort is located in the valley of the Spekboom River at the edge of the Bushveld Complex in the Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality, near the border of the two provinces Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Area: 28, 1 Km, Weather: 24 Degrees Celsius, Wind E at 6Km/h, 59% Humidity. Postal: 1150, Area Code: 013, Population: 6 369 (2011). Burgersfort it is the South Africa’s fourth largest Cape Griffon vulture colony roots on the sheer cliffs of the Drakensberg escarpment near the JG Strijdon Tunnel on a farm called Manoutsa. The area is made up of 29 wards with 166 villages/ suburbs, the vast majority being villages which are scattered throughout the northern part of the GTM. 2|Page Analysis and Synthesis of data Modern mining has been practiced in Sekhukhune for well over a century, and typically involved (as is still the case today) the extraction of andalusite, asbestos, chromite and platinum deposits from the Merensky Reef, which forms part of the mineral rich Bushveld Complex. In fact, the District features the world's largest deposit of the platinum group metals (PGMs). What is striking about previous bouts of mining activity in the area is how changing commodity prices affected the opening, closing and, occasionally, reopening of mines. When prices rose, new exploration and development took place in the Sekhukhune mining sector. Conversely, when prices fell, mines in the area closed. This is an important characteristic to take into consideration when providing infrastructure and housing to support expanding mining operations. Currently, 17 operational mines are found within the District, with the majority of activity situated along the Dilokong Corridor (R37 and R555). The Dilokong corridor stretches across the Fetakgomo and Greater Tubatse LMs respectively. Some isolated activities are found within the Greater Marble Hall LM. Major mining companies operating in the GSDM (2006) include Anglo Platinum, Xstrata, BHP Billiton, Implants, ASA Metals and Marula Platinum. In spite of the involvement of major mining companies, mining in the District has not yet reached production limits. Consequently, a number of new developments are expected to take place. These include: Eleven new platinum and chrome mines over the next three years, possibly creating 17 000 direct jobs. A R2 billion smelter plant is being considered for construction in Tubatse, possibly creating 1200 jobs. Population: Population concentration points are clusters of individual settlements with large numbers of people and high population densities. The GSDM features 12 population concentration points, with Elias Motsoaledi, Greater Marble Hall, and Greater Tubatse LMs featuring 3 concentration points respectively. 3|Page Recommendations and possible solutions Access – the people around Burgersfort need to have adequate access to water, electricity, health services, education, transport services and markets, because lack of access limits the opportunity that people have to improve and sustain their social and economic well-being. Infrastructure development like irrigation, electricity and better roads. Employment opportunities Increase citizen participation in the affair of the local authority and partnership with the community service delivery. Create job opportunities Improve availability of information Enhance internal capacity The municipality of Fetakgomo needs to encourage people to generate their own livelihoods by giving aspiring entrepreneurs confidence and connections 4|Page Conclusion I conclude my hypothesis by referring to the research topic that I introduced at the beginning of my study: “The Hypothesis of Settlement Geography in Burgersfort” as I accept. The research conducted has established that the people in the Burgersfort settlement communities do suffer and their suffering is probably more severe than in other communities in the country, and that the town indeed faces numerous challenges in this regard. Burgersfort lack resources. With mining it is at its best but it doesn’t seem to be contributing much to the communities by building roads, schools, issue out clean water, affordable electricity as some communities or villages still lack such services. The municipality of Fetakgomo needs to encourage people to generate their own livelihoods by giving aspiring entrepreneurs confidence and connections. 5|Page Bibliography 1. https://www.enco3x3.org > article 2. https://www.researchgate.net>publication/253240244_Strategies_to_improve_servic e_delivery_in_local_manicipalities 3. https://www.safari.co.za/ipfdb/manucipalities-greater-sekhukhune.html 6|Page
