Theewaterskloof Local Municipality

Theewaterskloof Local Municipality (TWKM)

Home page on the W2DF register

This page records the municipality’s role as a Valley of Grace BioHub entity. The home page for the municipality is on the Ward 2 Development Forum register: The Municipality tells its history in the valley, and The Rules the Valley Lives By explains the municipality’s by-laws and plans that apply in Ward 2.

Category B local municipality with the code WC031, created in December 2000 under the Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998 as part of the post-apartheid consolidation of local government. TWKM sits within the Overberg District Municipality (DC03) and covers the below-dam Riviersonderend corridor between the Theewaterskloof Dam wall and the river’s confluence with the Breede, including the towns of Villiersdorp, Grabouw, Botrivier, Caledon, Riviersonderend, Greyton, and Genadendal, and Ward 2 in which the Valley of Grace BioHub is anchored.

TWKM is the statutory counterparty to the TRANCRAA transformation process for Farm 39. It is the municipality to which Greyton’s commonage assets passed on formation, the party that appointed the transformation consultants in 2002, and one of three signatories to the Houw Hoek Agreement of Settlement made an order of the Cape High Court in October 2008. Its administrative decisions from 2009 to 2016 are the primary substance of the Cycle 4 imposition analyzed in Promises to the Valley of Grace.

Mandate

TWKM’s mandate under the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 and the Constitution’s Schedule 4B and 5B covers the ordinary services and functions of a Category B municipality: water services, sanitation, refuse removal, electricity reticulation, municipal roads, storm-water, local economic development, spatial planning, building regulation, cemeteries, environmental health, licensing, and municipal public transport. Under the Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003, it is responsible for its own budget, procurement, and financial reporting.

For the Farm 39 question, TWKM’s role has been shaped by the Rural Areas Act 9 of 1987 (which governed Farm 39 until TRANCRAA) and the Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act 94 of 1998. TWKM took Greyton’s commonage assets on formation and became the local counterparty in the TRANCRAA transformation process for the trust land at Genadendal. It is not itself the beneficiary of the trust and does not currently hold Farm 39; the transformation process is the mechanism by which the receiving entity is chosen.

Role in the TRANCRAA process

The following summary draws on the Significant Dates timeline. Every event carries the IC (Independently Corroborated) marker at source.

Formation and commonage absorption (December 2000). TWKM was created and absorbed Greyton; commonage assets passed to the municipality.

Consultant appointment and dispute (2002 to 2006). In March 2002 TWKM advertised the tender for Farm 39 transformation consultants. Urban Dynamics Western Cape (UDWC) was appointed on 15 November 2002 with a contract signed on 17 January 2003. In December 2005 the Genadendal Transformation Committee appointed Regan Brown Attorneys to request a halt to land sales, budget disclosure, and a pause on UDWC involvement. On 6 June 2006 Regan Brown formally declared a dispute, primarily on the tender process.

Judicial phase and Houw Hoek Agreement (2007 to 2008). On 31 January 2007 the TC filed a High Court application (Case 926/2007) seeking judicial review of TWKM’s administrative actions, including the appointment of UDWC, payment of UDWC accounts, and sale and transfer of Trust Land to outsiders. Mediation at Houw Hoek followed in September 2007. The Houw Hoek Agreement of Settlement was concluded on 17 October 2008 and was made an order of the Cape High Court on 22 October 2008 by Justice Yekiso. TWKM signed the Agreement in October 2008.

Collapse of the Agreement (2009 to 2010). In May 2009 TWKM expressed concern about the Agreement and the Legal Resources Centre advised that the court order contradicted TRANCRAA. In September 2009 TWKM informed the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) of an “irreparable breakdown” with the TC and committed to completing the process unilaterally. On 7 July 2010 TWKM, DRDLR, and UDWC met without the TC and decided the Agreement “cannot be implemented and should not be revised. No further public participation, no referendum, no updating of residents list.”

Post-collapse position (2010 to 2016). In October 2010 the UDWC report recommended transfer of the Remainder to TWKM. On 27 September 2016 the TWKM Municipal Manager wrote to DRDLR stating that TWKM believed the Minister should transfer Farm 39 to TWKM, that the environment with the TC was hostile, and that tripartite meetings should be avoided.

Non-servicing of Madiba Park (from 2019). With Madiba Park’s approximately 175+ informal dwellings occupied on Farm 39 Trust Land from 2019, TWKM said it could not provide services on non-municipal land. The land is legally supposed to reach a receiving entity under TRANCRAA and has not; TWKM’s position is that until it does, servicing responsibility does not attach.

Current financial position

In 2025 TWKM was placed under a Provincial Financial Recovery Plan. Recorded figures: irregular expenditure of R353 million; cash reserves fallen from R85 million to R2.1 million; Genadendal accounting for approximately 20% of outstanding municipal debt. A Financial Recovery Plan is a provincial administrative measure, not a change of legal form, and its effect on TWKM’s operating capacity depends on the specific terms and on subsequent provincial and municipal action. The plan’s implication for TWKM’s ability to act as receiving entity or servicing authority for Farm 39 is an open question and is not resolved on the current record.

Legislative and institutional references

• Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Schedules 4B and 5B, local government functions)
• Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998
• Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000
• Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003
• Rural Areas Act 9 of 1987 (repealed by TRANCRAA)
• Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act 94 of 1998 (TRANCRAA)

Related pages

• W2DF: The Municipality: The home page for the municipality’s history in the valley
• W2DF: The Rules the Valley Lives By: The municipality’s by-laws and plans that apply in Ward 2
• TRANCRAA — The statute governing the Farm 39 transformation process
• Genadendal Transformation Committee — Beneficiary body opposite TWKM in the TRANCRAA process
• Significant Dates — Full timeline including every TWKM-related event
• Promises to the Valley of Grace — Analytical reading of TWKM’s role in the Cycle 4 collapse

Sources

• Valley of Grace Significant Dates timeline (with IC/MS/TBV markers at source)
• Farm 39 Transformation History (project document)
• Greyton Commonage Research Report (project document)
• Houw Hoek Agreement of Settlement, 17 October 2008
• Cape High Court order, 22 October 2008 (before Justice Yekiso)
• 2025 Provincial Financial Recovery Plan for TWKM (reported figures)