Note to Editors: Please find an attached video by Dr Roy Jankielsohn MPL, Leader of the Official Opposition in the Free State Legislature. Pictures can be found here, here, here and here
The MEC for the Free State Department of Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental, Mr Makalo Mohale, indicated during his budget debate that the Department will be investing a further R15 million in the Vredefort Dome complex.
Yesterday I carried out an oversight visit to the Vredefort Dome heritage site to assess the current state of this complex after a previous visit last year.
The R24 million investment by taxpayers at Vredefort, that was initiated in 2005, remains derelict in a state of ruin. The buildings at the UNESCO world heritage site were meant to house educational, scientific and cultural centres to promote local and international tourism to the Ngwathe Municipality.
These buildings cannot be used since they were built on granite which is allegedly crumbling due to poor planning.
The site where a meteorite struck the earth 2 023 million years ago leaving a dome with a 190 km radius was meant to have economic benefits for the community of Vredefort and surrounding towns in both the Free State and North-West Provinces. This astrobleme (meteorite crater) is known to be the world’s greatest known energy release event.
This important heritage site has huge local and international tourism potential for the Free State province.
The DA will continue to promote the effective use of the Vredefort Dome that has the potential to generate employment generating investment for the local community of Ngwathe municipality. The DA has submitted questions to MEC Mohale to determine how the R15 million to reinvigorate this project will be spent and what forms of inter-provincial co-operation will take place within this dome.