Social Development in Limpopo





The marula rich province of Limpopo was once again the proud host of the successful annual Marula festival now in its fourth year of existence. The festival took place at the declared permanent venue of Phalaborwa, which is well known to be the cleanest town in the province at Impala Park, rugby stadium from 26 February to 28 February 2008.


The intention was to symbolically mark the first festival of the first fruits, market and promote the different Marula products through the different participating small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and co-operatives as well as celebrate the wealthy and diverse heritage of the inhabitants of the province with the promise of a significant growth in the tourism sector.


The 8 000 litres of marula brew, which were prepared by squeezing the juice traditionally and then left to ferment, was presented to the public and tourists and was the main attraction of the festival. To promote commercialisation and cater for the various tastes, there were different types of marula brew such as the sweet brew, medium fermented as well as the strong brew variant provided by different brewers from districts.


The exhibition stalls helped in raising awareness not only on the different marula brews but also on the different marula products available such as marula jam, marula shampoo, marula atchar, etc. Many SMMEs and co-operatives from Limpopo, neighbouring provinces such as Mpumalanga and North West and some from the neighbouring Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries such as Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe came to participate and exchange knowledge at the festival.


MEC Chabane cut the ribbon to officially declare the festival open on the first day, and toured the different exhibition stalls with the Mayor of Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality, Councillor Gloria Valoyi as well as Head of Department. The second day of the festival began with the marula festival half marathon, which appealed to the young and old as well as professional athletes and was the launch pad of the Phalaborwa Local Runners Club, Limpopo athletics and Road Runners Association. The winners of the different categories took home prizes for their efforts and participation. Also taking place at the same time at Hans Merinski Hotel and Hlolwa Lodge was the golf challenge and the newly launched 4X4 challenge respectively.