Cacadu, the most diverse district in the Eastern Cape, boasts six of Southern Africa’s seven biomes and a rich cultural and agricultural heritage.
The region was home to the stone age people, the ancient Khoi and San tribes and the first European pioneer farmers. Cacadu is a Khoi word describing the regions semi-arid plains leading to undulating mountains that slope down to the sea. It is the hinterland beyond The forested Nelson Mandela Bay with an economy largely driven by agriculture and tourism.
Tsitsikamma National Park and the diverse Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve, now a World Heritage Site, lie in the west of the province. The Addo Elephant National Park – with a proclaimed marine reserve adding Southern Right Whales and Great White Sharks to the Big Five – is the world’s first Big Seven reserve.
Situated at the east end of the Garden Route, Cacadu can be reached by the airports of Port Elizabeth and George and the smaller airstrips of Graaff-Reinet, Plettenberg Bay, Grahamstown and Somerset East.
There is a flight training school – 43 Air School at Port Alfred. Shipping is serviced by the Port Elizabeth harbour and the deepwater Port of Ngqura on the Coega River, 20km east of Port Elizabeth. Cacadu can be accessed by road from Johannesburg via the N1, from Cape Town via the N2 and through Noupoort on the N9 and Cradock on the N10.
Tourism
From golden beaches to the arid plains of the Karoo and lush forests of Tsitsikamma; Cacadu offers diversity. Touring Cacadu has been made easier by the division of the district into a number of macro tourist regions criss-crossed by micro-routes – each with its own roadsign icon. These include the Tsitsikamma Adventure, Kouga, Karoo Heartland, Sunshine Coast, Sundays River Valley and Frontier Country routes; the Langkloof Fruit Route, Owl Route, Camdeboo Route, Mohair Route, Blue Crane Route, Baviaans and Greater Addo Route.
Don’t miss
• View the Big Five at top-notch, malaria-free private and national game reserves.
• Walk through lush forests along a rugged coastline at Storm’s River Mouth. Also, take a boat ride up the gorge or dive the marine reserve.
• Experience Jeffreys Bay’s Shell Festival in September and the Billabong Pro Surf Classic in July.
• View the Big Seven (leopard, lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino, Southern Right whales and Great White sharks) at the Addo Elephant National Park.
• Get a rush on the world’s highest commercial bungy jump, bridge swing, Flying Fox cable-slide or bridge walk at Bloukrans River Bridge.
• Hike the world famous 42km coastal Otter Trail, the 72km Tsitsikamma Trail or the luxurious Dolphin Trail.
• Take the road less travelled through the Baviaanskloof wilderness.
• Do a Cape St Francis lighthouse tour.
• Visit Tolbos Country shop in Patensie.
• View sweeping vistas and dolerite columns in the Valley of Desolation.
• Visit the Owl House in Nieu Bethesda.
• Quad-bike in Somerset East and take 4x4 trails on Karoo guest farms.
• Experience South Africa 253 million years ago at the Kitching Exploration Fossil Centre.
• Explore Graaff-Reinet, boasting more national monuments than any other city in South Africa.
• Visit the largest coastal dunefield in the southern hemisphere.
• Enjoy the Kirkwood Wildlife Festival.
• Visit the quaint Moravian mission station built for the Khoi at Enon in 1818.
• Order a frostie at South Africa’s oldest pub, The Pig & Whistle, in Bathurst.
• Don’t miss the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in July offering more than 500 shows from jazz to opera, crafts to art and comedy to drama.
• View the prehistoric Coelacanth fish at Grahamstown’s Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity.
• View rock art and relics at the Valley of Ancient Voices.
Economic activity
Wool, mohair, citrus, ostrich, dairy and calamari are the dominant agricultural sectors. The fertile valleys of the Langkloof, Gamtoos and Sundays River produce fruit and vegetables while the dry interior hosts commercial merino, mohair and ostrich farms. The dairy industry, concentrated on the coast, accounts for 20% of national milk supply.
Investment opportunities
• Citrus farming is irrigated by the Sundays and Fish rivers. Citrus is also farmed in Gamtoos Valley. Citrus serves local and international markets including the UK, Europe, Canada and the Far East. The Sundays River valley produces 50% of South Africa’s lemon crop. Kirkwood is the citrus capital.
• Chicory. The Alexandria area is Africa’s largest chicory supplier (also the area for pineapples). South Africa is the world’s second largest producer of chicory after France. A drying plant at Alexandria processes the chicory for sale to local coffee manufacturers.
• Mohair from Angora goat - dominates world production.
• Merino wool - serves world markets in a sector open for more value-added products for niche markets.
• Sheep - World-famous Karoo mutton and lamb.
• Beef cattle - thrive in the eastern regions.
• Dairy - dominant in the lush coastal strip from Humansdorp in the east to Tsitsikamma in the west.
• Lucerne is prolific in the Sundays River Valley.
• Tobacco and vegetables are farmed in the Gamtoos Valley.
• Fishing - a small fishing industry at St Francis Bay is centred on calamari, hake and rock lobster. Calamari processing for export occurs in Humansdorp.
• Honeybush tea is grown in the Langkloof. Along with chicory it serves the growing demand for healthy caffeine- and tannin-free beverages.
• Deciduous fruit - Langkloof farms produce apples, pears and plums.
• Commercial forestry - plantations in Longmore, Tsitsikamma and around Grahamstown.
• Camdeboo Meat Processors in Graaff-Reinet, South Africa’s biggest processor of ostrich and venison products.
• Cotton - successful cotton trials at the Agricultural Research Council experimental farm near Addo.
• Shoes/fashion - shoes, Country Feeling lifestyle brand and Billabong South Africa in Jeffreys Bay.
• Seaweed - a small seaweed (Gelidium) harvesting operation, mainly along the Eastern Cape coast in the Seaweed Concession Area from southern Transkei to Plettenberg Bay.
• Wood furniture at Kareedouw.
• Roses/flowers - preserved roses for export from Addo and ferns from Tsitsikamma. Cut flowers around Somerset East and proteas and strelitzias from Longmore Flower Estates.
Cacadu is the largest district in the province and is positioned in the western portion of the Eastern Cape. Cacadu’s boundaries stretch from the Bloukrans River in the west to the Great Fish River in the east, Nieu Bethesda in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south.
Area: 58 243km²
Population: approx. 438 800
Municipalities:
• Baviaans – Steytlerville, Willowmore
• Blue Crane Route – Cookhouse, Pearston, Somerset East
• Camdeboo – Aberdeen, Graaff-Reinet, Nieu-Bethesda
• Ikwezi – Jansenville, Klipplaat
• Kouga – Hankey, Humansdorp, Jeffreys Bay, Oyster Bay, Patensie, St Francis Bay
• Kou-Kamma – Joubertina, Kareedouw
• Makana – Alicedale, Grahamstown, Riebeeck East
• Ndlambe – Alexandria, Bathurst, Boknes, Bushman’s River, Cannon Rocks, Kenton-on-Sea, Port Alfred
• Sundays River Valley – Addo, Kirkwood, Paterson
• District management areas – Rietbron, Wolwefontein, Vondeling, Glenconnor, Kleinpoort, Miller
Tel: +27 (0)41 508 7111
Fax: +27 (0)41 508 7000
info@cacadu.co.za
www.cacadu.co.za
Executive mayor: Mlungisi Mvoko
Municipal manager: Ted Pillay
