Acornhoek (L7) -9

Acornhoek

Near Hoedspruit

Limpopo, South Africa (Mbendi - nothing)

10600 Google hits on 13 June 2008

Read this about the area:

But some like Dr Paul Pronyk, director of the Rural AIDS & Development Action Research (RADAR) Programme based in Limpopo, believe that more money is not necessarily what the province needs.

RADAR is attached to the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Public Health that has been working with Tintswalo Hospital, Limpopo’s second largest hospital, for the past 20 years. Pronyk has been based at Tintswalo, a rural hospital in Acornhoek, for the past 6 years. A softly-spoken American, Pronyk does not fit the archetypal image of a rural doctor. Dressed in chinos, trendy leather sandals and wearing a bandana on his head, Pronyk believes the fact that he has been at his post for six years is evidence that things are improving. He shares a bustling and cluttered office located a few metres from the hospital with several field workers, researchers and other doctors.

Situated in the former Bushbuckridge homeland area, Acornhoek is historically inhabited by Shangaan and Sotho-speakers.

Acornhoek presents an interesting profile of an area that suffers from significant population level factors that influence HIV transmission. These include mobility and migration; gender inequality (rape and gender based violence are common) and extreme levels of poverty and underdevelopment.

Historically people who now live in Acornhoek settled all the way up to Phalaborwa in the north and down to Nelspruit in the south, but in the 1940s and 50s people were forcibly removed to “homelands” including Acornhoek. Today at least 750 000 people have settled here. About 25% of residents in the Bushbuckridge area are Mozambican refugees, chronically displaced as a result of the civil war. This has resulted in ongoing trans-migration between Acornhoek and southern Mozambique.

Also, 60% of the local men migrate to work, mainly to the mines and other industries in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, some working as labourers on Limpopo farms. Men often only return home twice a year and this has profound implications in terms of social and familial cohesion and gender relationships.

Visitors to Tintswalo Hospital in Acornhoek cross a small bridge over a railway track. It’s impossible to ignore “Elite Funerals” an undertaking concern painted a cheerful purple and that is situated just to the left of the hospital’s main gate.

Tintswalo is a collection of outbuildings, some prefabricated, others with peeling paint. A few new brick buildings house the admin section. The buildings are linked by covered walkways that offer scant shelter when the heavens open.

Before 1994, the bridge divided Acornhoek. Below the line was declared Shangaan while above was Sotho. If you happened to be Sotho and fell ill, you’d be treated at Mapulaneng Hospital, about 30km to the south.

Pronyk explains that doctors and nurses refused to treat patients deemed to be from the “wrong area”.

“Doctors wouldn’t care for you, nurses wouldn’t care for you, pastors wouldn’t minister to you in your language. You needed an ID to come in and it was a pretty dramatic thing at the time. Since transition it’s been a real struggle to define district boundaries and rationalize referral patterns based on geographical proximity rather on what ethnic group you belong to,” he explains.

Often those who are successful in managing regional structures in Limpopo are outsiders who don’t get caught up in old political squabbles.

Getting anything to grow in Acornhoek is almost impossible. The climate is extreme and water is scarce, a situation exacerbated by the commercial forestry industry in the area. The water infrastructure that does exist is mostly stand alone and not well co-ordinated. Apart from this, maintenance of this infrastructure is poor.

The result of poor access to water and food is borne out in the nutrition ward at Tintswalo that is often filled with children with Kwashiorkor or Marasmus, consequences of severe malnutrition.

The 2000 South African Health Review rated Limpopo as the province with the worst levels of stunting in the country - 34.2% of children between six and 71 months.

“You see this all the time here at Tintswalo Hospital and that was long before HIV was a problem,” Pronyk adds, pointing out that malnutrition and diarrhoeal disease are the primary causes of death in young children in the area.

Source: http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20030959

Another snippet:

The Department is also aware that there are several more dense areas in this municipality which require potential new waterborne solutions and/or upgrade of existing systems, such as Acornhoek, which comprises of a college, a business complex, a hospital, as well as high density residential areas. The present sanitation service of the Acornhoek urban core comprises septic tanks, pit latrines and localized small sewage systems. Sewage management at present is inadequate and pollution via sewage discharges and seepage towards the Acornhoek Dam has been observed. The Department funded a project to the value of R1,3 million comprising repairs and upgrading of the Ntentswalo installation, outfall sewer and new ponds, which was completed in July 2005.

Source: http://www.dwaf.gov.za/communications/Q&A/2006/662NA19Jun06.doc.


Amanzimloti Bush Camp

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Property Description

Nestled between the most famous private ranches in South Africa, lies our little piece of heaven. Millionare's playground at budget prices. Modern chalets, rustic en-suite bush tents, or camping under huge trees next to the Klaserie river, we have it all. Listen to the lions roar or the other animals cry out in the night. Big 3 or big 5 game drives or bush walks arranged. Traditional meals served. Near Kruger Park, Maholoholo, Cheetah project, Klaserie Dam etc.




Contact Information
Andre Lotz
Portion 152, Geurnsey, Limpopo Box 311, Hoedspruit, 1380,
Greater Kruger Park,
Limpopo.

WebURL: http://www.krugertours.co.za
Phone: +27 72 5961917
Mobile: 072 596 1917

ACORNHOEK PHARMACY


Tel : (013) 795-5241

Fax : (013) 795-5241





Company Profile.
Pharmacies


Postal Address : P.O. Box 505
Acornhoek
1360



Physical Address : Acornhoek Plaza

Acornhoek
1360

Assistance anywhere in SA: http://www.assist247.co.za/Search/area_services_list.aspx?lid=9 Also in Acornhoek!

Mass times everywhere in SA - even in Acornhoek: http://radioveritas.co.za/site/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=45&Itemid=128

Computer training in Acornhoek: http://www.222.co.za/gallery_avuxeni/main.php?g2_itemId=817
Fax: 0865191139

WOW! The Standard Bank branch locator:

Standard Bank - Branch LocatorPhysical Address: SHOP 16, ACORNHOEK PLAZA ACORNHOEK LIMPOPO PROVINCE. Postal Address: PRIVATE BAG 9352 BUSHBUCKRIDGE MPUMALANGA ...
www.standardbank.co.za/branchlocator/searchalpha.jsp?a=A - 22k -