The Greater Oudtshoorn Municipality is proud to announce that the Rosevalley Public Library building has been officially opened on 26 July 2022 by MEC Anroux Marais, Executive Mayor of the Greater Oudtshoorn, Christiaan Macpherson, and Pierre Blaauw from the ASLA Foundation.
The opening function was attended by MEC Anroux Marais, Executive Mayor Christiaan Macpherson and councillors, Director: Library Services – Western Cape, Cecilia Sani, her Deputies and Assistant Directors. Library staff from the Oudtshoorn Regional library as well as municipal library staff. There were also retired guests and staff of the Municipality. Saturnus Primary School choir entertained the guests with a beautiful item and was accompanied by Ms Stander, Mr Muller (principal) and staff members.
The Rosevalley Public Library was funded by the Western Cape Provincial Library Service and ASLA Foundation and the municipality made land available for the library. A sod-turning ceremony was held on 20 August 2020 which was officiated by the Western Cape Minister for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Anroux Marais. The project started in June 2021 and the building was handed over to the Municipality in April 2022.
The Provincial Library Service donated R2 million to the Greater Oudtshoorn Municipality in the 2018/2019 financial year and another R6.5 million in the 2019/2020 financial year. ASLA also came on board to support the project with an amount of R501 000,00.
The Municipality had to apply to National Treasury to advertise the tender for a third time in 2020/2021, due to applicants not meeting the tender criteria. RUWACON Pty Ltd was the successful bidder and went on-site on 29 June 2021. The Municipality also had to apply for a rollover since the building should have been completed in 2020. Fortunately, approval was also received to commence with the project.
RUWACON Pty Ltd made use of local labour as stipulated in the tender document. The driving force behind this project was the QS, Devilliers Neethling, Deidré Carelse (Library Manager) the two community members, Edwina April and Benjamin Meiring who attended meetings without any compensation.
The Rosevalley Library will be one-stop information and recreational hub for the community, and will also provide free internet service for the community. The library opened its doors on 1 August 2022 to the public.