Prince Albert Municipality is a thriving area with a strong heritage character.  It is thus important that new development be considered by balancing the need for economic growth with service delivery objectives and the protection of heritage.

 For queries on town planning and building control, please contact the Operational Manager: Corporate and Community Services, Ms Anneleen Vorster at tel (023) 5411320 or send an e-mail via anneleen@pamun.gov.za

The primary road system in the Prince Albert municipal area consists of national and provincial roads. The N1 runs on a northeast-south-westerly axis and carries approximately 3012 vehicles per day. The N12 runs on a north-south axis through Klaarstroom and connects to Oudtshoorn, George, the Southern Cape region and the N2. The N12 carries approximately 780 vehicles per day. Although a national route, it is a provincial road maintained by Province.

All of the towns within the municipal boundary are accessible either by road or by railway. Leeu-Gamka and Welgemoed are primarily accessible by the national railway and the N1 (connecting to the R353) passing through their jurisdictions. Prince Albert and Klaarstroom have no access to railway transportation. The main town of Prince Albert can only be accessed by main roads, e.g. the R328 (46 km from the N1) and R353 (40 km from the N1) and several secondary roads. The town of Klaarstroom can be reached by making use of the N12, R407 and other secondary roads. Secondary roads provide access to the other rural areas within the municipal area. These roads are mostly gravel roads.

Other provincial roads in our area include the:

• R407 that runs on an east-west axis from Willowmore, through Klaarstroom, on to Prince Albert and in a north-westerly direction to Prince Albert Road, where it connects to the N1. This road is paved all the way from Klaarstroom to Prince Albert Road.
• R328 from Oudtshoorn, a gravel road that runs over the Swartberg Pass, connecting with the R407 at Prince Albert.
• R353, a gravel road that runs from Prince Albert northwards to the N1, close to Leeu-Gamka.

The total roads in municipality amount to 1 741.2 kilometres of roads. The total amount of roads comprise of 257.6 (14%) kilometres of surfaced roads and 1 483.6 (85.2%) kilometres of gravel roads.

The Swartberg Pass connecting Prince Albert with Oudtshoorn is seen as a provincial heritage site.  This Pass needs urgent maintenance and the Municipality is engaging with the Provincial Roads Department and Department of Cultural Affairs to see to the upgrade of said pass.

The maintenance of the roads within the municipal area remains a challenge with a limited operational budget.  The neglect of several years has since culminated in a situation that requires more maintenance and capital expenditure than the limited budget of Prince Albert Municipality can afford.  A survey of urgent maintenance work on roads commenced in the reporting financial year and the results of this survey will have to be addressed in the 2014/15 financial year.

Should you have any queries on roads, please contact the Incident Clerk at tel (023) 5411320, e-mail: rekords@pamun.gov.za

We attend to traffic control, registration of motor vehicles, traffic fines, warrants, learners’ driver’s licenses, law enforcement, road safety and traffic signs.

Learner’s license:
R68.00 + Identity Document
Pass R33.00 + 2 Identity pictures

Driver’s License (CODE 8)
R135 + Identity document + Learners License + 1 Identity picture
Pass R140 + Identity document + 1 Identity picture

Driver’s License (CODE 10 Or 14)
R200 + Identity document + Learners License
Pass R140 + 1 Identity document

For any queries, contact the Traffic Department on a Monday or Tuesday at tel 023 5411306 from 08h00 till 13h00 to make an appointment.

 The following emergency contact details can be useful:

PRINCE ALBERT MUNICIPAL FIRE

 Henry Lakey                                                              0842796430 or 0822200848

 PRINCE ALBERT MUNICIPAL SERVICES EMERGENCY NUMBER

 0822200848

CENTRAL KAROO DISTRICT DISASTER MANAGEMENT

 Hein Rust                                                                  0829257953
 EMS                                                                         023 5411 989 or 10177
Environmental Health                                                   0845809818

                                                                                   
HOSPITAL
Prince Albert Hospital                                         023 5411300/1                                                     
Ambulance                                                                10177

TRANSNET

 National Command Centre 24/7           

 Johannesburg, Duty Manager                                          011 5449094

 Train Control Centre, Beaufort-West                                023 449 2015

  Benjamin Visagie                                                                0834520302

  TFR Emergency Services: Beaufort-West

  Moegamat Arendse                                                             0832772862

The Municipality has a testing facility for learner drivers’ licenses in lower Church Street.This facility is open on Mondays and Tuesdays for the testing of driver’s licenses.Other services provided include vehicle registration, traffic fines, warrants, traffic control, road safety and traffic signs. 

Learner’s license:

R68.00 plus Identity Document with an additional R33 payable if you pass.

 Contact us for any traffic related queries at:Tel (023) 5411 306 during normal office hours.

For emergencies contact: 0822200848

We strive to provide an effective Waste Management service within the municipal area.

Our Waste Management division is responsible for waste collection, area cleaning and waste disposal in the municipal area. Waste is collected on a weekly basis and each service point is supplied with black bags by the municipality. In order to better manage distribution households are encouraged to collect the bags at the Technical offices. Prince Albert has three waste removal vehicles:  a Kia 2.7l small truck equipped for daily collection of refuse, a 2.7l Kia small truck equipped for garden refuse and a Tractor for the removal of domestic waste in Leeu-Gamka. The waste collection in Klaarstroom and Prince Albert Road is managed from Prince Albert.

There are five existing mini-transfer stations for garden waste disposal in the North End of Prince Albert. These are unlined facilities and, in places, the walls have been broken down. These facilities, which are not designed nor intended for household waste are, unfortunately, being used as general waste depots opposed to garden waste depots, for which it were intended. The residents of North End do not have large gardens and thus generate insignificant volumes of garden refuse. The Municipality uses the CWP program as well as other EPWP programmes to manage the mini-transfer stations. Illegal dumping still proves to be a challenge in some of the areas. Residents are encouraged through the ward committee system to report such transgressions.

All the landfill sites in the municipal area are licensed. The landfill sites are prone to smouldering and the Fire Prevention staffing component closely monitors this on all landfill sites within our boundaries.  Tests done by the Western Cape Government: Environmental Affairs and Development Planning on July 8, 2014 in respect of the landfill site in Prince Albert reflect on the management during the reporting year.    During this inspection no ethane gas was detected.

The private sector via Pick-a-Piece, provides valuable support in waste management as they manage a recycling program in the Prince Albert area.

Contact us with any queries or complaints related to waste management:

Incident Clerk:  Nicole Jantjies

Tel: 023 5411014
After hours tel: 0822200848
Fax: 023 5411321

Ensuring our residents have access to clean water is our priority. Fresh water is a scarce resource in the Western Cape that is heavily dependent on rainfall. We all have a part to play in conserving water as much as possible.

Here are a few water saving tips:

In and around the house / business

• Turn the tap off between washing your face, brushing your teeth or shaving.
• Taking a five-minute shower a day, instead of a bath
• Boil only as much water as you need, do not fill the kettle
• Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily. Eg. when disposing of tissues, insects and other waste that can go in the bin.
• Use "grey water" - used water from baths, washing machines and other safe sources - to flush your toilet.
• Use a bucket rather than a hose to wash your car.
• Do not pour paint and chemicals down the drain.
• Farmers must ensure that they keep toxic insecticides away from water sources and streams.
• Factories should take care of how they discharge mercury and other heavy metals into waste water.
• People living in rural areas should be careful not to use the river or river bank as a toilet.

In the garden

• Always water your plants during the early morning hours or in the evening
• Every time you boil an egg, save the cooled water for your houseplants
• Focus on indigenous and non-water-consumptive alien plants (but not invasive alien plants).
• Water gardens less frequently, but water well.
• Remove invasive alien plants on your property, they often sap water.
• Roof water can also be profitably stored in tanks, for watering gardens.
• Use "grey water" - used water from baths, washing machines and other safe sources - to water your garden.

Water:

 Prince Albert’s bulk water supply is provided from nine boreholes with varying production levels. This supply is augmented by a steady stream of irrigation water from the Kweekvallei Water Users Association. Leeu-Gamka and Klaarstroom have no irrigation allocations and is solely dependent on its boreholes

The water sources for the towns in the PAM’s Management Area are as follows:

• Prince Albert: Dorps River and nine boreholes.
• Leeu-Gamka: Three boreholes
• Klaarstroom: Two boreholes
• Prince Albert Road: Boreholes

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We do our best to respond to faults and maintain electrical infrastructure. Electricity is supplied to Prince Albert municipal area by Eskom.  Prince Albert Municipality is responsible for electricity reticulation in Prince Albert, while Eskom provides electricity directly to the residents of Klaarstroom, Prince Albert Road and Leeu Gamka.

Loadshedding:

For more information on loadshedding status and schedules, please visit the Eskom website at http://loadshedding.eskom.co.za/ or call the Eskom Contact Centre on 086 003 7566.

Faults/Queries:

Should you want to report a fault or have queries, contact us on tel Tel: 023 5411320, after hours on tel: 0822200848 or email us at rekords@pamun.gov.za.  Please ensure that you receive a reference number to follow-up on your complaint.