Visit the WCG eCentre in Op-Die-Berg

Op-die-Berg is a rural town north of Ceres in the Witzenberg Municipality. The area is known for its abundance of fruit farms, cherry orchards, and the occasional snowy winters. Tourists visit during spring to view the bountiful variety of colourful flowers that blossoms in the area.

It’s a beautiful place with a close-knit community of warm, friendly people who care for each other and stand together.

Despite the positives, Op-die-Berg faces the same challenges that many small and rural towns in South Africa face. Op-die-Berg has a high unemployment rate, and most of those who do work are seasonal workers and farm labourers. Substance and alcohol abuse is also a big problem, especially among the youth.

The Western Cape Government (WCG) opened the WCG eCentre in August 2016 to provide relief to the community and provide them access to the services that will assist them and improve their lives.

The Op-die-Berg WCG eCentre assists local people to communicate more effectively with government and communities worldwide by providing access to email, internet and various government services. The service is free for all citizens in the area. The community can access the following at the eCentre:

• Free Internet Access.
• Email Access and assistance to create emails.
• Online Job searches and applications.
• Online University Applications.
• Free Printing of a maximum of 10 pages per day.
• Basic Informal Computer Course Training.
• E-learner Online Computer Course Training.
• International Computer Digital Literacy (ICDL) Computer Course Training.

Community members visit the eCentre to search for vacancies, type CVs or other documents, and print and scan documents or books. Students use the eCentre to do their school projects with the assistance of the staff.

Since the eCentre opened, it has helped a lot of community members and youth to find jobs. One such person was Chicardo Mentoor, a Pay Intern at the eCentre in 2018. After completing all the training and on-the-job skills training, he is now an admin administrator at Op-die-Berg Belmont Spar.

Another person whose life has improved since visiting the eCentre is Chriszelda Mars. Mars was a teller at the post office who attended and completed the Informal, E-Learner, ICDL training course at the eCentre. The course prepared her for a digital world she had no confidence to adapt to. The course gave her the necessary computer skills to apply for an acting manager position at the Post Office, which she got.

Lastly, Patricia Primo, a class assistant at Skurweberg Secondary School, completed the Informal, E-Learner and ICDL training in 2020 and enrolled to study Educare at Boland College. She passed the course with flying colours.

The Centre is open from Monday - Friday (08:00 - 16:00) and is located on the Witzenberg Municipality premises. There are currently 13 user PCs available, and 2 friendly staff members willing to assist all people and go the extra mile for them.