Help Port Alfred get over the line!

Voting for Kwêla Dorp van die Jaar closes midday on Friday 18 July – SMS PORT ALFRED to 33157

A million Rand’s worth of high-profile marketing and another million in precinct development projects: that’s what’s at stake for Port Alfred during the next 72 hours as the kykNET Kwêla Dorp van die Jaar competition reaches its final stage. Sunshine Coast Tourism has urged everyone who loves Port Alfred (or loves someone who loves Port Alfred) to help the town over the line by SMS-voting before midday on Friday 18 July.

“The fact that we’ve got to this point is absolutely incredible!” Ed Gutsche, who is on the Sunshine Coast Tourism board’s marketing portfolio thanked Port Alfred’s businesses, residents and Ndlambe Municipality for the part they’d played in making sure the town is among the nine finalists in the kykNET Kwêla Dorp van die Jaar competition for 2025.

At the Sunshine Coast Business and Tourism networking evening on Thursday July 10, Gutsche spoke about the town’s journey over the past three years.

“There was a point, a few years ago, when the impression of Port Alfred was that it was dirty and unsafe,” Gutsche said. “There has been a massive turnaround. Thanks to community involvement and the municipality, there is work being actively done to improve infrastructure and cleanliness, and there’s been a massive improvement in quality of life for the people who live here.”

Gutsche spoke of the lead-up to the announcement of Port Alfred as a finalist. In December 2024, the Sunshine Coast Tourism team worked hard to compile a portfolio of photographs and videos to accompany their proposal to Kwêla to be considered for Dorp van die Jaar. With the news that the proposal had been accepted and Port Alfred was in the running came the putting together of the best possible itinerary for the TV crew that would arrive during the following weeks.
“We had just two days to showcase everything,” Gutsche said.

Thanks to the Kowie community stepping up, they were able to take the Kwêla crew on a fantastic two-day tour with the Kowie River as the focal point that showcased everything from the beach to an array of sports clubs, and local reserve, Mansfield. Showing up to help celebrate the Kowie spirit were the now-famous Kowie Granny Grommets, whose boogie-boarding exploits caught the eye of the team. You can see the Port Alfred segment here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1FKpVzHBCo/

Should Port Alfred win the competition, the town will enjoy high-profile national marketing to the value of R1 million. It will receive a further R1 million for precinct development. This, Gutsche explained, would be used to revamp the historic Pascoe Crescent market building as a tourism and community skills development tourism hub; and Kelly’s Beach, which this year celebrates 20 consecutive years of Blue Flag beach status. For more detail on what these precinct plans include, go to: https://bit.ly/TOTTSCTDorpPrecinct

How to vote
SMS Port Alfred to 33157. SMSes cost R1.50 each and you can vote up to 30 times from one number. Free SMSes or bundles don’t count. Voting closes at midday on July 18. Bonus: Submit your proof of voting at the Sunshine Coast Tourism office to enter a SPAR voucher giveaway (more than R12 500 in vouchers up for grabs).

Port Alfred is one of nine finalists selected from across South Africa and Namibia vying for the title of South Africa’s best small town for 2025. A first round of SMS voting in March determined 27 towns that would be in the running overall, with three semifinalists selected from each of the nine regions. A second round of SMS voting determined the nine finalists. Alongside Eastern Cape finalist Port Alfred are Wilderness (Western Cape), Fauresmith (Free State), Mookgophong / Naboomspruit (Limpopo), Richmond (Northern Cape), Bloemhof (Gauteng/North-West), Witrivier (Mpumalanga), Pennington (Kwa-Zulu-Natal) and Rehoboth (Namibia).

Voting opened at 8pm on Sunday July 13 and closes at midday on July 18 and each person can vote up to 30 times. The winning town will be announced on August 2, 2025 on Kwêla. The KykNET Kwêla “Dorp van die Jaar” (Town of the Year) show airs on Sundays at 7pm on KykNET (DSTV channel 144).