Being acknowledged as one of the best town’s in South Africa is prestigious.
Being named the best town in KwaZulu-Natal is an honour and Winterton residents are proud to have been placed fifth overall in the Kwela Dorp van die Jaar Competition.
The small scenic town saw a hive of activity during the past months when the town was entered and became a finalist in the competition. Winterton successfully progressed through the elimination rounds and was up against the best of South Africa’s towns in the finals held during August.
The Town of the Year would be determined by the number of votes cast and would receive R1 million worth of marketing. The competition concluded in mid-August.
Winterton was placed fifth overall and received 300 votes less than fourth place winner White River.
Fouriesburg was placed first, second was Paarl and third Phalaborwa. Annali Honiball who entered Winterton in the competition said that although the result was disappointing, it felt good to be in the top five.
“Unfortunately the people of KZN did not vote. We think it is because Kwela is an Afrikaans programme and KZN being so English didn’t really know about it and didn’t understand the value of the prize,” said Mrs Honiball.
Winterton has been attracting national interest and Mrs Honiball says that tourist numbers are rising.
“We are still getting the spin-off from being the KZN (regional) winner.
Quite a few newspapers and magazines had articles about Winterton and we are definitely getting more tourists.
Mooiloop, a SABC 2 programme, is also coming to shoot here soon,” she said.
Probably one of the biggest spin-offs from this competition experience has been the community spirit.
“It was a remarkable experience for the town and definitely put us on the map.
There was such a feel of camaraderie. We worked together and a tremendous amount of pride in our town was instilled and is still present. We would like to thank everyone that voted,” concluded Mrs Honiball.