De Rust wins Town of the Year 2011 for South Africa.

Wow! Not only did De Rust win the competition for the Best Town in the Western Cape, but went on to win the best Town of the Year 2011 for the whole of South Africa and Namibia. Second place went to Parys and third was Swakopmund in Namibia.

Our new sign boards at both entrances to our town.

Yesterday the town celebrated with a carnival. Processions down the main road, street party with stalls selling everything from ice cream to candles and a concert featuring some of South Africa's top singers.

We ran a Face Painting and Street Art stall which attracted a lot of interest by the kids. Photos of the day can be viewed at De Rust Celebrates.

The sponsors of the competition were: Rapport Newspaper, kykNet/Kwela and Leopard's Leap Wines. De Rust gets R2 million  worth of advertising by Rapport and Kwela (great for tourism) and training for 50 people in the hospitality industry (waiters mainly) from Leopard's Leap.

For the voters the prizes were: 1st name drawn, a new VW Polo Vivo, 2nd person drawn 7 nights at a holiday spa in Mauritius,  and third prize ten 18 ltr special edition bottles of wine.

Enjoy the photos, and if you are a local person then please pass the link on.

Regards,

Jack.

De Rust, Western Cape, South Africa.

Our quaint little village of De Rust is in the top three of the "Best Town Of The Year" competition in the Western Cape. In the past two weeks we have been visited by teams from The Rapport Newspaper and the Kwela TV show.

Besides all of the beautiful surrounding attractions like Meiringspoort with its waterfall, the majestic Swartberg and Kammanassie Mountains with nature reserves and hiking trails, De Rust has maintained its old world charm. Its unspoiled, old world Victorian vibe is relatively untouched.

Donkey carts are the chosen form of transport for the locals and no one seems to mind the "exhaust" droppings left behind. Much more eco-friendly than petrol and diesel fumes :-).

Need something from the local grocery store... you just walk. Want to visit a friend on the other side of town... you just walk. "Town" is only about 1 kilometer by 1 kilometer.

De Rust is home to some of South Africa's well known artists and their works, together with other artists, are displayed in the local art galleries.

We also host a number of sporting events during the year like the Meieringspoort Half Marathon (coming up in October again), Stomp Drift Dam Angling Competition, mountain bike challenges etc.

Biking Clubs also make use of De Rust as a stop over during their rallies.


It is not unusual to see vintage cars lining the main street at various times of the year.


The results of the competition will be made known later in July this year.


Well done De Rust for getting to this stage of the competition!!!


A very happy and contented resident.