Franschhoek has set its sites on becoming the first town in South Africa to reach herd immunity against Covid-19.

The Franschhoek Wine Valley depends on tourism and has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions.

The many wine farms and tourist attractions in the town are reliant on international and domestic travelers.

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The Department of Health has only granted two vaccination dates per month to Franschhoek which won’t help to reach the intended deadline.

Franschhoek Tourism says that to reach herd immunity a minimum of 960 people need to be vaccinated per day, which unfortunately comes at a hefty price tag, and has to be funded solely by them.

The daily projected cost of R37 600 would be needed to fund marshals, coordinators, and cleaners, amongst others, as well as their meals and transport to and from the relevant vaccination sites. The team involved would like to have this completed within 16 days from the date of implementation, at a total cost of R660 000.

This is in an effort to boost the faster return of international visitors to the region, and more importantly, stimulate Franschhoek’s employment growth. An initiative that has the full support of the Western Cape Government and Wesgro.

The Western Cape government has called for the province to be moved to Alert Level 1 of the lockdown as active Covid-19 cases have decreased and the province is on the cusp of exiting the third wave of the pandemic. Many towns, similar to Franschhoek are heavily dependent on tourism revenue.

To reach its herd vaccination target, Franschhoek Tourism has set up a GoFundMe account and interested members of the public or corporations can donate to this worthy cause. You can donate here