The Tankwa-Karoo is situated between Ceres (Western Cape) and Calvinia (Northen Cape). The R355 running from Ceres to Calvinia is known as the longest gravel road between two towns (200km+). The district is known for its no-man’s-land remoteness, low rainfall (100mm per year), lack of commercial farming and long history of skaaptrek (sheep trekking). It is also known for the annual AfrikaBurn festival, the Tankwa Camino’s, Tankwa National Park, and as a popular tourist destination.

Workers in this district are scattered far and in-between, and are facing a number of tough challenges. School children travel impossible distance to attend school, access to municipal services in the nearest towns of Ceres and Calvinia requires expensive informal transport systems, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) statistics are extremely high (sometimes estimated as the highest in the world reported in the Northern Cape), Tuberculosis (TB) are prevalent among children and adults, limited access to fresh fruit and vegetable further enforced malnutrition and vitamin shortages, some families are and extremely impoverished, and animal neglect surfaces in a struggle for human survival. The Tankwa Community Projects initiative focusses on and aims to support the rural community of this remote district through a variety of projects.

Community day

Donkey welfare

Health service enablement

Fundraising for school transport

Honesty library

Sense of community