Business owners in Piketberg are expressing strong dissatisfaction with the proposal to build a shopping center on the opposite side of the national highway N7. This project involves placing a shopping center, relocating a bus station, and a diesel depot on a plot of about 7.5 hectares along the national road, away from the city center.
Some entrepreneurs are threatening to vote for the opposition or abstain entirely in the local elections on November 4th. Their concern is that motorists and shoppers will stop at the new center on the national road and continue driving further, leading to a decrease in customers for shops and restaurants located in the city center.
Dine Yankielson, whose family owns the Piquetberg Mall shopping center and Spar supermarket, stated that he might not vote at all, and reported that other property owners he spoke with would either support the opposition or abstain from the election.
However, Isaac Rumboll, a surveyor from the firm CK Rumboll & Partners, which submitted the application for the shopping center construction, argued that this development would benefit the entire city. He cited the proverb that 'the rising tide lifts all boats' and emphasized that city stagnation is a problem that should be welcomed.
Local authorities noted that residents can voice objections or file appeals, which has been done, and the decision will be made by the council.
2021 City Center Protection Plan
The municipality's plan recorded the need to 'protect the central business district and existing businesses.' The goal of this plan was to turn Piketberg 'into a destination, not just a stop.'
Lack of Safe Crossing Over N7
People cross the N7 highway without official crossings, which was described as 'very dangerous' in the 2021 plan. Although a pedestrian bridge costing 21 million Rand was designed in 2015, it was never built.
Piketberg is located approximately 130 km north of Cape Town on the N7 highway and serves farms growing wheat, citrus, fruits, and rooibos in the surrounding areas. Farmers and their families travel there from all over the district for shopping from Friday to Sunday. The N7 highway, being the main road between Cape Town and Namibia, also attracts a constant flow of long-distance drivers, many of whom stop at the Winkelshoek petrol station and Spur, rather than in the city, with the Intercape bus using this station as its stop in Piketberg.
The city population was 12,075 according to the 2011 census, with 93% of residents listing Afrikaans as their first language. The wider Bergrivier municipality grew to 70,276 people by the 2022 census.
A Declining Town
During a drive through the town on Wednesday, people were seen living in unsafe conditions in a dilapidated old golf club on the outskirts of the city near the N7. Windows were boarded up, there was a crack on the exterior wall, and a fire was burning in the yard. Inside, tiled shower stalls were scorched by fire, an old sleeping rug lay on the concrete floor, and the walls were covered in graffiti. Two women were drying wet clothes on a line outside.
Richard Yantjies said they live there for free, and that the municipality 'gives them nothing and no help.' Another man sitting nearby, wearing a Freedom Front Plus cap, was asked about his plans to vote for anyone else in the upcoming elections, and both pointed to the cap.
At high temperatures, both of the city's public pools remain empty. The city roads are mostly free of potholes, while old buildings along Voortrekker Street have been renovated by business owners and now house restaurants, guesthouses, and small shops. Residents noted that these improvements were funded and maintained by the businesses themselves, not the municipality.
On the Winkelshoek site, where the shopping center, relocated bus station, and diesel depot are planned, replacing existing shops on an area of about 7.5 hectares, there is a petrol station and a stop.
Center of Outrage
The center of taxpayer indignation is Winkelshoek—a petrol station and restaurant stop at the corner of N7 and R44, opposite the city center. According to a municipal notice dated September 13, 2025, CK Rumboll & Partners acted on behalf of the landowners Winkelshoek Eiendomme and Piquetberg Retail Centre to subdivide, rezone, and consolidate about 7.5 hectares of land. Attached plans showed a new shopping center with restaurants, a relocated bus station, and a diesel depot, with the existing shops on the site slated for demolition. IOL learned that the national supermarket chain Checkers would be the anchor of the new center.
The notice was sent to neighboring property owners, who had until October 13, 2025, to lodge objections. Taxpayers stated that the application had been approved by the municipal planning tribunal, which makes decisions on land use applications, and it is currently being challenged. They claimed they had no influence on the matter.
Van Roo, the administrator head, stated that there are supporters and opponents of this development. He clarified that as an advisor, he does not participate in the discussion and will only be involved if the application is not approved or if an appeal is lodged after approval, when he can consider the appeal as mayor. He noted that the objection is that businesses will be pushed out of the city, and that the objecting parties were given the opportunity to present their arguments.
Van Roo also reported that the municipality did more than just email neighbors about the Winkelshoek application. 'We advertised it in the local newspaper Weslander and on our website,' he said. 'Interested parties were also notified, and information boards were erected.' He added that the homeless settled themselves in the old golf club. 'The homeless entered there themselves. The golf club no longer exists,' he stated. 'As a council, we decided to apply for expropriation of the land to bring it back under municipal control.'
Rumboll, who grew up in Piketberg, noted that the impact of the new shopping center outside the traditional city center had been discussed multiple times. He emphasized that stimulating the city and its economy has a ripple effect and questioned whether the city should be limited to only one shopping center, given that they live in a democracy. He cited Velddrif, also within the Bergrivier municipality, where De Drift Mall is located, and the town of Yzerfontein on the West Coast.
Opponents refer to the district plan developed for the municipality in February 2021 as part of the National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development project. This plan stipulated that 'the central business district functions well, offering a reasonable range of retail, business, and social amenities to serve the community.' It also reflected residents' calls to 'protect the central business district and existing businesses' during a workshop in January 2020. Furthermore, it repeated strategies in the municipality's spatial development framework, including prioritizing undeveloped land within the city for development 'compared to peripheral land,' and promoting Piketberg 'as a destination, not just a stop' when implementing traffic calming and parking measures to support transit.
Yankielson, who has worked in Piketberg for almost 40 years, has not hidden his interest in this fight. His family opened the first Spar in the city in 1987 and spent about 150 million Rands expanding Piquetberg Mall in the city center, and the new supermarket in Winkelshoek will directly compete with his store. He noted that the mall provides employment for about 450 people among 48 tenants, and his objection was not about the appearance of a new supermarket in Piketberg, but its location. He compared it to Robertson and Worcester, where there are suburban shopping centers, and stated that no one enters the city anymore, and the CBD is turning into a 'ghost town' and declining. He accused the council of being unable to protect its CBD. He also pointed out the lack of one of the two public pools and the unsanitary conditions on the streets. He stated that the municipality fenced off the park to prevent homelessness instead of relocating them, and that about five men in the city using wheelchairs are forced to travel on the road because the sidewalks are unusable. He also noted that the email notification was the only information received by property owners about the Winkelshoek development, and that he, like two schools, lodged an objection. His son Philip checked the 2021 district plan page by page and found that the boundary of the city center ended before N7. Philip stated: 'They specifically designate this area and say: protect the CBD and existing businesses,' and added that they invested based on this.
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