Local Economic Development (LED)
Creating Opportunity. Enabling Growth. Building Resilience.
Swartland Municipality is committed to fostering a dynamic and inclusive local economy that benefits all
our communities. Guided by the Swartland Economic Development Plan, our Local Economic Development (LED)
approach focuses on enabling conditions for sustainable growth, encouraging innovation, and promoting
equitable participation in the regional economy.
Our Vision for Economic Development
To position Swartland as a preferred destination for investment, entrepreneurship, and sustainable
development, rooted in local potential and responsive to global shifts.
Strategic Focus Areas
Swartland’s LED priorities are informed by evidence-based planning, extensive stakeholder input, and
alignment with regional and national frameworks. Key areas include:
- Investment Promotion and Business Support: Facilitating investment readiness,
supporting local businesses, and attracting strategic investment to towns and rural nodes.
- Enterprise Development: Enabling the growth of small, medium, and micro-enterprises
(SMMEs), cooperatives, and youth- and women-led ventures.
- Agri-processing and Rural Innovation: Leveraging the agricultural base of the
region while diversifying into value-added sectors and circular economy practices.
- Infrastructure and Place-making: Advancing spatially targeted initiatives,
including Small-Town Regeneration (STR), to unlock the economic potential of towns such as
Moorreesburg and Malmesbury.
- Skills and Employability: Strengthening partnerships for training, placement, and
entrepreneurship support, with a focus on young people and marginalised groups.
- Tourism Development: Centred on unlocking the region’s unique cultural,
agricultural, and natural heritage to drive inclusive local economic growth. The Municipality
supports collaborative efforts to enhance visitor experiences, promote rural tourism nodes, and
position Swartland as an accessible and authentic destination in the Western Cape.
Flagship Initiatives
- Catalysing Investment and Infrastructure for Job Creation: Swartland Municipality
actively facilitates strategic investment by unlocking public infrastructure that enables private
sector developments. Recent collaborative efforts have helped pave the way for the development of a
new shopping mall and private hospital, which have created over 611 permanent jobs. These catalytic
projects form part of a broader effort to stimulate economic growth, expand service access, and
improve the long-term sustainability of local towns.
- Small-Town Regeneration (STR): A multi-stakeholder effort to revitalise key towns
through infrastructure upgrades, precinct development, and catalytic projects.
- Swartland Investment Promotion: Actively positioning the Municipality as an
investment destination through targeted outreach, opportunity profiling, and investor support.
The Municipality works in partnership with the private sector, civil society, national and
provincial government, and development agencies. We focus on creating an enabling
environment,
ensuring regulatory certainty, streamlined processes, and coordinated support to economic
actors.
Whether you are an investor, entrepreneur, resident, or community leader, your involvement
is critical to our collective success. Explore opportunities, access support services, and
stay informed about LED activities in your area.
