Greater Oudtshoorn Local Municipality

The Greater Oudtshoorn Municipality is a local municipality in the Garden Route District of the Western Cape. Oudtshoorn lies at the foot of the Swartberg Mountains in the Klein Karoo, a semi-desert area with a unique and sensitive natural environment, once home to the Khoi-San, whose rock paintings survive in caves nearby.

Registered name

Greater Oudtshoorn Local Municipality

Type

Local government (local municipality)

Fields funded

Any field of study

Website

oudtshoorn.gov.za

A town built on feathers

Oudtshoorn’s prosperity grew from the ostrich. Ostrich feathers became extremely popular fashion accessories in Europe, especially on hats, and between 1875 and 1880 a pair of ostriches could fetch up to £1 000. Farmers ripped out other crops and planted lucerne to feed ostriches. Overproduction caused a sudden slump in 1885, and in the same year floods washed away the Victoria Bridge over the Olifants River, built only a year before. Agriculture and agri-tourism remain central to the area today.

Vision 2030

Oudtshoorn Municipality provides water, electricity, refuse removal, roads, planning and community services such as libraries, resorts, traffic, and fire and disaster management across the town and its rural wards. The municipality brands its strategy as Vision 2030: a town to grow, work, play and prosper.

A bursary open to any field

Oudtshoorn funds an annual external bursary as part of its community development mandate, in a region where household incomes are often low, according to a provider record checked in August 2026. Unlike most municipalities, Oudtshoorn keeps its bursary open to any field of study, reasoning that developing high-potential students within the municipal area benefits the town whether or not graduates work for the municipality. Oudtshoorn gives explicit preference to applicants from historically disadvantaged groups and to people with disabilities.

The Municipal Manager signs an annual notice advertising the bursary in local media and on the municipal website, and the Skills Development section administers it. Each award funds one year of full-time study towards a degree or diploma at an accredited institution, rather than a whole qualification, so bursars must reapply.

How residents can research the bursary

Watch the municipality’s website, notice boards and local newspapers for the annual bursary notice, and ask the Skills Development section when it usually appears. Because awards cover one year at a time, keep your results strong and your documents up to date for each reapplication. BursariesAfrica’s older Oudtshoorn guide has not been refreshed with 2027 dates.

See our Western Cape Government Bursaries list.