About
The voice, vision, and value of the Valley of Grace.
The Ward 2 Business Forum exists to turn what this valley already has into a regenerative tourism economy that benefits every living thing in this valley.
The Ward 2 Business Forum is a community-initiated body that represents the seven settlements of Ward 2, Theewaterskloof Municipality: Genadendal, Greyton, Bereaville, Voorstekraal, Boschmanskloof, Heuwelkroon, and Madiba Park.
Our brand is The Valley of Grace, where garden-centered slow living meets documented community transformation, in a UNESCO-recognized biodiversity hotspot, governed by the people who live there.
Our brand caters to a rapidly growing sector of global luxury travel: regenerative tourism. This sector seeks experiences where the traveler's presence actively helps improve the destination. In other words, a small but growing subset of international travellers want to use their leisure time to help restore landscapes and environments and conserve them for future generations.
This model involves activities such as restoring natural habitats, supporting the economic development of local communities, and learning about conservation and cultural respect.
What inspires us.
The community that healed itself
In the Free State, the Mafube Business Forum showed what happens when a community comes together after their municipality collapsed. They organised, drafted a Stakeholders' Compact, and built joint governance from the ground up. Their experience gives us a tested template, a realistic picture of the risks, and proof that organised communities can act when government cannot.
The R1.6bn per year farm
In 2007, Koos Bekker and Karen Roos acquired a deteriorating 1692 Cape Dutch farm in the Franschhoek Valley. Today Babylonstoren is a destination and lifestyle brand that generates in excess of $100 million per year, built on food, wine, hospitality, and a story rooted in place. The Valley of Grace holds older heritage, deeper roots, and a living community. The raw material here is richer. What's been missing is the coordination to put it to work. As you watch the video below that shows how Babylonstoren pulls it all together, imagine the same outcome for our valley.
What makes VoG different?
The Valley of Grace visitor experience is built around something winelands estates, beachfront hotels, and safari tours cannot offer: the chance to contribute to real ecological restoration and human transformation, and to see the evidence of that contribution in real time. The global luxury travel market is repricing itself around meaning, authenticity, and measurable impact. We've identified six places worldwide doing pieces of what this valley is building. None of them combines what the Valley of Grace offers.
The untapped potential here
Genadendal is the oldest mission station in southern Africa. Its residents carry three centuries of craft, agricultural, and institutional knowledge. Greyton draws visitors year-round to its guesthouses, trails, and Saturday market. Between and around them sit producers, growers, makers, guides, and young people with skills and energy and no structured route to market. The potential is visible on every street, in every garden, behind every front door. It has simply never been organised into a single story. That's the role of the Ward 2 Business Forum.
The Forum is currently in formation, convened by Michael Haupt, a 13+ year resident of the valley.
You're invited to add your voice. Simply register below.
See a bright future for Ward 2? Let's build it together.
Creating
abundance for all in the Valley of Grace together.
Ward 2 Business Forum
W2BF represents for-profit and non-profit entities in Genadendal, Greyton, Bereaville, Voorstekraal, Boschmanskloof, Heuwelkroon, and Madiba Park. These settlements make up Ward 2, Theewaterskloof Municipality, Western Cape.
We proudly welcome visitors into our home, and our brand: The Valley of Grace, where garden-centered slow living meets documented community transformation, in a UNESCO-recognized biodiversity hotspot, governed by the people who live there.
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