“Working hand in glove with elected ward councillors and committees in the area, the role of MCF is to be a custodian of service delivery in the community. “The community has united around MCF and actively engages, brainstorms, and contributes creative ideas to resolve pressing problems affecting the village,” said Kulani Rikhotso, chairperson of the MCF.

This further culminated in the founding of the Mafarana Community Development Trust (MCDT), a legal entity that has drafted a long-term strategic plan aimed at attracting developmental and community infrastructure improvement investment. These socioeconomic initiatives and programmes will be driven by targeting key sectorial areas.

To this end, MCDT identified six focus areas: mining, farming and agriculture, tourism, general retail, property and land development, and agro-processing. He said that with respect to farming and agriculture, the village has large agricultural community land that is fertile and available for farming.

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“In order to unlock value to make this land productive, MCDT has launched the Mafarana Emerging Farmers Incubator Programme. “The purpose of the programme is to offer equipment, funding, and business support to emerging farmers in Mafarana. “It is envisaged that the emerging farmers will in turn be able to create employment for locals as they engage in commercial farming on the Mafarana communal land.

“We will soon be farming and harvesting crops such as green peppers, green beans, macadamia nuts, cabbage, and avocados which at the moment are still small plants,” he added. MCDT has invited interested parties, stakeholders, and community organisations to make contact with them to explore joint contributions and idea generation on the future development, not only of Mafarana village but also rural communities, especially within the Lestitele Valley and Tzaneen area.

“The community of Mafarana is resilient and optimistic that the MCDT’s planned socio-economic programmes will result in the improvement of people’s lives, creation of jobs, and alleviating poverty. “They see a bright future where young people will not have to look outside for meaningful jobs but can in fact be absorbed within the various socio-economic developmental programmes to be initiated by MCDT.

“As a community, we believe that government is overwhelmed with challenges, we believe that we have to be organised and formalised in investing back in our rural communities in order introduce meaningful change and developmental programmes to benefit future generations,” said Rikhotso. Mafarana is a rural village situated 38km southwest of Tzaneen.

The village is located in the Lestitele Valley on the R529 provincial road within the area that is responsible for nearly 60% of South Africa’s citrus export. For more information, call Kulani Rikhotso on 073 595 7922 or email rkulani58@gmail.com or call Stevious Mushwana on 083 455 5206 or email him at mushwana7001@gmail.com.