Coromandel Farmers Trust celebrates its 20th
Sydney Press, once the owner of Edgars, a nationwide chain of outfitters, had the main house built in the 1970s.
It has been 20 years since the Coromandel Estate has been handed over to the Coromandel Farmers Trust. The Land Redistribution Programme made this possible, with the help of Thaba Chweu Local Municipality and other stakeholders, on November 21.
On December 3, the residents celebrated this anniversary at the estate. They held a banquet in the former stables on the farm.
“We believe that the unemployed can gain tremendously through the agriculture sector in Coromandel. It is through the spirit of unity and working together that Coromandel was able to sustain itself,” said Winnie Pooe, the executive council member of the Coromandel Farmers Trust.
Interesting information about Coromandel:
In an article by Marius Bakkes (Steelburger/ Lydenburg News, July 2021), he stated the fact that Coromandel had rich farmland, blueberries, a dairy farm, and planted sunflowers, soya beans, and winter wheat. These were only some of the crops planted, and Coromandel was seen as one of the most profitable working farms in South Africa. Sydney Press, once the owner of Edgars, a nationwide chain of outfitters, had the main house built in the 1970s.
The breeding stables at Coromandel were once home to some of the world’s most expensive racehorses.
The 5 800ha estates with their leafy avenues, a number of farms, large-scale farming activities and a game reserve in the Steenkampsberg, later ended up in a family trust that ousted Press as a sole proprietor.
Some of the old managers’ houses are rented out on long-term leases. Forty-five hectares were excised to the new Coromandel Farmers Trust for R1.8m to expand on the existing village compound, so it could house 1 500 people, including farmworkers and their families. Press built a village for the workers.
From humble beginnings, he became a man of consequence who had significant influence and impacted many lives. He consciously continued to educate himself throughout his life. A private and solitary man, he was nonetheless a humanist and philanthropist. The Coromandel Manor House is now a guest house and a function venue.
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