Mpumalanga association reaps land reform success

There are plenty of faces of land reform in South Africa… who show that it can work.

One of them is Bheki Mlaudzi, 32, who speaks quietly, but passionately, about the chance of building a better life.

He works on the farm Burgershall in the Hazyview area of Mpumalanga, owned by the Giba Communal Property Association (CPA), of which is he is a member.

Building a life through farming and family

Mlaudzi, who started working on the farm three years ago, says the salary he receives at the farm and the stipend from the association has helped him to build a house and start a family.

He is a father to two boys and a girl, whom he says he can take care of because of the restituted land.

“Working on the farm that is owned by the community gives me joy and a sense of ownership. My grandfather was one of the leaders of the Giba CPA and he motivated me to take farming seriously,” he says.

Bananas, avocados and big dreams

“After completing Grade 12, I decided to come and work here because I was unable to find a job. As one of the Giba CPA senior members, my dream is to see the farm continue producing bananas and other produce, sending them overseas.

“We are focusing on bananas and a bit of avocados. As young people, we need to learn from investors how to run the business.”

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Mlaudzi’s dream is to run his own farming business without the involvement of the investors.

But he is thankful to the investors who have been mentoring the community members.

He says every year when the investor pays the rent, the Giba CPA members, comprising more than 500 households, share the money.

While they worked with the previous investor, they were doing a ginger project, he says.

Recovering from setbacks, looking to the future

The farm had about 275 employees, but after a storm that ravaged the farm, the number of employees dropped.

One of the successful times that Mlaudzi remembers includes partnering with investor W van R Schmidt (Pty) Ltd, who financed the development of infrastructure, irrigation and energy systems on the Giba CPA-owned land.

This enabled Giba CPA to transform the land into a productive asset, generating opportunities for its beneficiaries and for the wider community.

The farm specialises in bananas, but produces other fruit such as avocados, litchis and ginger.

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The community had claimed 2 700 hectares of land in 2003, and from 2013 they have been renting out the land to investors and signed an agreement that most of the employees on the farm should be the descendants of the Giba CPA members and the local communities.

And the community has never looked back as they have been working hard to make sure the farm continues to be productive.

Today, it has more than 100 full-time employees and is regarded as one of the province’s best banana exporters.

Most of the employees are young people from different backgrounds and are from the Masoyi area, Hazyview, Bushbuckridge and surrounding areas.

When The Citizen visited the farm, workers were busy harvesting and packaging the bananas, preparing them to be transported to different destinations.

Young men were also seen on their motorbikes inspecting different sections of the farm.

Giba CPA has also employed agricultural graduates, who have been allowed to learn more about farming.

One of them is Dikeledi Maboke, an agricultural graduate with a degree from the University of Mpumalanga.

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She has been working as an office administrator for the Giba CPA and has also been assisting on the farm.

“As an agricultural graduate, it feels good to work here and learn how bananas are ploughed and packaged,” Maboke says.

“I take every day’s challenge as it comes and work hard to make sure we continue to do well. My worry now is that we were given 2 700 hectares but at the moment, only 300 hectares are being used. The dream is to find an investor for the remaining portion.”

Another employee, Sipho Matsebula, from Mahushu in Masoyi Trust, is excited that he now works on the farm where his parents grew up.

Matsebula’s role includes making sure the bananas grow safely. “I am one of the people whose role includes the spilling of chemicals and taking soil samples to make sure the fruits are in good condition,” he says.

The role of support organisations in land reform

The previous partnerships Giba CPA secured to produce ginger and macadamia nuts were facilitated by Vumelana Advisory Fund, a non-profit organisation.

Peter Setou, chief executive of the fund, says: “The government does not have adequate resources to support land reform beneficiaries.

“This gap can be filled by the private sector through partnerships with communities. There is a need to expand on this range of interventions, but we need support from the government and private sector to reach more communities.”

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