Maphumulo farmers making it work

Painting a picture of a bright future, agricultural land that was claimed by the KwaCele Commmunity in Maphumulo is being well managed and functioning well.

According to the KwaCele Farming CEO Sibusiso Dlamini they manage 2000 hectares of sugar cane and about 37 hectares of bananas. Dlamini has been the CEO of the company for two years after having joined as a non-executive director in 2012.

“The claim for the land of over 12 independent white-owned farms was submitted in 1998 and the first piece of land was given to the people of KwaCele community in 2009. They have the KwaCele-Nhlangwini Communal Property Trust which owns KwaCele Farming. I am employed by the trust to take care of their business,” said Dlamini.

At first they worked together with Crookes Brothers Limited as shareholders but they struck out on their own in March 2014. The enterprise employs about 300 labourers and 20 people in management positions.

Managing director at Crookes Brothers Guy Clarke said this is one of the few successful land claims and he believes what happened in KwaCele can be done in other communities.

“I believe if the community has the right leadership land claims will always bring positive results,” said Clarke.

Dlamini said bringing people with the knowledge and skills on how to run a business is one of the key tools of the success of their farm.

“This helps to ensure that the farm is being treated as business, not a money dispensing machine. That is what seems to be the problem in other trusts, people forget that this is business and needs to be taken care of. There will be internal fights for positions and expenses exceed the business’ income. That is why many land claimed farms go bankrupt.”

KwaCele Farming ensures that the people of KwaCele benefit from the business in a sustainable way. For example, there are bursaries that are given only to KwaCele pupils and they also provide training on how to run a farm.

Dlamini is from from Kranskop, about 80km inland of KwaDukuza and 20km from Maphumulo. He is a non-executive director at the Gledhow Sugar Company, representing the interest of growers within the company and he is the deputy chairman at the Gledhow Farmers Association. He also holds a masters degree in business administration (MBA), accounting and business management from the University of Witwatersrand.

“What brings me to the land is the love and passion for farming and with my qualification I am able to balance the financial part of the farm well,” said Dlamini.

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