Sowing simplicity, reaping satisfaction
He now sows 6.7 hectares of land near his Macekhane homestead
HIS message to youth is to be open to everything and not to let pride stand in the way of seizing an opportunity.
Farmer Jeffrey Mthembu was born in 1950 and raised in Macekhane, Empangeni, by a policeman dad and stay-at-home mom.
A calm, level-headed man in his senior years, his life story is one of commitment, perseverance and simplicity.
He completed matric in 1973, was married by 1974 and kept his vows for 44 years.
After matric he signed up for a technical training programme with Telkom, going on to repair and service equipment for the company along the KZN coastline until being transferred to Gauteng.
He spent 10 years in Johannesburg, and after 35 years with the company he retired at age 50, returning to his birthplace in 2001.
‘My work satisfied me. We didn’t live in luxury, we had just enough and didn’t complain,’ he said.
‘People have more now but they’re not satisfied with what God has given them. They’re only happy when they get more.’
Over the next few years he ran a shoe repair shop and a poultry business, growing and selling chickens until 2007 when it was no longer viable.
Mthembu then started farming as a hobby with no prior experience or knowledge, growing vegetables on his first 1.3 hectare plot of land.
Nine years later he has turned it into a fully-fledged informal business funded entirely by himself, and supplies Empangeni and Macekhane with a wide variety of home-grown vegetables.
‘I’m not retired yet. This helps to keep me going and I like the feeling of growing things for people. I prefer selling what’s from the earth, not from a factory,’ he said.
He now sows 6.7 hectares of land near his Macekhane homestead, traditionally owned and inherited by his family, where he lives with his wife, stepmother, two children and four grandchildren.
He works the fields himself despite being 65 with help of his wife and two part-time helpers.
‘If I had started farming early in my life I would have been a millionaire by now,’ he laughs.
‘But I’m happy with how everything turned out. It might not be fancy, but God made it happen this way.’
His only other shot at a different career was studying two years towards a theology degree.
He did not complete the degree but continues to work as pastor at a local church.
‘Formal education is vital, but it is not everything,’ he said.
‘Don’t just depend on a degree; you can still live and do things if you don’t have one. Study to uplift society and live a better life. One’s goal mustn’t be just to get employed.’
