Award winning actress, Nthati Moshesh introduced last year’s winner, Sindisiwe Sabela who had a few words of wisdom for government and small farmers. “Government cannot treat us with the same blanket as farmers, and think that we all have the same needs,” she said.
She also told an anecdote of a farmer who was using his pack house as a residence for his workers, and when she asked him why he was doing this, he simply said, “I didn’t ask for a pack house.”
To farmers she advised, “It is important for all of us to have a plan so that we have a timeframe to do the things that need to be done.”
Actress Terry Pheto, of the academy award winning Tsotsi fame, was the emcee for the event and told stories of how agriculture impacted her life as a young aspiring actress in Soweto, “My mom used to sell chickens, and she would always give us chickens as big as turkeys whenever we went home for money. [Women in agriculture] affect so many people and I want to thank [them].”
Keynote speaker, Gauteng’s MEC for Economic Development, Lebogang Maile said, “Agriculture, although it is currently not a significant contributor to the economy of Gauteng, we believe that it can be a strategic player.” He also touched on government’s plans to make unused or under utilised facilities owned by government available to entrepreneurs. “Government alone cannot succeed in making the National Development Plan a success. We need [all stakeholders] to implement it,” he said.
This year’s commercial producer of the year, Inspired Leaf, certainly had a plan. The plan was to create jobs through farming.
“I feel proud having won but it was a joint venture, I couldn’t have done this without my team.” said Mantjwetse Botha of Inspired Leaf.. She left her corporate job to join her husband in farming in 2010. “I loved what I saw and contributing to the economy is what attracted me to it.”
