Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning Day two of a 2 200km road trip across South Africa in electric cars proved even more eventful than the drama-filled first day with trouble starting not long after the conclusion of a leisurely breakfast in Graaff-Reinet After a later-than-scheduled arrival in Nieu-Bethesda on Thursday evening – after resolving our charging authentication challenges in Colesberg – it was another pre-dawn en route to the Drostdy Hotel in Graaff-Reinet that has the only direct-current fast charger in town Our ultimate destination for the day was Gqeberha This article is about the second leg of the four-day road trip, which involves Naamsa – The Automotive Business Council, Accenture, Woolworths, KPMG, the Industrial Development Corporation, the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth Development Office, the Electric Mission, and Wesbank and FNB. It comes ahead of Naamsa’s South African Auto Week conference in Cape Town next week The journey, which is being filmed for a documentary, is aimed at bringing a fresh focus to the challenges that could face EV owners doing long-distance road trips in South Africa, especially in more remote parts of the country. And like the first, exhausting day — which you can read about here — the second day proved highly eventful (and just as exhausting) The group of 13 people taking part in the road trip are driving five modern electric cars from Johannesburg to Cape Town on a circuitous route that takes in the Garden Route and big chunks of the Karoo The cars are the Volvo XC40; the BMW iX50; the Mercedes-Benz EQE 350; the VW ID.4 and the BYD Seal your correspondent spent much of the day in the XC40 which has proved to be a competent and comfortable workhorse We departed Nieu-Bethesda – which you really must visit if you haven’t already done so – with just 23% left on the battery (down from 82% when we left Colesberg) and headed for Graaff-Reinet about 50km away We arrived at the Drostdy Hotel in town with 21% of the Volvo’s battery remaining – only a minor decline owing to regenerative braking on the steep mountain pass leading out of Nieu-Bethesda After breakfast at Maria’s, an excellent restaurant near the hotel, and having topped up some of the vehicles’ batteries, we hit the road in the Volvo. Our first stop, which was meant to be just a few minutes, was at Jansenville this is where the big drama of the day began The GridCars-owned fast charger at that location – a dusty garage forecourt – refused to provide the BYD with power we weren’t able to resolve the situation with the help of the GridCars support team in Johannesburg after a long two hours in the hot desert sun a decision was taken to plug the BYD into an ordinary electrical outlet at the service station shop where the GridCars charger was located to get the vehicle up to sufficient charge to drive back to the DC fast charger in Graaff-Reinet But at the speed it was charging over the store’s 220V connection – a mere 1.6kW – we realised the BYD team had a long wait of many we decided to push on to Gqebera to charge at the AIDC-EC owned 150kw charger is building 13 such charging stations across the province to enable mobility and to stimulate EV uptake and demand it was still not clear why the fast charger at Jansenville refused to charge the BYD though we suspect the car – a new model from the Chinese auto giant – wanted 800V from the charger #nevroadtrip The situation in Jansenville right now while we wait for the issue with the charging station to be resolved. Far from ideal… pic.twitter.com/4HaUADYJtU — Duncan McLeod (@mcleodd) October 11, 2024 There may have been an incompatibility with the charging station which was built in 2018 – a lifetime ago in EV technology terms But that’s just our speculation – we’re not sure what the root cause of the problem was and as of the time of this publication at 5.45pm on Friday the latest was that the vehicle would be loaded onto a flatbed truck and taken to the BYD dealership in Gqeberha to have it charged and ready for Saturday’s leg of the journey Africa principal director of automotive and e-mobility at Accenture likened the problem at Jansenville to new technology meeting old and expecting the two to play nicely together “We need regulation to ensure there is compatibility testing done To scale this (electric motoring) from a hobby or project to a national proposition it needs that sort of regulation,” he said Great to meet with @RubiconTech_ MD Greg Blandford in Gqeberha this afternoon and have a look at his stunning @Tesla Model Y, which he imported into the country. He was kind enough to take me through the software system… pic.twitter.com/08fti3rddj — Duncan McLeod (@mcleodd) October 11, 2024 with the vehicles (excluding the BYD) all making their way separately to the fast charger at the stadium where we were able to top up the Volvo from nearly empty to more than 80% charge in about half an hour It was at the stadium that we were fortunate to meet up with Greg Blandford a company building a network of EV charging stations across the Eastern Cape – and the rest of South Africa took TechCentral through the vehicle and its impressive software system The various vehicles and teams (excluding your correspondent who made a beeline to the overnight accommodation to focus and write) then headed for a local racetrack to put the cars through their paces The third leg of the adventure on Saturday will take in the Garden Route (including Fancourt in George) the famous Swartberg Pass and the picturesque Karoo town of Prince Albert EV road trip: Joburg to Nieu-Bethesda – and the Colesberg crisis Please check your email and enter your one time pin below:   Open in Gmail Sorry there was an error loading the audio Welcome to one of the quietest villages in the Karoo: Rietbron If you’re an adrenalin junkie, a wild adventurist, someone who can’t sit still for a second or a person who needs a thrill a minute to survive, then you should bypass Rietbron.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads It lies somewhere on a 150km detour between Beaufort West and Willowmore crossing the Amos River and the Muiskraal River Read more: A traveller’s leisurely guide from Rietbron to Willowmore But Rietbron does not specialise in flowing rivers or mountain ridges in the distance Most people think of the Karoo as a flat plate of geography floating in the belly of South Africa You’ll always see rocky bumps on the horizon where the horizon is only occasionally broken by the perky ears of a hee-hawing donkey straying into your field of vision You have to want to visit Rietbron to get there Pretoria and Cape Town come here and fall in love with the space which are renovated by a talented and enterprising builder-engineer local farmers between Beaufort West and Willowmore built themselves a church and box-like Nagmaal houses here Which is how most of the settlements in the Karoo began Way back in 1947, long before she became Queen, the young Princess Elizabeth stopped off at Klipplaat when the Royal Family were on their grand railroad tour of South Africa.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Read more: Exploring the ominous tunnel, the train, the Poor School and padstal discoveries During South Africa’s golden century of rail travel At one stage you could hardly move for all the comings and goings of the old steam behemoths heading for Cape Town This was of great benefit to the local mohair and wool farmers wanting to ship their products to market there was a minor ostrich boom in the area for a while and the rail system helped that business along too quartermasters and mountains of military gear Not far away lurked the mounted Boer units waiting to disrupt this rail traffic in any way they could that the supplies on the trains included a case or two of Scotch whisky The desolate loco outside Klipplaat – memories of yesteryear In 1979, the locomotives were phased out in favour of diesel and the little village went into decline. Today, there’s a rusty loco standing outside Klipplaat as a memorial to better days. Bikers and overlanders enjoying the wide landscapes of the Karoo often stop here and pose for photographs with the old train in the background.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Jansenville, on the southern reaches of the Karoo Heartland, is brimming over with angora goats, mohair and country legends.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads A local woman once had her garden gnome stolen from her farm stall and pleaded publicly for its return so much publicity had been generated that the woman received many The beautifully kept Jansenville Mother Church South Africa’s first mohair museum is in Jansenville part of a Mohair Meander which includes Beaufort West When Michelle Obama wore a designer cardigan made of mohair from a Karoo farm in the Camdeboo district the news item made fashion headlines around the world Movie stars and talk show hosts gushed over mohair which now has the cachet of cashmere and silk Read more: Mohair – a fibre named desire With more than 668,000 angora goats, South Africa produces an annual clip of nearly 2.3 million kilograms – around half the world’s mohair. The vast majority of that comes from the Eastern Cape Karoo – and Jansenville is the country capital of mohair.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Most of this sumptuous fibre goes to the textile weavers and fashion houses of Italy, but a fair amount stays at home and is transformed into blankets, carpets, scarves and some of the finest socks ever to grace a human foot. advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Before the beautiful Dutch Reformed Church building went up in the Eastern Cape village of Pearston faithful worshippers would gather under the pear tree on Rustenburg A dominee (preacher) would ride across from Somerset East and do the honours This may have been fun during the spring months of September and October and again in the autumn months of April and May But during high summer when ripe pears bombed down without warning But was it so significant that the settlement was later called Pearston The village was in fact named after one John Pears a dedicated English teacher who later preached in the Dutch Reformed Church and dedicated much of his life to the local community Pearston’s DR Church replaced the nearby pear tree as a centre of local worship Of all the farms in the Karoo, Cranemere must be among the best known. Set not far from Pearston on the Graaff-Reinet road, Eve Palmer describes it lovingly in her evocative classic, The Plains of Camdeboo.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads This was also the first farm in the area to be permanently inhabited thanks to a fresh and cheerful spring discovered by Gerrit Lodewyk Coetzee He dammed the spring and created a lake in the desert precisely the reason George Palmer bought the land from him in 1880 you’ll see the most imposing building is the Dutch Reformed Mother Church It’s generally a Victorian-era masterpiece that looms over the rest of town like a spiritual guardian And that’s why most Karoo towns came into being Farmers in the area needed somewhere to pray and socialise so they had churches built and congregations formed around them And the dominee normally had the best house in town An Englishman called William Moore had a farm here at the northern entrance to the magical Baviaans Wilderness Farmers from all over the district used to gather here and play tennis It was such an agreeable spot that a town was declared here Modern-day Willowmore still has the pace and the look of yesterday Golf has become the most popular sport and the Karoo-style buildings are generally well preserved nearly 2,000km of winter cycling through the vast Karoo from the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal down to Cape Town But if you like your transport a little more sedate then hop on the Willow Limo and see the town from between the twitching ears of a couple of slow-moving donkeys For more stories on the Karoo from Julienne du Toit and Chris Marais The Karoo Quartet Special (Karoo Roads 1 – 4) consists of more than 60 Karoo stories and hundreds of black and white photographs. Priced at R960 (including taxes and courier in South Africa), this Heritage Collection can be ordered from [email protected] ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " Home | South Africa The latest wind powered electricity generation development is taking shape near Jansenville in the Eastern Cape The Wolf Windfarm will eventually make enough electricity to service more than 100 000 households The project is also set to pump R200-million into community development over the next two decades through a variety of social projects Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson says the private sector played a major role in funding this project “This is a fully funded private sector investment and what we need to do is see more of that I am on a mission to ensure that we see more private capital coming into the infrastructure space in South Africa and we cannot solely reply on government to fund infrastructure We have some ideas on how we can leverage public and private sector to work harder and to work smarter.” Wind-powered electricity generation development taking shape near Jansenville residents are up in arms after the alleged murder of a foreign national at the Jansenville brick field last night the suspected murderers have been arrested and have been detained at the Jansenville Police Station Jansenville residents are blocking the bridge on the edge of town that leads to the R75 between Jansenville and Gqeberha to demonstrate their discontent Deyzel says the Public Order Policing Unit has been called to contain the situation and reopen the road but in the meantime road users travelling on the R75 from Graaff-Reinet to Gqeberha will have to make use of alternative routes The shortest available alternative route is via the R63 to Somerset East and via the N10 from Somerset East to Gqeberha This will add about 50km to the travelling distance The Graaff-Reinet Advertiser will publish more information on the alleged murder of the foreign national when it becomes available Read original story on www.graaffreinetadvertiser.com Phase 2 of the R75 from Wolvefontein to Jansenville has been completed 31 August 2021: The R93 million special maintenance project on the R75 from Wolwefontein to Jansenville Phase 2 in the Sarah Baartman District Municipality has been completed according to the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) The pre-treatment included rejuvenator fog spray 50/70 continuously graded base patches with BTB 50/70 continuously medium graded surface patches Additional work on the project included the new concrete edge beams “The upgraded road will reduce commuting time between destinations and there will be road safety improvement for motorists and pedestrians,” said Peterson In addition to the special maintenance work on the road SANRAL implemented some community development projects The work also included the repair and reseal of the road leading to the Jansenville hospital the rehabilitation of a landfill site and the erection of a fence and signage to the dumpsite Even at 9am on a weekday, Jansenville can hardly be described as a classic bustling metropolis The little Eastern Cape village deep in the Noorsveld is all about wide streets and a sense of peace unheard of in the big city You are now entering Mohair Country… Image: Chris Marais Mind the staring and immoveable donkeys as you go Sunset on a dusty Karoo road outside Jansenville and the Working on Fire team is in training and a memorial to the local men who gave their lives during the two World Wars Described in various accounts as “somewhat eccentric”, the dapper Sid Fourie began his working life in the early 1900s as a transport rider who dug wells on the side. By his 18th birthday World War I had rolled around, so Fourie enlisted as a trooper with the 20th Mounted Rifles and then his life blasted into overdrive.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads he returned and purchased the Jansenville Chronicle Fourie also had a 25-year career in civil service including 15 years as the Mayor of Jansenville was the man who issued drivers’ licences too as retired local Angora goat farmer Elna van den Bergh recalls from her childhood With the likes of Sid Fourie and a burgeoning mohair industry driving the fortunes of the little Noorsveld town The famous and somewhat eccentric Sid Fourie still maintained in good running order and on display The Mohair Experience Museum next to the Sid Fourie Museum on the main street His many overseas trips and offbeat lifestyle also brought a certain cosmopolitan flair to his Karoo environment. Locals say Sid Fourie always had a braai for breakfast and wore neckties around his waist instead of trouser belts.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads But let’s first talk about the noors – and in fact all the spiky stuff you drive through on any road into Jansenville The town is surrounded by a biologically forbidding terrain featuring thick stands of bitter aloes Underpinning it all is the distinctive sweet noors (Euphorbia coerulescens) that grow only in the vicinity of Jansenville and nowhere else in the world This barbed but blessed euphorbia is edible in times of drought (if chopped up by farmers) and creates protective habitats for grasses it has the agreeable habit of putting forth pretty yellow flowers in late spring and scattering nutritious seeds in the dry midsummer You can imagine Boer and Brit having at each other in this hostile terrain during the Anglo-Boer War. Here’s what General Jannie Smuts had to say about it in a speech he made in Jansenville long after the war:advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads “It’s 20 years ago that I was in this area I would very much have liked to have called in for a chat and a cup of coffee but for your highly-armed fort and impenetrable Noors.” including the endemic euphorbia known as Sweet Noors A combination of spekboom and noorsveld – that’s the terrain around Jansenville Being an Angora goat farmer requires nerves of steel and a weather eye for a dropping barometer These goats are vulnerable to a combination of chill and wind or rain especially within six weeks after shearing The next farm over from Ebenezer is Martyrsford the oldest Angora goat stud farm in South Africa William Carey Hobson founded the stud in 1871 and it has been passed down through the generations to current owners used to sit on this very stoep and sip whiskey Uncle Sid was a great supporter of the mohair industry,” says Sean Hobson Read in Daily Maverick: Mohair – a fibre named desire the drought that had put Karoo farmers on their knees for more than six years finally broke The Angora goats of Martyrsford Farm outside Jansenville.Image: Chris Marais Herding the Martyrsford goats shortly after drought-relieving (no-one here says ‘drought-breaking’) rains Sean Hobson takes a walk out to look at the young rams that will be put on auction in a few weeks, gently guiding them to water and the next camp with stockmen Paul Carolus, Pieter Bantom and Donovan Swartz. As they walk, they collect bunches of medicinal katjie drieblaar, a favourite folk remedy for colds and coughs.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads “The Karoo is a truly humbling place,” says Sean I had no idea how we were going to carry on We were living from one interlink load of pellets to the next Drought is not the only hardship that Angora farmers have faced in the last few years the organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a video purporting to show cruelty in the mohair industry It was nothing short of catastrophic for the Angora farmers and fibre traders Gap and H&M had pulled all mohair products from their shelves “All credit to Lindsay Humphreys and Anlé Marais at Mohair SA,” said Sean “They persisted and kept working with farmers and overseas buyers It is critically important for the Eastern Cape At least 25 000 people are employed in the industry.”  it resulted in a new system called the Responsible Mohair Standard This has formalised procedures and systems and carries guarantees of ethical handling and sustainability “Pretty much every Angora farmer already adhered to these principles anyway Angora goat fleece grows at double that – up to 25cm a year To prevent them turning into horned fluffballs the goats must be sheared every six months each clip yielding 3.5kg of fibre per goat acknowledged worldwide as the source of the finest mohair produces just over two million kilograms a year – half the global supply But it’s not just a matter of bringing the goats in from the veld and wielding the shears The hair over their eyes must be trimmed regularly so they can see properly every goat is dipped and washed to get the dust off the fleece the country with the second-largest mohair clip in the world after South Africa Thousands of bales from the entire sub-region are funnelled through to Gqeberha (previously Port Elizabeth) the largest mohair handling facility globally This is where the bales are auctioned to buyers Foreign markets may fashion mohair into sophisticated items like bespoke suits and lightweight women’s clothing but here in the Karoo the diamond fibre turns into beanies all available from a good roadside padstal This is an extract from Karoo Roads III – The Adventures Continue, by Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit. For an insider’s view on life in the Dry Country, get the three-book special of Karoo Roads I, Karoo Roads II and Karoo Roads III (illustrated in black and white) for only R800, including courier costs in South Africa. For more details, contact Julie at [email protected] grew up on the farms Warmkaros and Jericho in Jansenville district later had a beautiful Victorian house in town where one of her other daughters sold haberdashery from the business called “Rosette” I remember lovely summer holidays in Jansenville – dry and dusty but now and then those lovely thunderstorms giving hope to farmers The farmers sound hardworking and caring and the goofy and lustrous coated goats sound fun and appreciative of their surroundings And I love the description of Noorsveld as having “sunsets beyond money” Three Karoo towns are facing daily power outages of more than six hours after the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality failed to adhere to a payment plan to cover its R127-million debt to Eskom The municipality cannot afford the R12-million monthly payment who was locked out of his office in Willowmore on Monday by angry residents Earlier this year the municipality stated in a presentation to Parliament that its monthly bill for salaries was R13-million Willowmore, Steyterville and Jansenville are now without electricity daily from 6am to 9am and again from 5pm to 8.30pm, with cuts of 14 hours at a time to be implemented by next week if no agreement can be reached.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads De Vos said the municipality had experienced financial difficulties since its establishment in August 2016 “Eskom and the municipality have been battling for a long time to find common ground Efforts were made to enter into payment arrangements with Eskom which are suitable to both Eskom and the municipality He explained that they wanted Eskom to change the bulk supply tariff for Jansenville He said the supply point needs to be upgraded from 1MVA (Megavolt Amperes) to 2MVA “Various penalties were being implemented by Eskom due to the maximum demand being exceeded which cannot be collected from [what] consumers were levied for overuse against the municipality.”  De Vos added that Eskom had requested a sizeable deposit for the upgrade to be done “Eskom refuses to enter into discussions on the write-off of penalties and interests accumulated since the inception of the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality in August 2016,” he added He added that the municipality had reached an agreement with Eskom over the provision of electricity to uMasizakhe and Lotusville using municipal infrastructure “There is no clarity on what we are supposed to bill Eskom Eskom is at liberty to charge whatever they desire knowing we are in no position to verify their actions,” he added He said that the long-term repayment plan drawn up to cover the municipality’s debt of more than R127-million to Eskom must be sustainable and “a plan that we will be confident will not be defaulted on”. advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads “Three repayment proposals since inception of the municipality were made to Eskom A repayment plan was eventually entered into but due to our financial position could not be attained A redrafted plan has been provided by Eskom and is not incorporating or resolving the disputes at hand,” he said Eskom issued a notice of intent to interrupt bulk electricity supply to areas within the municipality’s jurisdiction as everyone has been affected by the impact of Covid-19 including the municipality whose revenue had decreased notably during the national lockdown months however the municipality acted swiftly to schedule engagements with the power utility The municipality’s application will be heard on Thursday, 29 October.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads “The municipality is acutely aware of its financial obligation and not disputing payment to Eskom The municipality has not stopped making payments to Eskom R10.5-million was paid over to Eskom in the month of September 2020,” De Vos added which allows Eskom to use the municipal infrastructure to deliver electricity Jansenville and Willowmore and will continue until either the debt is paid or an acceptable payment agreement has been reached “Eskom reserves the right to effect credit control measures as stipulated in the supply agreement between Eskom and the municipality Eskom is obliged to collect all revenue due to it as required by the Public Finance Management Act The interruption of bulk electricity supply to the municipality will continue until the debt is paid in full or an acceptable repayment arrangement is reached,” he said The Democratic Alliance’s spokesperson on cooperative governance said that the residents of the municipality feel “that they have been thrown to the wolves as they are yet again being punished for the failures of their uncaring municipality” “Residents of the town are bearing the brunt of maladministration by the municipality Businesses are facing significant losses as they will either be forced to close their doors or spend significant sums of money on alternatives such as generators and the fuel to run them Residents’ lives are also being severely disrupted hospitals and clinics may not be able to operate and simple things such as the safe storage of perishable foodstuffs in a refrigerator are no longer viable options “These power cuts will have a drastic impact on residents’ basic human rights as water to all three towns is supplied from boreholes Sewerage will also be impacted as the pumps utilised for this are electrical,” she said She has written to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs She said the Camdeboo and Baviaans Local Municipalities which are part of the amalgamated Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality had settled their Eskom debts and that the Ikwezi Local Municipality (Jansenville) was mostly responsible for the Eskom debt Knoetze said the municipal manager and the chief financial officer should be suspended According to a presentation made by the municipality to Parliament in August 2020 it was running at a deficit of R68-million with an annual salary bill of R163-million – around R13-million a month Spokesperson for the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said the question was if the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality had approached the provincial government for help A more rounded article would have also shown the salary bill as a percentage of the total income of these towns I have a suspicion it might identify a major part of the problem We drive through these towns every year and watch how the litter problem grows Emails and calls to the municipality go unanswered I wonder when people will start to care enough to take responsibility for their lives and land Pity all this misguided energy towards covid wasn’t used towards more sustainable endeavors This article may contain graphic and/or adult content unsuitable for minors and sensitive readers Eastern Cape police arrested five people for damaging a cell phone tower in Jansenville The arrests were made on Wednesday by members of Addo SAPS who intercepted a Datsun Go with five occupants Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli said they were acting on a tip-off about a “suspicious vehicle” and that it may be linked to the theft of batteries from a cell phone tower He said the Addo SAPS responded and spotted the vehicle on the R336 where it was pulled over Nkholi said police found several implements after searching the car and arrested the occupants He said they were charged with contravening the Criminal Matters Amendment Act as it relates to damage to essential infrastructure The case was handed over to the Hawks for further investigation and the suspects are due to appear in court in Jansenville on Friday an exclusive podcast on the life of Vicki Terblanche Dive into the expansive world of motoring with Naresh Maharaj Join Mark Marshall as he shares his extraordinary encounters with everything from bees to reptiles i The six members of Bafazi Phambili Women’s Cooperative had enough of living life on the breadline reliant on government grants and decided to start their own chicken farming enterprise in Jansenville the founding mothers of the Bafazi Phambili Women’s Cooperative were used to living life on the breadline That is until a group of 16 women between the ages of 53 and 77 had had enough and started raising chickens to sell and to feed their families The chairperson of the women’s cooperative based in Jansenville says they were sick of struggling and not having enough “It was time to fight poverty and create job opportunities for the unemployed members of the cooperative and the community of Jansenville,” Betsha explains Not only has the chicken farming venture assisted them in feeding their families but they’ve also been recognised as award-winning farmers Bafazi Phambili (“forward with women”) was formed in 2006 after the group of women marched to the Eastern Cape offices of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). Officials at the department were so impressed by their project idea and the determination the women had displayed that they supported them in establishing their cooperative The structure is located on a 2 hectare commonage plot and was leased to the women for only R2 a month Member of the cooperative Sanah Mapela says she felt great being called a farmer “We are the first black women to run a farm in this area and I would like for us to grow even bigger,” she says proudly the group of women knew absolutely nothing about farming chickens DAFF identified a mentor for them who is also a chicken farmer and who showed them the ropes for a short period of time “We were invited to go and see his chicken structure I remember walking into his shed and it was extremely hot The farmer explained to them that because the chickens were small It’s going to take us a while to understand how things work,” she says excitement levels amongst the women were high But the task of raising chicks wasn’t easy and it exhausted them “One of our struggles was that there was no electricity on the farm In order to keep the chickens warm we made fires and used non-electric heaters,” Betsha recalls The cooperative’s chickens were raised to be slaughtered and then sold “We would axe the chickens ourselves at the crack of dawn till late at night We used car headlights to shine light so that we could see what we were doing,” Mapela explains the women continued slaughtering their own chickens and selling them in 2kg frozen braai packs the cooperative wasn’t making enough to pay out wages to its members and as a result only six women remain today Most of the time we shared some of the chickens amongst each other to take home,” Betsha says In 2010, Bafazi Phambili obtained funding of R500 000 from the Department of Social Development (DSD) a fridge and an additional 1500 baby chickens Along with the department’s donation came strict instructions The women had to seek out an agricultural mentor who would expose them to the best practices in chicken farming Soon the cooperative realised that they urgently needed help because of declining sales the women followed the instructions of DSD and approached a nearby commercial chicken farmer for agricultural advice the farmer also helped them with slaughtering their chickens in his abattoir According to Betsha they had an amicable relationship with the farmer until December 2016 when they noticed that he no longer showed interest in helping them “He would tell us to come back in two weeks and after returning back to his farm he would say the same thing again,” she says They loaded their 4500 chickens in a truck to slaughter in Uitenhage (about a 140km drive) When the women returned to Jansenville with their slaughtered chickens they suffered yet another setback The chickens had gone bad because of the scorching heat and the truck had no temperature control We lost all of our chickens that day,” Betsha sadly recalls Bafazi Phambili received a donation of 3000 chickens from DAFF According to the cooperative’s agricultural extension officer the six women have made great strides since their humble beginnings “These ladies started with one shed and little knowledge Today they boast with two computerized chicken structures and sell their products at a large scale to markets in the area.” This year, DAFF in partnership with the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (EC DRDAR) awarded the Bafazi Phambili cooperative with their Female Entrepreneurship Award The win earned them a cash prize of R375 000 which they have invested into a savings account EC DRDAR spokesperson Ayongezwa Lungisa says it is no secret that agriculture in the past was occupied by males only – particularly white males “The dedication we’ve seen from the Bafazi Phambili Women’s Cooperative is incredible and this encourages the department to give more support to other female-led cooperatives,” Lungisa explains It is Betsha’s dream to create employment for the young people of Jansenville “My heart breaks when I see graduates roaming the streets without work we could employ the young people in our community But currently we’re still using someone else’s abattoir,” she says The eager farmer adds that she wants the broiler project to develop into a business that will sustain the people in her community Even long after she is no longer involved in the cooperative Tshianeo Mathidi in Venda is cultivating more than just potatoes – he's growing back a family legacy.. With 21 global awards in the first six years of its existence Food For Mzansi is much more than an agriculture publication unashamedly saluting the unsung heroes of South African agriculture We believe in the power of agriculture to promote nation building and social cohesion by telling stories that are often overlooked by broader society Contact usOffice: +27 21 879 1824News: info@foodformzansi.co.zaAdvertising: sales@foodformzansi.co.za Access to a livelihood family heritage and human dignity.This is why scores of Eastern Cape families pleaded at the weekend for the government to change the constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.Hundreds of people from nearby towns packed the Jansenville town hall on Saturday for the Eastern Cape leg of the constitutional review committee hearings on amending Section 25 of the constitution.While many others said doing so would send South Africa on the skid into an economic crisis.Many farmers said they supported land reform but that the government had been too slow and inefficient in the distribution of land.Somerset East resident Neliswa Yantolo said she had been born on a farm in Klipfontein but shortly after her birth her parents were chased off the farm.“Recently we wanted to hold a traditional ceremony to appease our ancestors but before we could do it we had to request from the white farm owner access to go to the graves of our forefathers which we had to wait some time for the landlord to approve.“This was an insult to human dignity,” she said.“The constitution is meant to redress imbalances of the past.“This is not revenge against the white man but it’s a matter of correcting the wrong done in South Africa.”Blaauwkrantz resident Zwelothando Mooi who was born and raised on a farm between Uitenhage and Kirkwood said he faced eviction from the only home he had known where his parents and grandparents were buried.Mooi said they’d had hope when the government bought 1,400ha of land for 21 beneficiaries but they had never received title deeds.“The owner of that land is trying to remove us from that land,” he said.“He is proposing giving us only 300ha We were born on that land.“I started working on that farm in 1978 I was a foreman – there’s nothing I don’t know about that land.“We want Section 25 of the constitution amended saying that every generation of his family since they landed in Cape Town in 1733 had been involved in the theft of land or the defence of stolen land.He said they were among those who committed genocide against the Khoi and San.“White farmers did not become successful until they were actively assisted by the state.“With a strengthened land bank which can provide soft loans and a department of agriculture which can provide assistance to help black farmers access markets there is no reason why black farmers will not be successful.”Tsitsikamma dairy farmer Judy Woodgate said if South Africa did not want to end up like Zimbabwe the government should forget about amending the constitution.“It’s illogical to hold people accountable for things that happened before they were born and they know nothing about,” she said.Thozama Nogada said that before amending the constitution the government should implement policy and audit how much land it had.Port Elizabeth farmer Mzimkhulu Fatman said he was conflicted about amending the constitution because it potentially meant his farm might be taken but he also wanted to support the proposed amendment for black people.The contentious issue of land expropriation the proper management of dwindling water resources to ensure food security the director of research at the Auwal Socio-Economic Research Institute is also known for his role as a senior researcher and news analyst.In response to the land question Fick will discuss how changes in ownership structures demand creative thinking to solve this multifaceted problem.“There are two conflicting aspects to land expropriation,” he said.“We are trapped by politicians who are working towards their own agendas which are influenced strongly by the upcoming elections and also by land owners who are afraid of change.“But all the talk about who owns the land misses the point You also have tenant farm workers whose ancestors were buried on the farm and who will be buried there themselves.“They attended school on the land.“There is a sense of history and they need to be afforded some kind of rights.“However under which land owners co-operate with tenants to achieve harmony.”With the prolonged drought wreaking havoc in parts of the Eastern Cape the importance of water in ensuring food security is another critical issue.This will be addressed by Felix Reinders president of the International Commission on Irrigation and Draining Irrigation Farming.Reinders says that with effective water management and good subsurface drainage improved soil health conditions could be created for successful irrigation farming which would assure the country of continued food supply.The Eastern Cape regional manager for the South African Weather Service will tackle the challenges that climate change will throw at the province not only in the immediate term but also over the next 100 years.He is expected to highlight the effect that global warming is having on rising sea levels and the impact this will have on coastal communities as well as on people living inland.Agri SA president Dan Kriek will also address delegates and provide an overview of the parent body’s activities and interactions with the government and key stakeholders at national level Questions or problems? 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