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We congratulate Agri Dwala
on ten successful years
O
n Thursday, 15 September, Agri Dwala, an empowerment
project which is situated 10 km outside Napier in the
Western Cape, hosted their tenth anniversary celebration.
The event kicked off with a tour showcasing the Agri Dwala farms,
equipment and livestock, whereafter a formal function took place
at the Agri Dwala guest farm, Jafters Kranz. At this function, role-
players who have over the last ten years contributed to the success
of the project were honoured.
The guest speaker for the evening was a retired advocate,
Dr Wallace Mgoqi, who was the first land claims commissioner in
South Africa, is involved with the commission of gender equality
and serves on various other boards. He delivered a thought pro-
voking and insightful speech pertaining to our history, resilience
and the future of agriculture and land reform in South Africa.
History of Agri Dwala
Agri Dwala started out as a call from God to a commercial white
producer to share his land and skills with his workers and empower
them to become farmers, instead of remaining farm workers for the
rest of their lives. His friend, an agricultural technical advisor, shared
the vision and became part of the project.
From this vision Agri Dwala was established in March 2006 as a
majority black-owned company, owning and farming land in the
Bredasdorp/Napier region.
The farming enterprise comprises grain and livestock production.
Grain production includes wheat, barley, oats, canola and lupines.
Livestock production consists of beef cattle and dual purpose sheep,
contributing both wool and mutton to the business operation.
Agri Dwala had three shareholders, being:
The Agri Dwala Trust (Trust), holding a 70% stake in the company.
The Jackobus van Zyl Trust (Mr Kosie van Zyl), holding 15%.
Mr Piet Blom who holds 15%.
At the end of ten years of farming on 28 February 2016, the trust
managed to buy the shares of Blom and Van Zyl and therefore
the Trust now is a 100% shareholder of the Agri Dwala (Pty) Ltd
Company.
The trust is ‘owned’ and operated by the former farm workers (the
current farmers). The trust initially had 29 beneficiaries, but over the
past ten years adapted to allow beneficiaries to sell their interest in
the land and farming operations. Currently there are 20 beneficiaries.
Grain SA would like to congratulate the farmers of Agri Dwala as
well as Van Zyl and Blom with what they have achieved over the
past ten years. This successful initiative is truly a beacon of
hope and an example of what can be achieved through a common
goal, hard work, faith and perseverance.
1: Guests and role-players at the function.
2: Dr Wallace Mgoqi delivered a speech.
3: Dr Wallace Mgoqi and Jannie de Villiers (CEO: Grain SA) deep in
conversation.
LIANA STROEBEL,
development co-ordinator: Grain SA
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November 2016
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GRAIN SA