27 / 124
25
September 2017
GRAIN SA
MEMBERS’ MILIEU
2017 New Era Commercial Farmer of the Year
Vuyani Lolwane
Edwin Thulo Mahlatsi
Remember Wiseman Mthethwa
As a very young boy, Vuyani Lolwane’s favourite times were when
his father took him along to farmers days and study group meetings.
His father was a subsistence farmer and they lived in the Bapong
Village near Gelukspan.
He passed his Grade 12 in 2003 and worked for the SANDF from
2005 until 2010. Sadly, Vuyani’s father passed away and he became
a full-time farmer in 2011. Vuyani now owns Klippan farm and also
leases land on Lareystryd.
Vuyani plants dryland as well as irrigation maize and wheat, sun-
flowers, dry beans and barley. He has been a member of Grain SA
for years and actively attends farmers days and study group meet-
ings and has also completed several of the training courses. His
plans for the future include diversification by participating through-
out the complete value chain. He talks about a feedlot, a butchery,
food processing units and exporting to
Botswana and Lesotho.
In a country where the average age
of farmers is over 60, this dedicated
young man is loyal to the industry and
an excellent example to other prospec-
tive young farmers. This is the opinion
of developing co-ordinator, Du Toit van
der Westhuizen: ‘Vuyani is an ingenious
young man and a chip of the old block.
He inherited his skills and business
sense from his father and has all the at-
tributes that’s necessary to become a
very successful commercial farmer.’
Edwin Mahlatsi was born to be farmer. He worked and lived on the
very same farm his parents worked on for most of his life and be-
cause of the good relationship between him and his employer, the
latter helped him to buy a farm in 2012.
The farm Swartlaagte was purchased from Frikkie Rautenbach for
Edwin by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform
through PLAS. Frikkie also gave Edwin a tractor and implements and
helped him with inputs. The understanding was that Edwin would
pay for these over the following couple of years.
Unfortunately, Frikkie passed away in 2014 and the implements
Edwin used ended up going back into the estate. Edwin was left
with no income, no implements and no production capital.
In 2014 he became a member of Grain SA’s Farmer Development
Programme and he joined the Bothaville Study Group and attend-
ed farmers days and training courses. Grain SA introduced him to
new technology, input suppliers and financial institutions – and this
changed his life. Despite the drought
in 2015/2016, Edwin was able to har-
vest 250 tons of maize and with the
insurance pay-out for hail damage, he
earned in excess of one-million-rand
last year.
With the help of Grain SA, Edwin
bought himself a brand-new Isuzu
bakkie – the first new vehicle this
75-year-old man ever owned!
Developing co-ordinator, Johan Kriel
concludes: ‘It is a privilege to work
with Edwin – he is a conscientious
farmer who loves to share his knowl-
edge and is a pillar of strength in his
community.’
In 1984 Remember Mthethwa started working for the DNC Mining
Company on the Lilly Dale farm. He mainly worked with machinery
and it was here that his interest in agriculture originated.
He started by investing his free time and spare money in growing
crops and buying livestock, with the dream of one day owning his
own farm. This dream came true as he now owns 662 ha of the farm
Milindale and leases 150 ha of private land near Dannhauser.
Remember heard about Grain SA in 2014, but only joined in 2015
and is an active member of the Newcastle B29 Study Group with
Chris de Jager as mentor. This season, he planted 55 ha of Reid maize
and wishes to prosper and become a successful mega commer-
cial farmer. He loves to share his
knowledge and tries to inspire other
people to also become involved in ag-
riculture.
Graeme Engelbrecht, developing co-
ordinator observes: ‘Remember is
an extremely hard worker. He makes
sure he does the small things right and
does not wait for anybody to come
with a solution whenever he encoun-
ters a problem. Remember will make
a plan.’
Vuyani Lolwane
Remember Mthethwa
Edwin Mahlatsi