The next time you find yourself buying vegetables at either Boxer, Choppies and FoodLovers Market, there is a possibility that they come from Koketso Mofokeng's farm, Diatla Tshweu Farming, in the North West.
After a long day of shopping when you head to KFC or MacDonald's for something to eat and eventually decide on a burger, the lettuce making it crunchy may be from her farm too.
To Mofokeng, 33, being a farmer is not something she chose for herself, it's a calling, she said. Her grandmother – who raised her after she was orphaned – was a farmworker. Her grandmother's sister was a farmworker too, and Mofokeng grew up in a farm where they both worked and believes she was called to it.
“Our family was very poor and we were known in the community for that. Never in my life did I think the granddaughter of a farmworker would be a farmer one day; it was just a calling.
“I felt peace being around the farms, I connected with the plants and animals, and the most amazing childhood memories I had were made at a farm. Even though my family was poor, but growing up next to my brothers and sisters at a farm running around was peace,” she said.
I felt peace being around the farms, I connected with the plants and animals, and the most amazing childhood memories I had were made at a farm. Even though my family was poor, but growing up next to my brothers and sisters at a farm running around was peace
— Koketso Mofokeng
Mofokeng's road to where she is today is one paved with hardship and poverty.
Her parents died when she was young, leaving her and three siblings to be raised by their grandmother. She then fell pregnant as a teenager and dropped out of school due to shame.
At 16 she gave birth. For two years, Mofokeng was at home doing nothing and angry at herself for disappointing her grandmother who was working hard as a farmworker in her old age to take care of her and her siblings.
“On my birthday in 2010, my grandmother asked me what I would like as a present. I said I wanted go back to school. She said I must go back to school and she will raise my son, but that I must make sure everyday during lunch time I came back to feed the baby.”
Mofokeng's school was 2km away, and while her peers would sit and chat everyday at breaktime, she would rush home to breastfeed her son and make sure she returns before break is over. Her child's father has never helped her, and her principal and teachers at Malatse Motsepe High School knew her situation at home.
“The teachers where supportive, especially the principal, Mr Phiri. They would give me donated school uniform so I could come to school neat. My grandmother was sick so she couldn't work anymore.”
Even though Mofokeng knew she wanted to be a farmer, she didn't know how to get into it and instead studied photography after matric.
Years later while working as a photographer, she got information about how to start. Unfortunately, she didn't have money to lease the land.
When her partner, who is now her husband, informed her that he would be paying lobola for her, she suggested to him that he rather give her the money to lease land so she could start farming. Not only did he give her that money but he went to a bank and took out an additional R100,000 loan so she could have all the financial backing she needed to start.
Her foray into farming, she said, was not easy. There was a time when she lost 3ha of cabbage when the irrigation pump broke down. She placed the value to almost R900,000.
After that calamity, Mofokeng moved to another farm in Sonop, in the Bojanala District Municipality, but it got worse. Theft from the community left her in debt and depressed. “They were stealing my produce, irrigation pumps, borehole pumps, and solar lights. I had taken investment to make the farm work, but the crime was bad.”
The couple then sold their house at Ngwenya River Estates in Brits and bought a farm in Mooinooi, which had a farmhouse. They live there with their children, and Mofokeng couldn't be happier.
“We moved here in 2023 and never looked back. A white farmer once said to me, 'when you are not staying at your farm, you are closer to your problems'. Ever since I started living on our farm I can improve it as I want. I can fix anything anytime and I can farm anyhow I want,” she said.
She produces cabbage, potatoes, butternut, watermelons, lettuce and beans. They also have a seedling nursery. She also exports her potatoes to Mozambique and supplies McCain, a multinational frozen food company, with spinach, she said.
For Mofokeng, it has not been easy but was worth it. “What I have learnt is that anything is possible, it doesn't matter where you come from or where your were born... if you want something go for it.
She said there are many black women in the industry and they just need some backing from the government. “The government can help by giving women workshops, access to land and funding.
We all know agriculture is male- and white-dominated and women have to work twice as hard to prove themselves. In this day and age, there are many people who still believe that a woman should not step foot in the kraal while some men think women can't drive tractors and plough the land.”
SowetanLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.