Life, death and sunflowers
The yellow plant sustains the poor at informal settlement
Sunflower, the plant that Matlhomola Mosweu was allegedly killed for, is part of a staple diet for some of the families in Scotland informal settlement in Coligny, North West.
While the one-street agricultural town is currently facing deep-seated racial tensions reignited by Mosweu’s brutal death, scenes of young boys snacking on the seeds of the flower are quite common.
Scotland, a newly established community of less than 1 000 people, is only a gravel road away from the vast unfenced sunflower plantations which form part of 134 farms in Coligny.
Farmers harvest sunflowers for their oil. But because of poverty that has gripped the Scotland community, the flowers are a big part of their diet, and to some extent, they even supplement groceries.
Normally they pull out the seeds from the flower’s head and dry-fry them until they get toasted. They then peel off the skin and eat the inside part, which has a taste similar to peanuts.
“Sunflower is mainly used as a snack by small boys but I’ve heard of poor families who actually rely on it for food. Others use the seeds as chicken feed.
“It’s nice to snack on but it can also cause one to cough if they eat it before it’s dry. It’s a pity farmers kill us for it now,” said resident Betty Moswetse, referring to Mosweu’s death.
Kamogelo Moremedi, who was walking with other boys and eating raw sunflower seeds, said they were not scared to go back and steal the flowers from the same plantation where Mosweu was allegedly killed.
“It’s part of life. We grew up stealing this flower from farms and have had run-ins with farmers,” said
Moremedi.