Ex-teacher Rosy moves to top of the class as a farmer
Provincial prize vindicates move to poultry project
Most of her colleagues said she was going to struggle in life when she decided to leave the teaching profession after 18 years to follow her passion for business.
Rosy Rakgoale, 56, ventured into the agricultural sector in 2013, an industry that many people regarded as “white” and male-dominated.
At the weekend she received the ultimate vindication of her decision when her multimillion-rand poultry business scooped her the provincial Female Farmer of the Year award in Mahikeng, North West.
Rakgoale from Hartbeesfontein, near Klerksdorp, was speechless when it was announced that she had won R1million in cash and R750 000 worth of infrastructure.
She raises 240 000 chickens in six houses at Selame Poultry, serving major frozen chicken suppliers in the country. The project operates from her 72-hectare farm that she bought in 2012.
Her farming business started in 2013 and she has already acquired an export certificate, allowing her to sell her chickens abroad.
“I used to tell my colleagues that I was just teaching to pass time, it was not my passion. I was not fulfilled,” she said.
In February 2003, she resigned and started a fuel station business while looking for a suitable farm. It was only in 2012 that she heard there was a farm that was on sale.
“I grew up at the farms. Farming is my passion, it has its own unique way of soothing the inner being,” she said.
Rakgoale said her three children did not like the idea of starting a farming business and moving to a farm house.
“My family did not understand at first, but they supported me because they knew that I was passionate about farming, especially poultry,” she said.
Rakgoale said even though she enjoyed every minute of her job, it was strenuous.
“I am hands-on, I put on boots and overall and attend to the chickens myself.”
Rakgoale, who has been married for 35 years, said she involved her family so they did not feel like she was neglecting them.
“I asked my husband to resign so that he can see what I go through every day. It’s good because this is bringing us more closer every day.”
Rakgoale has employed 17 people at her farm and hopes to create more employment after building more chicken houses. “My plan is to own a hatchery so that I can employ more people,” she said.