A GIANT LEAP FROM SUBSISTENCE TO COMMERCIAL FARMING
Sipho Mthimunye still considers himself an emerging farmer who is learning the ropes. He started farming at a subsistence level with his father in the township of Bethal, Mpumalanga, where he grew up. In 2018 he resigned from his job in engineering to start farming full time. He is now on the path to success as a commercial farmer. Sipho maps out his journey in conversation with African Farming’s
Aland restitution claim awarded to the Mninwa Community Property Association (CPA) in the small farming town of Bethal in Mpumalanga opened a window of opportunity for Sipho Mthimunye, who quickly grabbed the opportunity to farm. After completing his studies with the Southern African Institute of Welding in Johannesburg in 2004, Sipho had worked for companies like Sasol, Group Five and Steinmüller. Raised in Bethal, he was employed as a quality control officer when he started part-time, small-scale farming on this communal land in 2011.
“My dad ran a small herd of cattle in the township that I looked after. After I started working in 2005, I began to buy my own cattle and I ran them on the same land,” says Sipho. When the Mninwa CPA took over the 1 800ha farm in 2011, some of the beneficiaries (72 families in total) who, like Sipho’s father, had cattle, opted to relocate their livestock there. At this time, Sipho and his father had roughly 20 animals, which they moved to the newly granted farm. “It was a relief because stock theft in the township was rife. In 2009 we lost 16 cattle in one night,” he says.
THE SWITCH
Once the cattle were on the farm, Sipho started checking them on weekends. “I became fascinated with how much space there was on the farm compared with the cramped conditions of the township. The view, looking out on the cattle far away in the fields, was very appealing,” recalls Sipho. While it was not only their cattle on the farm, what became obvious to Sipho was that the land was not utilised optimally. Drawing on his savings, he started buying more cattle at auctions. In 2013 he introduced sheep.