Harvest of success for former farmworker
Labourer becomes board member as a black-owned farming company uplifts beneficiaries of a state land reform project
RAISIN HIS GAME: Evans Nevondo, founder of farming company Bono, says long-term vision and knowledge are essential ingredients for agricultural projects like Mont Piquet in the Swartland FIVE years ago, Stemmer Hendriks was a farmworker in the mountains above Piketberg in the Western Cape.
Today he is a senior manager and board member at the farm, and this month he banked R30 000 in dividends.
Hendriks, 49, is a beneficiary at Mont Piquet farm, bought by the government in 2011 and managed by a successful blackowned farming company, Bono.
Mont Piquet produces table grapes and citrus varieties that are exported to more than 50 countries. The farm, and its neighbour Rietkloof — also run by Bono — provide jobs for more than 1 000 people.
Last week Bono, which manages eight other farms in five provinces, became a member of the prestigious Fresh Produce Exporters Forum, which exports 90% of South Africa’s fruit. It’s a dream come true for 45year-old Malokisa “Evans” Nevondo, who founded Bono to turn around the high failure rate of black farmers.
“Bono is a Venda word that means ‘vision’. To be a successful farmer, you need to have a long-term vision,” he said.
“We are an agricultural-empowerment company that brings together resources from government and the private sector to improve the lives of South Africans who make a living out of farming.”
To meet its National Development Plan target, the government needs to transfer 8.9 million hectares of agricultural land to black people by 2030. “Other farms have already been successfully transferred, and, along with the beneficiaries, we run these farms, providing production capital, farming equipment and, most of all, skills,” said Nevondo.
The 34 Mont Piquet beneficiaries lease the farm from the government at a nominal fee.
In return, besides earning a salary, the beneficiaries share in the dividends.
Hendriks, now manager of the table-grapes section, said: “If someone had told me a few years ago I would be sitting on the board of a farm, as well as being one of the most senior managers, I would not have believed them.
“This month I received R30 000 in dividends, with more coming in the new year. You do not mind the hard work when you can share in the spoils.”
Rupert Persens, 39, was another worker who showed such enthusiasm he was promoted to assistant manager in 2011 — then to production manager.
“I am responsible for one of the two pack houses on the farm. It’s been really exciting, because usually your position in the farm hierarchy depended on being a ‘COF’, otherwise known as a ‘child of the farmer’,” he said.
“Now there is a future in farming for young people such as myself other than being a worker. I will be able to pay for an education for my kids.”
Nevondo said that when farmworkers were rioting about wages in 2013, workers at Mont Piquet told him that outsiders were encouraging them to join the protests.
“I asked them if they had a problem with the salaries, or the way the farm was run. They said ‘no’. So I said, ‘It is up to you. Think about your situation and decide for yourself.’
“Nobody rioted here. And those people who were bussed in to disrupt the farm were chased away by the workers and the security that they asked me to provide.”
Nevondo said training a new generation of farm managers and workers is a big part of what they do.
“I believe in life-long education. Apart from a lack of patience, a lot of black farms fail because the new owners do not empower themselves with knowledge. They don’t want to read. They don’t understand policies and systems.
“They see farming as a dirty job and they think all they have to do is employ someone. They will fail with an attitude like that.”
Hendriks said beneficiaries at Mont Piquet had decided not to take dividends for the next couple of years.
“We’ve had four years of good money. It is time to put back into the farm. The dividends coming thereafter will be much sweeter,” he said.
I got R30 000. You do not mind the hard work when you can share in the spoils