Retrenched poultry workers hatch plan
WHEN one door closes, another opens.
This happened to a group of men and women from Hammarsdale Township, west of Durban, who lost their jobs when the company they worked for, Rainbow Chicken, sold its 17-hectare poultry farm four years ago.
After enduring the stress and suffering that comes with being unemployed, they looked for a way to rebuild their lives.
They did what chicken farming.
Rainbow Chickens had retrenched over a thousand workers and sold its farm in Cato Ridge, in 2017, citing an oversupply of chicken imports. The farm was then bought by ethekwini Municipality. However, some sections had been vandalised and some were still lying fallow.
Retrenched employees they knew best: regrouped and formed the Isukile Co-operative, to produce the poultry.
City spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said R3 million had been spent to refurbish the badly vandalised farm, which included water and electricity reconnection, and on a mentorship programme, among other things.
The group leased two broiler houses – out of 12 – where they produce over 30 000 chicks and sell them locally. The government sponsored the start-up with necessities such as vaccine and feed, but the cooperative’s members said the journey had not been easy.
Nonhle Mdunge, one of the founding members, said they were elated when they sold the first batch of chickens from the farms, which they received in December. She had worked for Rainbow Chicken for five years as a general worker, assisting in various departments. She had gained extensive knowledge in running the poultry farm, and was at the forefront of the Isukile project.
“It has not been as easy as it looks. There were a lot of trials and tribulations along the way, especially since most of us were unemployed,” said Mdunge. “But we are happy that we have come this far and we are looking forward to more. The farm was vandalised; we started with no water and electricity, which is a key resource in running a poultry farm.”
Mdunge said members possessed different skills and they were planning to expand their produce to processing to create job opportunities.
Another member, Bonginkosi Mbambo, was responsible for broiler maintenance, a job he had been doing for over a decade at Rainbow Chicken. He said he was depressed when he lost the job he had held for so many years, but embraced the new opportunity that has come out of it.
“Honestly, we would have still been working for the company, even today, had we not been retrenched. We have just started, but I am happy about this project; it has huge potential to make us better people than just workers.
“We have the skills that can work for us. For now, it’s hard because we’ve just started, but with assistance from the government and passion from other members, we are optimistic that more doors will open for us,” he said.
The group has split themselves up to handle different tasks – one works night shifts – while others are responsible for sales and marketing.
The municipality has also deployed a mentor to assist the co-operative with its financial administration.
Nompumelelo Mhlongo, another member, said they were happy about the support from the local community.
She said the municipality had given them six months to sustain their business into profit-making and being able to pay for their cost of production.
“For now, we are trading informally without any contract to supply, but we hope as our business grows we will soon build relations with supermarkets to supply chickens of good quality,” said Mhlongo.