Three farmworkers in the deciduous fruit, citrus and wine industries have been crowned as this year’s top talent in the Agri’s Got Talent (AGT) competition.
Jasmine Bones, an orchardist from Witzenberg Properties, Ceres dreamed of touching people’s lives and hearts with music. On Friday night, 21 October 2022, she managed to achieve just that when she became the ninth winner of this unique singing competition at the Agri’s Got Talent grand finale held at Goudini.
Bones, who is responsible for the orchard architecture and pruning at Dennekruin Farm where she lives, gave the performance of her life with “River Deep Mountain High” and “It’s all coming back to me now”.
She says her love for music comes from her grandmother. When she was a little girl, her grandmother often picked her up and while carrying her, walked around the farm, singing and playing her guitar. “My whole family loves music, we are a family of musicians and singers.”
Bones says all music touches the soul; and although she loves ballades, her heart belongs to gospel.
Raymond Swartz, Haygrove Growing Systems, Grabouw came second. The third place went to Gerthroline Philander, Duo Fruit, Nonna, Worcester. Both Swartz and Philander have a history with Agri’s Got Talent. Last year’s winner, Faith Nogemane, is Swartz’s sister and Philander’s sister, Magdaleen, was the AGT runner-up in 2019. Agri Western Cape sponsored the prize money won by the top 3.
Drovigas Goshai, Marlenique Packhouse, Simondium won the Afrikaanse Taalraad’s special award for the best singer in an indigenous language. He had the crowd dancing in the aisles with his rendition of “Lemoene”.
Empowering farmworkers
Last night’s extravaganza was the first live show since 2019, with the 2020 and 2021 finals being broadcasted digitally. Over the past two years, the South African agriculture industry remained resilient during a time of deep uncertainty. Agri’s Got Talent celebrates agriculture as a sector as well as agricultural workers, who stayed strong during this challenging time.
Agri’s Got Talent is more than just a singing competition. It is a social development programme for agricultural workers. The programme is a joint venture between Hortgro, the Citrus Growers’ Association, Vinpro, SATI (South African Table Grape Industry) and the Western Cape department of agriculture.
Agri’s Got Talent is open to all South African farmworkers in the deciduous fruit, citrus and wine industries. The top 10 received voice and media training during a training week before the grand finale.
During this week they got make-overs, including new clothes and self-care packages. The finalists also took part in self-development workshops hosted by Procare, aimed at developing soft skills, like efficient communication, conflict-management and financial management.
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