Smiles, songs and ululations were the theme of the day when the Eastern Cape department of rural development and agrarian reform’s (DRDARs) MEC Nonkqubela Pieters handed over a shearing shed to farmers in Sterkspruit worth more than R1.3 million.
The multi-purpose shearing shed built by the department is a welcome gift to the members, who have grown used to shearing their sheep in an old structure, compromising the quality of their wool clip.
Pieters used the week-long outreach programme, known as “Taking Legislature to the People”, to officially hand over the shearing shed. It forms part of the province’s commercialisation efforts.
During the handover ceremony, members of the Mfici Noncedo multipurpose shed said they felt very fortunate.
“We were forced to press and sort our wool outside because the structure was so small,” explained Nonkululeko Hlanjwa. “Now that we have this one, everything will be done inside and that will not only improve the quality of wool but we are going to have more profit.”
According to Hlanjwa, their 53 member association has 23 female members. Something, she believes is indicative of how serious women in the area are about agriculture.
“As women here, we are so active in agriculture and we don’t have to wait for men to send money to meet our needs. Women need to stand up and do something for themselves so that we can become financially independent. We love farming as we are able to put food on the tables of our families and send our children to school,” said Hlanjwa.
Optimistic about wool clip
Deputy chairperson of the association, Ben Mpila, said the association was started by their fathers in the 1970s with just 10 members. It has since grown in numbers and profitability.
“At first we were just removing wool from the sheep and we didn’t know the value of the wool then. We used to sell our wool to white people who used to give us anything, including blankets. But now we know the value of wool, hence we are happy with this structure. We are optimistic that our wool clip will give us more profits because things were really bad,” said Mpila.
The shed was built by the department for local wool growers who own a combined 1 190 flock of sheep. Today. the multipurpose shearing shed consists of animal handling facilities, a moveable loading rail, spray dipping, wool presser, sorting tables, shears, and wool quality checking machines.
Pieters urged farmers to guard the new shearing shed.
“Government wants to see returns of this investment but the money made here won’t come to government, but will go to farmers. This shed should make more profit then what was used to build this shed,” said Pieters.
She believes that as soon as the new shed owners start making money, the impact would not only be felt by the community of Mfinci, but it would also impact communities of Senqu local and Joe Gqabi municipalities and eventually the whole of Eastern Cape.
“When that happens the lives of South Africans, Africans and the world changes. You see how these things are feeding into each other because once this place is changed, people will not go to Gauteng or Western Cape to seek employment but they’ll create job opportunities,” Pieters said.
The MEC was impressed by the number of young people and pleased by the participation of both men and women in Mfici Noncedo multipurpose shed.
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