The farm Daytona near Ceres in the Western Cape once was a failed development project, but the government had the rights to the land. At that stage, Partners in Agri Land Solutions (Pals) operational manager Lennox Plaatjies helped to earmark 11 small-scale farmers from the nearby Nduli as beneficiaries.
After a few meetings, they unanimously decided that they did not want the government to buy the land. Instead, they approached Pals – a private land reform and development initiative – to help them get a commercial partner.
Gerrit van Vuuren, Pals’ strategic and legal advisor, identified commercial fruit farmer Stefan du Plessis from the farm Elandsrivier as a possible partner. He introduced him to Langman Jeke, the leader of the Nduli Group.
Du Plessis was all ears as he and André Lotz, his business partner, have been wanting to get involved with transformation initiatives for some time. “That’s when the dream and the vision began,” Du Plessis remembers.
Originally from Lady Grey in the Eastern Cape, Jeke was a cattle farmer and, at first, that is how they ran the partnership. Du Plessis introduced fruit farming while the Nduli Group carried on with their cattle. That was all they knew; farming fruit was an unknown.
Fruit the way to go
However, after the company Thembelitsha Farming was established, that expertise came with their new partners from Elandsrivier. The Nduli Group was soon convinced that although they knew cattle farming, Daytona was far better suited for deciduous fruit.
Together they opted for nectarines, knowing they can expect a first crop as early as 2023, much quicker than pears or apples. With every new tree planted, the friendship between Du Plessis and Jeke grew ever stronger.
“Langman is as old as my dad, making him a bit of a father figure to me,” Du Plessis explained. “He is wise and teaches me a lot about life. He had to wait a long time for real opportunities in life. So, patience is one of the things he taught me.”
As the English novelist George Eliot said, though, it is never too late to be what you might have been.
“Yes, at my age, one might not always be so sure about this new venture,” Jeke laughs. “I have been trying and trying for many years to have my own land to farm. But through good negotiations and the expertise of Pals, we now not only have the land, but we also have the means to farm it too with our partners.”
A rosy future
“I can wait another year or so to start reaping the benefits. You see, I always maintain that if you do something, it is never only for yourself. You do it for your children, for the future. And if Stefan and I carry on like we are now, that future looks good,” he concludes.
At first, there was Du Plessis and Lotz on Elandsrivier on the one side and Jeke and the Nduli Group on Daytona Farm on the other. Those two entities are still separate, but with Pals as a conduit and with everyone buying into this vision, there is now a business called Thembelitsha Farming with Du Plessis, Lotz, Jeke and the Nduli Group as partners and shareholders.
With their joint efforts, a previously unutilised piece of land is now the breeding ground of new hope and success. A success as sweet as nectarines. That is the future. And as Jeke says, that future looks bright.
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