A group of women in Katlehong is working hard to create a fresh produce market in the area. They want to make the fruit and vegetables grown by local farmers more easily accessible to residents and local businesses.
Ntombikayise Zulu and Nthabiseng Mokoena, along with a few others, have already secured a piece of land where they envision building a local equivalent of the Joburg Market.
Based in Tsietsi Phase 4, Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, Zulu and Mokoena started farming in 2015 in a local area provided by the government. Since then they have been working hard to have fresh vegetables and livestock for their community.
Over the years the public area provided to them became fuller as other women were motivated to join them. This let them decide to create a better local market where farmers from around Katlehong could sell their products to businesses and locals.
Searching for a better life
Zulu moved to Johannesburg in 1998 from Ndongwe close to Ermelo in Mpumalanga. She wanted to pursue better career opportunities. In 2011, Zulu acquired a security certificate and started working in that industry.
“I have always been a person who loves business and during this period I still wanted to pursue something in business,” she recalls.
In 2012, while the Palmridge court building in Gauteng was being built, Zulu took her saved salary and bought a food container. She hired people to sell food for her opposite the construction site.
Not satisfied with the returns, she decided to take another route. She obtained a practice certificate as a caretaker and started working in this field later that same year. “I have always loved taking care of children, and since the area was new with no crèches, I decided to take the opportunity”.
Then she received a reconstruction and development plan (RDP) stand, which was the opportunity she had been waiting for. “Now I had my land, now I had the freedom I had been waiting for. People thought I was crazy because the yard was full of vegetables,” she says, giggling.
The journey into farming
Zulu is a go-getter and doesn’t stop at any cost. She found a way to start selling vegetables to the community.
Initially it was cabbage and spinach. The plot did not have running water; she had to fetch it by wheelbarrow and 20-litre bottles. However, this still felt like heaven to her as she was doing what she loved. “In the morning it’s the crèche, in the afternoon its agriculture; my heart was fulfilled,” she states. Zulu now has 38 free-range chickens and 15 pigs and continues to plant various vegetables.
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Meeting kindred spirits
Doing this is how she met other women like her. Mokoena loved farming and was also new in the neighbourhood. Mokoena joined Zulu and other local women who farmed in the area with her own big dreams to pursue.
She approached the nearest primary school, Pheasant Fall Primary, to use their open area for farming. The principal agreed and Mokoena gave vegetables to specific learners and community members.
Both women were full of ambition and drive in agriculture and they got sponsored by Rand Water with farming tools, irrigation and training. This led them to form a co-operation, “Letlotlo le Mobung” (treasure within the soil), that would express their vision and let them work towards the opportunities they saw in farming.
The mission of the co-operation is to build a Katlehong Agriculture Market similar to Joburg Market. This market will be a platform for all surrounding farmers to sell their products to their nearest businesses. The goal is to bridge transportation challenges that local businesses have by making the produce of local farmers conveniently available to them.
A journey of ups and downs
The journey towards this vision has its ups and downs. The women approached their local council with the proposal. The council gave them an open space to implement the plan, but they are currently unable to get funding from the department of agriculture because they do not have documentation that states them as the owners of the land. They requested this from the mayor, but haven’t yet received a response.
“I have sent multiple emails to the Ekurhuleni office and went to other departments that also turn us back, [requiring] the paper of proof,” says Zulu.
The women are not deterred by this hurdle, though. They are working hard for their vision to become a reality. Zulu, Mokoena and some other women took their children’s social grant money to build a gate around the area and hired a bulldozer to clean the erf. They firmly believe that one day their dream to have a Katlehong Market will be a reality.
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