For Charlotte Mosena, limitations simply do not exist. Driven by a passion for seizing opportunities, her diverse career spans years of legal work, catering, and now, agriculture.A journey back to the soil
Today, this visionary is the founder of Tshimo Ya Lesego, a two-hectare farm in the Vaal, Gauteng, where she grows fresh produce for local markets.
Mosena grew up in two worlds: the Vaal with her father and grandparents, and Johannesburg South with her mother and stepfather.
Her grandmother, Alice Mkhwanazi, had a large yard filled with peach trees and preserved fruits.
“She’d make apricot syrup to pour over custard and jelly,” Mosena recalls. “I loved that space. The quiet, the soil, the feeling of being rooted.”
In grade 2, she moved back to the city to live with her mother, a professional educator. “Our home was spiritual, but I missed the farm. I missed the land.”
A journey back to the soil
Mosena’s life had a few detours before farming. At 19, she had her first child and went straight to work as a SIM card promoter at a taxi rank.
“I stood there every day, learning how to talk to people, how to sell, and how to be resilient. I knew I deserved more, so I kept going.”
She enrolled in a trainee management course at the International Hotel School, balancing demanding hotel shifts with her studies. However, her parents’ divorce eventually forced her to leave before finishing.
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Undeterred, she entered the legal sector as a receptionist. Hungry for growth, she earned double distinctions in office administration and legal practice, progressing to legal secretary and human resources manager.
“My boss saw my hunger and sponsored me to study human resource management at UCT, which I completed.”
When health challenges later forced her out of the corporate world, she returned to her roots after her grandparents passed away, founding Flurry Gourmet Events and Tshimo Ya Lesego.
Growing food: a deeply personal connection
Her farming journey began informally in 2015, and transitioned in 2019 into a market-focused business trading as Tshimo Ya Lesego. By 2022, she had begun selling produce at local markets.
Mosena formally registered the business early this year. “We are currently in the process of a company name change,” she says.
“We take what we harvest and bring it straight to the community, offering it to shoppers who value fresh, locally grown vegetables.”
For Mosena, the venture is deeply personal. “It’s me going back to that little girl who watched her granny grow food. Today, I grow some of the produce we serve. Farm to table.”
But challenges remain. “Growing two businesses with limited resources, bad roads in the Vaal, harsh winters, and an economy where people are spending less are real challenges,” she shares.
To combat this, she is expanding into greenhouse farming to maintain consistency year-round.
Tshimo Ya Lesego specialises in seasonal crops like summer spinach, peppers, and peas, alongside onions and sweet potatoes. Her cabbage, however, was lost to the winter frost.
Growth and market integration
Continuous learning has revealed that agriculture stretches far beyond the soil. Attending events like the Food For Mzansi Soul to Soil event, the Mzansi Young Farmers Indaba, and the South African Agricultural Awards has been instrumental to her growth.
“Agriculture connects to a whole chain of industries, especially hospitality,” she notes. “Farmers supply restaurants and retailers, so what we produce must be clean, fresh, and of premium quality.”
The industry, however, comes with structural challenges.
“You might have land, but the climate is not always on your side. Then there are people with the perfect climate who don’t have access to land.”
Looking ahead, Mosena plans to scale globally. On the catering side, she aims to build a coffee shop brand featuring packaged farm products, including special teas, coffee, and her grandmother’s signature canned peaches to honour her gogo.
For Tshimo Ya Lesego, she is working to supply major local markets, restaurants, and retailers while developing export capabilities.
Crucially, she wants her success to feed back into the community. “I want to go into areas where people lack access to opportunities, training and upskilling unemployed youth to create real job opportunities.”
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