Born and bred in KwaZulu-Natal, Mtubatuba, Sinobuhle Mbuyazi is a jack of all trades and a businesswoman of note! The journey to successful sugarcane farming and taking the reins from her experienced father was not easy, but she did it. She is one of the inspiring women who was selected for the Corteva Women Agripreneur 2022, a year-long blended development programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) Entrepreneurship Development Academy (EDA).
Mbuyazi’s parents separated in 2003, and she moved to live with her mother. She completed her high school life in Pietermaritzburg and then ventured out into transportation management at the University of Johannesburg.
Her farming journey started off with her mother, Thabisile, who was an agricultural scientist for the department of agriculture. Even though her mother steered her toward short courses in agriculture, at first it was not an interest Mbuyazi entertained.
“She made sure that I attended them in my spare time, and eventually I started getting interested.” Her mother sadly passed away in 2014.
As the interest grew, a connection to a childhood desire slowly began to manifest. As a child, Mbuyazi always had a love for pigs. “I actually remember telling my family that I wanted a pig as a pet when I was young,” she chuckles.
For the love of pigs
Fanning this hidden passion, she completed a short course in animal production and focused specifically on piggery. Exactly two weeks after the course, her new piggery was launched.
“Farming has been what I love from a young age, but it was my mom who really gave me the push to pursue farming.”
Using all the money saved up, the piggery business soared in 2015 and she raised about 80 pigs. It was all supported by the other side hustles, property and logistics she ventured into.
“I have never worked for anybody, and I’m turning 33. I have never received a payslip,” she says.
Trouble in paradise
However, while business boomed for the following two years and profit was streaming in, the land was increasingly becoming a serious problem. As a lessee of a portion of land, things became difficult between her and the owner.
“Because of the land issues that I was faced with, I sold all the pigs that I had. This was something so painful in my life.”
Luckily her property and logistics businesses kept her going. It was in those three years that her father, Joseph, took notice of her good management skills. He called her to join the family business in sugarcane farming.
Soon, all roads led to Mtubatuba.
Picking up the pieces
“I joined the farm in 2020. I was just a year with dad, and he was upscaling my knowledge. It was very difficult, I won’t lie. He was a difficult person to learn from. Little did I know that he would be leaving us.”
The devastating news on 21 January 2022 tore her to pieces. “He left me just like that, and my brother, Mpendulo, and I had to juggle things,” Mbuyazi says sadly.
The burden of 70 workers on the farm was heavy as she realised the big responsibility she and her brother had.
That was enough for her to push herself and work to her best abilities. She would deal with all the paperwork and management duties, and her brother would be on the field, his place of expertise.
The fragile relationship between brother and sister came to the fore as both held the reins of the business.
“It was never easy working with my brother and we’re a traditional Zulu family. Mostly you’ll find that the boy child must inherit everything and here I am part of the farm now, and I also want my ideas to be heard,” she explains.
“But I’m glad that he now understands that being a leader doesn’t mean you need to wear pants and be a man, but you can be a leader as a woman as well. Now he is able to listen to me and we are able to work together.”
Running a sugarcane farm
The siblings run a 400-ha farm on a day-to-day basis. Much is expected from both, and a typical day has planting, making sure that there are no weeds, growing the sugarcane, and taking care of it in it. Afterwards, it goes by train to a sugar mill, which is close by.
“I am more of a paper girl, which is what I’ve also been taught by Corteva. It has been really beneficial in my life, and it has been helping me get this business forward, it’s really helping me.”
Challenges have been there from the get-go. Floods and heavy rains have not made it any easier. Sections of the farm are separated by bridges and some floods have led to the complete destruction of the bridges.
Bridging the gap
“It’s our current challenge, maintaining our bridges – and it is quite difficult because it’s expensive.”
She explains that their young age has also been quite the stumbling block, and workers on the farm have grown into the habit of stealing diesel and chemicals.
But Mbuyazi has shown that nothing can keep her down. Challenges have not kept her back and through the support of family, her future is bright.
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