Women farmers celebrate as MEC hands over new shearing shed

Songsof joyand ululationfilledthe airwhen the provincialgovernment openedthe multipurpose Mfinci Noncedo shearing shed for farmers, manyof themwomen, inthe Sterkspruit area.

A delighted Nonkqubela Pieters, MEC of ruraldevelopmentand agrarianreform(DRDAR),was theretoopen thefacility,built ata cost ofR1.3m, and celebrate withthe jubilant farmers.

Farmer Nonkululeko Hlanjwa said they felt blessed and fortunate.

“Wehave beenshearingoursheep inan old structure which compromised the quality of our wool,” she said.

“Itwas sosmallwe hadnooption butto press and sort our wool outside.

“Noweverything willbe doneindoors, which will improvequality, efficiency and profits.”

In a philosophical moment, Hlanjwa said: “In life, why go to town and seek employment if you can smartly use the land and animals to fend for yourself.”

She saidthere were23 womenfarmers in their53-member MfinciNoncedoWoolgrowers Co-operative.

“Women heretake farmingvery seriously. They are tough and active.

“Agriculture means not having to wait anxiouslyformento sendmoneyfromthecity or mines. We stand up and do something for ourselves. Wehave becomefinancially independent.

“We love farming, love putting food on the tablefor ourchildren,elderlyfolk andourselves. We feel deeply satisfied.”

Deputy chair of the association, Ben Mpila, said thenew facilitycame afterdecades and generations of struggle.

The association was started by their fathers and forefathers in the 1970s with just 10 pioneers, but through perseverance and hardearnedexperiencetheir businessesandprofitability had grown.

“At first we were just removing wool from the sheep and we didn’t know the value of it then.

“We used to sell to white people who used to give us anything, including blankets.

“Things were really bad, but now we know thevalueofwool, hencewearehappywith this structure.We believeour woolclip will give us more profit.”

Maize meal, an important staple, continues to see high rates of #inflation. Its price index increased by 2,2% between Jan & Feb, taking the annual rate to 34,7%- stats SA

The MEC used the week-long outreach programme of the Eastern Cape legislature in Sterkspruit, knownas takingthe legislatureto thepeople, toofficiallyhandover themultipurpose shearingshed whichwill helpcommercialise the province s agriculture output.