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South Africa Magazine talks to sugarcane and game farmer Charl Senekal. By Ian Armitage
orthern KwaZulu-Natal farmer Charl Senekal is one of the most inspirational and truly fascinating people I’ve ever had the pleasure of interviewing. From humble beginnings as a small farmer, Senekal, 63, has become one of South Africa’s agriculture industry’s leading personalities. He is a big man with a big heart and is on congenial terms with high-level members of the ANC (he laughed when I asked him how he came to be so politically connected). His farm in Mkuze is the largest private sugarcane farm in the world. “I first got to know senior government officials when we built a pipeline carrying water from the Pongolapoort dam to my farms and surrounding communities,” he says. Senekal says he met then-deputy president Jacob Zuma in 2000 when he contacted him about building the water pipeline, and received the goahead to access water from the country’s third largest irrigation dam. The rest, they say, is history. “I came from a poor background. My father was a teacher in Pongola,” Senekal says. “When I was 21 I started working at a sugar mill, and spent 13 years learning as much as I could about sugar, while putting money aside.” He and his wife Elize eventually saved enough money to lease their first sugarcane farm. “My father told me that we Senekals worked for others and not ourselves,” Senekal says. “He thought I was mad. We leased a farm that was neglected and lacked tools. Everyone wrote us off and gave us a slim chance of surviving.” But he proved the critics wrong. Senekal then spent the next 21 years buying, developing and selling sugar cane farms in the Pongola area. “I became the biggest sugarcane farmer in South Africa,” he says. In 1999, Senekal, with his wife Elise and children Dreyer, Charl, Andre and Mari, moved to Mkuze and bought Mkuze Estates. Senekal has impressed all and sundry with his boundless philanthropy, most noticeably, as he www.southafricamag.com
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mentioned earlier, when he built a pipeline to provide water to over a quarter of a million Ubombo and Mkuze residents. “When we moved here, buying the land from Anglo American, we noticed the poverty of the area around us and we became determined to put Mkuze on the map,” says Senekal. “The Jozini Dam was just a few kilometres away, yet no water was being pumped for local use. Instead, the surrounding communities had to contend with a trickle of dirty piped water, and often in the winter months had no water at all. Me and my eldest son Dreyer decided to do our own feasibility studies and we discovered that for around R20 million we could lay glass fibre piping, which would not only provide water for irrigating their own sugarcane fields, but also for their private game reserve and the 200,000 strong local community.”
JR TYRES JR Tyres was established in 1995 as a private tyre company by founder Director, Jaap Dittrich. With over 10 years of experience in the tyre business at that stage, he began to build his association with Charl Senekal. This relationship was continued when Charl Senekal developed Senekal Suiker. JR Tyres believes in personal interaction with their clients and have built long lasting business relationships. These relationships are based on honesty, integrity, respect and often develop into friendships. JR Tyres pride themselves on high moral values, first class service to their clients, product quality and competitive pricing. This has proven to be a successful business philosophy that over the years contributed to the success of Senekal Suiker and also allowed JR Tyres to develop into a productive, profitable and sustainable business. In 1998 JR Tyres became a Conti-Partner of the International Continental Tyres Group. JR Tyres value their clients and aims to meet the individual needs of their clients. In order to minimize time delays and improve efficiencies, JR Tyres supplied Senekal Suiker with trained staff, equipment, tools, consignment tyres and rims at their workshops. JR Tyres, as a proud supplier of Senekal Suiker, also conducts regular inspections and surveys on their fleet of trucks, trailers, tractors and other equipment. This has proven to be a valuable tool, in terms of planning and pro-active management of the fleet, resulting in the optimization of both the operational as well as financial aspects of the fleet. JR Tyres expanded the business over the past 17 years, not only in Northern Kwa –Zulu Natal but also across the border into Swaziland. This expansion is based on the same relationship and business model applied to Senekal Suiker. JR Tyres are therefore very confident that this recipe for success can be duplicated in other areas of Southern Africa. May the Senekal Suiker and JR Tyres partnership grow from strength to strength and lead to more successful partnerships for both entities.
I became the biggest sugarcane farmer in South Africa
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Senekal Sugar FEATURE
We do a lot for the local community and for emerging farmers
The Senekal’s, he adds, had a plan, but they could not get permission to pump from the dam. This is where Zuma entered the story. “We sat watching Zuma’s 1999 New Year’s Eve address on television, and I turned to the family and said: “That is the man I need to speak to.” I then contacted the deputy president’s office and eventually got to speak to him. He was very impressed and said he wanted to come down and see us. A few days after we got permission to draw the water.” 6
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Today the water is some of the cleanest in SA and goes to around 350,000 people, Senekal says. “We are very positive about life and are committed to making South Africa work for all its people,” he adds. “The country is working for me, no doubt. But I want it to work for all of its 50 million people. I feel very strongly about that.” Senekal’s is certainly a success story and he continues to invest thousands of rands per year to help uplift poor communities and small farmers. “We do a lot for the local community and for emerging farmers,” says Senekal. “I’m currently helping almost 3,000 black farmers who are my neighbours to farm better and I run a scheme on my farm called ‘Our Opportunity’ where we took 300 ha of
Senekal Sugar FEATURE
sugarcane fields, worth R15 million, and gave it to our workers. I did that for all the farm workers that had been here five years or more. That is huge. “I see us as an example of what can be done between a farm owner and his workers.” Senekal has 1,000 full-time workers. “I’m also currently building 1800 houses in Mkuze and the surrounding areas for local people,” he adds. “We’ve invested a lot in the town, but still more needs to be done. We want the town to flourish and be prosperous for all.” His management team consists of two general managers, a financial manager and six division managers. His sons, Dreyer, Andre and Charl jnr, and daughter Mari are all involved in some form within the business and Senekal’s wife Elize is also involved. “We have around 20,000 ha, consisting of the sugar cane plantations as well as a game reserve,” Senekal says. “This situation will soon change dramatically and I aim to increase farming operations in the coming years. I am expanding my operation by another 2000 ha, which will give us 5000 ha under
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We are very positive about life and are committed to making South Africa work for all its people
irrigation. It means more people will be employed and more people will be given access to better housing, medical care, etc. We are uplifting the community by increasing our footprint in Zulu land.” He has great confidence in the sugar industry and its future. “I do. I have great confidence,” Senekal says. “I have confidence in the sugar industry because it is one of the best organised and managed agricultural industries. The industry enjoys support from government and is an R11 billion per year industry. Direct employment to the industry, I think, must be well over 120, 000 but millions benefit directly and indirectly from sugar. To be a sugar farmer in South Africa is something to be proud of.” Mr Senekal was chosen as South Africa’s National Farmer of the year in 2003 and is also chairperson of ProAgri - a forum representing the largest commercial farmers in SA. END
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