Former President 
Nelson Mandela viewed job creation as a fundamental pillar of human dignity, reconciliation and economic justice.
As the country commemorates Mandela Month this July, Vuk’uzenzele spoke to Loveness Mokoena (42) of Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga.
She is the co-director of Hatiendlela Marite Project Primary Cooperative, which specialises in crop farming, including chillies, butternut, tomatoes, cabbage and green beans.
When Mokoena and four members of her cooperative struggled to find job opportunities, they decided to start a cooperative to create jobs for themselves and their community members.
Today, the cooperative creates seasonal jobs for about ten community members in the Bushbuckridge area in Mpumalanga. The cooperative supplies Freshmark and Spar in Hazyview. It is a women-led cooperative, with only one man out of five members.
“Our grandmother used to farm on the land we are currently using. We were all unemployed youth at the time, and we saw farming as an opportunity to create jobs for ourselves. We acquired ten hectares of land in 2014 from our traditional authorities through the permission-to-occupy process,” she explained.
The Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture has provided the cooperative with a borehole, a water tank and fencing. Mokoena said this support has helped the cooperative to become more profitable, protect crops from animals, and create jobs for locals.
In 2016, Mobile Agri Skills Development and Training (MASDT), an agricultural company that assists small-scale farmers in Mpumalanga, provided technical training in plant production and the use of chemicals.
The cooperative also received a R144 000 grant from the National Development Agency (NDA), which it used to install a 20-kilolitre reservoir, fence an extra four hectares of land, and procure the required chemical sprays.
“We no longer have to pump water from a nearby river for irrigation because we have our own reservoir. We now need greenhouses to protect crops from harsh weather conditions and allow year-round production,” she said.
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