A young farmer is making waves in the North West by succeeding where others have struggled.
35-year-old Tshepiso Jantjies, from Taung, is not only a traditional healer but a young dedicated farmer who also trains aspiring farmers.
His feed company, Jantjies Boerdery, is involved in livestock farming, animal medication, crop and feed production.
Brand of maize meal
Jantjies has developed his brand of maize meal, Kgora Super Maize Meal.
He converted a former train station, into a store from where he runs his successful agribusiness.
Besides supplying local businesses, the maize meal is traded by ordinary people who earn a commission from selling it.
“Kgora Super Maize Meal is actually six months old. We established it last year. I was with my younger brother Tlamelo when we came up with that concept. We went to all the foreigners and local stores and sold to them. We had about 60 stores that we were giving. We had other people, Dryharts, Taung, Ganyesa and other areas,” says Jantjies.
Amongst others things at this facility, people will find animal feed and animal medication.
Using lucerne for various products
On his piece of communal land, he plants lucerne, which he uses for animal feed.
Jantjies employs ten permanent and five temporary workers.
He says he is already exporting some of his produce to the neighbouring countries.
“Lucerne, as raw as it is, you can sell and make other animal products out of it. You can mainly make plus-minus ten products out of it. So I decided to commercialize it to say let me make a feed company. The customers that are mainly supporting us are from the areas of Botswana and Lesotho. Those are the clients that are actually buying in bulk. We have an outlet in Pudumong, where this processed animal feed and medication is sold,” he explains.
Not been all plain sailing
It has not been all plain sailing for Jantjies.
His truck, which collects the maize meal from the Free State, is broken.
This has slowed production and added to the cost of hiring equipment to plant and harvest.
“We have been challenged to actually push the Kgora Super Maize Meal. Still there, but people are fighting with us because it was a good maize meal, I must say. So no, we are battling to get a new truck that will collect the stock from that side. But it is not our aim to keep collecting the stock, our actual plan is to have our own plant,” says Jantjies.
His proud uncle, Joseph Jantjies says it is seemingly easy for the newly commercialized farmer to modernize farming as he and his fellow black farmers struggled.
“I am happy. I am proud of him. I could not succeed as a farmer back then. It was only white people who are thriving. So my nephew has made farming much easier now. I taught him everything and he modifies the knowledge,” adds the uncle.
Jantjies has given back to the community by training aspiring and new emerging young farmers.
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