T’SNEVERtoolatetostartoverandreach
your dreams, and Zodwa Thwala can attest to
that. The 47-year-old go-getter grew up with
parents who did subsistence farming in
Dennilton in Limpopo – she had big dreams
and even more moxie to make a success of
herself, but only realised farming was her
passion later in life.
Zodwa put in the work and studied to
become a nurse and a teacher – even doing her
honours in psychology and later working as a
nurse in the ICU at night, while teaching high
school during the day. Despite her hard work,
she still found herself frustrated with her low
income and continued to do double duty for 12
years. “My aim was to raise funds to start a
business in the future.”
Zodwa was 38 when she ventured into
agriculture after resigning from nursing and
teaching and used her pension to finance her
business.
She did her research and found having a
piggery would bring home the bacon, as they
say – and the rest is history. Zodwa continued
to further her education and did short courses
in animal production and artificial insemination
at the Tshwane University of Technology and
the Agricultural Research Council respectively,
as well as a three-month course at Dalein
Piggery in Pretoria.
Today she has her own piggery, Prejonet
PiggeryFarm,whereshealsolivesinHammans-
Bringing home the bacon
It’s never too late to realise your dreams – this week’s dynamic
farmer is raising hope througheducationandagriculture
kraal in Gauteng. The award-winning farmer
was hailed with the best female entrepreneur
award by the Gauteng department of agricul-
ture and rural development (GDARD) for her
achievements in 2017 and continues to inspire.
She decided to share her knowledge by
starting a training centre, Prejonet Academy, to
teach basic farming skills andfinancial
management to graduate interns.
Many people approached
her, asking for information
about starting a piggery,
which lead to the new
venture but it has since
turned into another stream
of income that helps fund
the farm.
Zodwa’s piggery supplies
80 porkers and baconers a
week, which she provides to
Farmers Meat Market Sundrain
Springs.
She’s taken adversity and turned it into a
successful career. “Being a female farmer is not
easy. There are a lot of challenges. “Remember,
agriculture is a male’s stream, it’s a man’s world.
So you have to push to get recognition,” Zodwa
says. “I started with five sows and now I have- I’m proud of myself.”
Zodwa has 10 permanent workers who assist
on the farm, eight students on experiential
trainingfromdifferentcollegesanduniversities
aroundthecountryand 10
students who are on a learner-
ship programme. She aims to help
more black farmers join the
agricultural sector.
There have been many challenges but
mostly “lack of assistance from government”,
Zodwa says. “You need to work hard and think
outside the box.”
Her daughter and son don’t seem to be
interested in farming, Zodwa says, so “I’m
worried about the family legacy, because I’m
doing it all for them”.
Zodwa proved it’s never too late to discover
your true passion, so there’s still hope. Head to
drum.co.za to learn more about Zodwa and
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NATION IN CONVERSATION
TOP: Zodwa Thwala studied teaching
and nursing before finding her
passion with her piggery. She started
with five sows and has 200 sows
today (ABOVE).REAPING
THE
BENEFITS
Stand a chance to win R1 500
cash. Simply tell us what is the
name of Zodwa Thwala’s farm?
SMS Farmer 5, followed by your
answer, full name, contact
number, email address and
region to 34683*.