Whoever coined the words “old-age” and “retirement” obviously did not have Mthatha’s octogenarian Ntombomzi Madinga in mind.While many grandmothers and pensioners her age sit at home finding little to do, the 80-year-old former teacher, school principal and education specialist has become a small-scale vegetable producer.
And she is making a decent living working off the soil too.
“I am always up at 4am every day preparing to go to the garden,” she told the Saturday Dispatch from her plush house in PRD Camp, a residential area opposite the Norwood Civic Centre along the N2.
“You don’t have to go to Johannesburg to find gold. We have our gold here which is land.
“We just have to dirty our hands to find it,” she said.
For a number of years she has been selling her produce to several supermarkets in the city.
Her list of clients has grown to include caterers preparing for a variety of functions, including funerals and weddings.
She wouldn’t reveal her monthly turnover, saying she feared attracting attention to herself.
Madinga grows mealies, cabbages, broccoli, onions, spinach, butternuts and green peppers, among other things.
She says the demand from shops and her other clients has forced her to approach neighbours for land.
Earlier this year she received a donation of about 200 chicks, feed and agricultural equipment from rural development and agrarian reform MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane.
However, Madinga said she would be happier if she could get more land to grow her vegetable business.
Born in Ntsimbini village in Port St Johns, Madinga’s agricultural acumen was instilled in her by her parents as a little girl when they would be woken up in the wee hours of the morning to tend to the fields. She later enrolled for a teachers’ course at the Cicirha Training College in Mthatha in the late 1950s.
After teaching in some schools near her village, she was later approached by the college to join it.
In 1975 she had a stint as the principal of Norwood Junior Secondary School in Mthatha before being appointed an educational specialist in 1981.
But it was not until 1995 that she was able to fully focus all her energies into her vegetable business.
She currently employs three youths.
One of those is 26-year-old Mvuycisi Mguca, who hails from Lusikisiki.
The youngster said he had battled to find employment until he was taken in by Madinga as an employee. “At least I am able to earn something here,” he said.
VW Groups area manager Wayne Swanepoel, who also oversees five spar outlets in Mthatha, said they supported local farmers like Madinga.
“They buy from us so its only
fair that we buy from them as well,” he said. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
No slowing down for this gogo
While many grandmothers and pensioners her age sit at home finding little to do, the 80-year-old former teacher, school principal and education specialist has become a small-scale vegetable producer.
And she is making a decent living working off the soil too.
“I am always up at 4am every day preparing to go to the garden,” she told the Saturday Dispatch from her plush house in PRD Camp, a residential area opposite the Norwood Civic Centre along the N2.
“You don’t have to go to Johannesburg to find gold. We have our gold here which is land.
“We just have to dirty our hands to find it,” she said.
For a number of years she has been selling her produce to several supermarkets in the city.
Her list of clients has grown to include caterers preparing for a variety of functions, including funerals and weddings.
She wouldn’t reveal her monthly turnover, saying she feared attracting attention to herself.
Madinga grows mealies, cabbages, broccoli, onions, spinach, butternuts and green peppers, among other things.
She says the demand from shops and her other clients has forced her to approach neighbours for land.
Earlier this year she received a donation of about 200 chicks, feed and agricultural equipment from rural development and agrarian reform MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane.
However, Madinga said she would be happier if she could get more land to grow her vegetable business.
Born in Ntsimbini village in Port St Johns, Madinga’s agricultural acumen was instilled in her by her parents as a little girl when they would be woken up in the wee hours of the morning to tend to the fields. She later enrolled for a teachers’ course at the Cicirha Training College in Mthatha in the late 1950s.
After teaching in some schools near her village, she was later approached by the college to join it.
In 1975 she had a stint as the principal of Norwood Junior Secondary School in Mthatha before being appointed an educational specialist in 1981.
But it was not until 1995 that she was able to fully focus all her energies into her vegetable business.
She currently employs three youths.
One of those is 26-year-old Mvuycisi Mguca, who hails from Lusikisiki.
The youngster said he had battled to find employment until he was taken in by Madinga as an employee. “At least I am able to earn something here,” he said.
VW Groups area manager Wayne Swanepoel, who also oversees five spar outlets in Mthatha, said they supported local farmers like Madinga.
“They buy from us so its only
fair that we buy from them as well,” he said. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
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