Mfusi finds employment answers in agriculture
Faced with the plight of unemployment, Zimbili Mfusi (26) decided to plunge into farming and entrepreneurship. Mfusi of Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga graduated with a Diploma in Public Relations from
Springfield College in Durban in 2020, but she struggled to find a job afterwards.
“Because jobs are scarce in South Africa and I have never had an opportunity to work in the field that I studied for, I decided to register my farming business in 2021 so that I could earn an income and help create jobs,” she said.
She is the owner of Mphezulu Farm which specialises in mixed farming including vegetable production, livestock, grain and poultry.
Some of the vegetables she farms are spinach, cabbage, butternut, pumpkin, jam squash, potatoes, carrots and beetroot.
“The business also has a food processing component where we produce sauces and spices. I sell products from the farm to formal and informal markets including SUPERSPAR Volksrust, local supermarkets, schools, clinics and community members,” Mfusi explained.
Her love for farming dates to her childhood years when she used to watch her grandmother run her own farming business. Mfusi was fortunate enough to have her mother buy a 100-hectare farm for her in 2003 so that she could use it in the future.
In 2023, the business received 1 000 chickens and chicken feed from the provincial Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs through its Masibuyele Esibayeni Programme. Before then, she only had about 200 chickens per cycle.
The Masibuyele Esibayeni Programme was established in 2011 to support livestock farmers in the province.
The business has so far created five permanent jobs and employs a few more people temporarily when there is a high demand for production.