Introducing Siyabonga Nomlala

Mr Siyabonga Nomlala is a farmer from Franklin who, driven by his passion for agriculture, put together a proposal for a tunnel vegetable production project in 2015 and submitted this to the Greater Kokstad Municipality (GKM). He had engaged UKZN, Cedara, the Department of Agriculture and Daisy Fresh Hydroponics for guidance on this and then, to his delight, his proposal was approved. In 2018, twelve tunnels were constructed and fitted with irrigation and the Department of Agriculture supplied the project with fencing. Sourcing clean water was his immediate challenge and a year later a borehole was sunk but in the interim, neighbouring commercial farmer, Mr Richard Mingay assisted by delivering clean water to the project.

Mr Nomlala has grown a range of vegetables to date including spinach, tomatoes, english cucumber, and green peppers which are sold to various retailers in Kokstad. Besides the tunnel operation, he is leasing 34 Ha from GKM and this season, with the assistance and guidance of Mr Mingay and Mr Clive Cunningham, planted 19 Ha to maize which Mr Mingay intends to purchase for silage for his dairy operation next door. HGA was able to assist the project with a loan of 1 tonne of urea (purchased at a discounted price from GWK) which Mr Nomlala will repay interest free once the maize has been harvested. The project has been of benefit to the Franklin community, employing up to 15 people on a full-time basis.