Introducing former HGA student, Siphiwo Nguse
Siphiwo Nguse is from Nokweja, a rural community located near the town of Umzimkhulu in the Harry Gwala District Municipality. For many families who live in rural areas, agriculture is a way of life and can offer an important livelihood option and income stream. Siphiwo’s father farmed chickens and pigs while he was growing up and exposed him to agriculture from a young age.
Siphiwo encountered a few challenges at home during his final year of school and was unfortunately unable to obtain a matric pass which led him to undertake a National Certificate in Primary Agriculture, which is an equivalent qualification. Beyond this though the course provides an excellent foundation on which to build a career in agriculture. Clearly a young man hungry for knowledge and experience, while he was doing this course, Siphiwo completed learnerships in carpentry, upholstery and charcoal production and also volunteered at the Tzu Chi Foundation on an ad hoc basis for 12 months and assisted in the delivery of food parcels and blankets to those in need.
He then embarked on a National Diploma in Farm Management and after completing the theory component was selected for placement in our programme in June 2021 and carried out his 18 months of in-service training on an avocado farm near Highflats. He said he found the first six months of his training tough as he was required to prove himself in the basic tasks on the farm and had to be patient in waiting for bigger responsibility. This came with time but brought with it the challenges that accompany managing people. After completing his training he was offered a full-time position as a foreman on the farm and was faced with the daunting task of leading staff members who were older than him. His reward for this was being given the opportunity to attend a short course in sub-tropical fruit production organised by the Agricultural Research Council which he felt was a real step-up in terms of being more qualified to be involved in avocado production.
One thing that struck us about Siphiwo from the onset of his involvement in our programme was his single-minded determination to succeed. From early on he was faced with the difficult decision of whether to befriend members of the staff who were not always committed to the tasks on the farm and who were engaging in unhelpful activities in their free time, or to isolate himself for the sake of focusing on what he needed to accomplish on the farm but at the cost of being ostracised. He chose the latter and two years after joining our programme his position of employment and the respect he has earned from his co-workers speaks for itself.
He was asked what advice he has for other young aspiring commercial farmers and to this he answered the following which we feel really speaks to his character:
“The first thing I would say is that anyone wanting to do their in-service training must be humble. Secondly, they must be passionate about agriculture because farming is not a playground. You need to be attentive as there are many tasks that you have to learn to do: one day you can be a plumber, then you can be an electrician, then a soil scientist. You also have to be fit enough to do many tasks. You must not be lazy if you want to farm, you have to be energetic.”