07 Jul 2021

 Youthful Kagiso Gumede of Shashebridge says losing two jobs in a space of two years did not make him despair, but gave him the necessary push to accomplish his mission of becoming a horticultural farmer of note.

Between 2008 and 2012, while working as a course coordinator at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Mr Gumede said he continued with the culture that he cultivated when he was a temporary assistant teacher at Khwee Primary School in the Boteti area in 2006. 

He said he had a vision that one day the savings would help him make ends meet and indeed it came to pass as he used his savings to lease and fence a garden, buy equipment such as a water pump, irrigation system and farming implements.

Mr Gumede, who studied Information Technology at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Malaysia, is indeed a fanatic vegetable grower, which trade has earned him the nickname Vegetable King in his home village.

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I consider myself a hustler and I have never allowed anything to pull me back.

 I could have given up when I lost my jobs, but passion made me move forward,” he said.

Mr Gumede has come to be one of the celebrated horticulturalists in an area where vegetable business is the main source of income; that is from Patayamatebele, Ditladi, Tonota and Shashemooke as farmers take advantage of Shashe River water.

Quizzed on what sparked his passion to venture into gardening, Mr Gumede said he liked gardening, although he studied something different, explaining that in life, one should always have plan B, so that when the first one fails, they step into the next.

He said the other factor was that he was born into farming as his parents were farmers, with gardening as a component of their venture.  

He said one other reason he ventured into horticulture was to take advantage of the treated water from Shashe Dam, which they use for free, throughout the year.

He currently produces tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage and maize.

He revealed that he intended to introduce others such as onions and carrots to grow his hustle.

Mr Gumede explains that the market for vegetables was not too bad, but one has to come up with strategies to beat competitors.

He said he had not yet started supplying big supermarkets, saying street vendors were his main clients and he makes good money, some of which he uses to improve his business such as buying pesticides, paying rent, servicing equipment while also saving some for a rainy day.  

He said his biggest challenge was buying pesticides, especially Tuta Absoluta, which had become a menace for his Amukela tomatoes variety, adding that this was the most invasive pest in the area.

Mr Gumede explains that the pesticide to eradicate Tuta Absoluta, which is called Ampligo, was very expensive and difficult to find locally.  

Although he has only one employee, Mr Gumede revealed that he intended to employ more people as a way of fighting unemployment in his village.

He appealed to the youth, who were unable to fund themselves to use government initiatives and programmes to better their lives and fight unemployment.

He, however, blamed some youth for misusing such programmes, adding that this was detrimental to the country’s economy, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic era, which had drained government coffers. 

Mr Gumede is indeed a perfect example of how a hustle can pay off. ends