Land: A recipe for success, and other highlights from 'Vrye Weekblad'
Here's what's hot in the latest edition of the Afrikaans digital weekly
Revolutionaries don't always wear berets and camo. Sometimes the modern-day Che Guevaras wear blue-checked shirts and brown farm boots and they live in Jeffreys Bay by the sea with their two German pointers. And they enjoy the outdoors and adore their grandson, who looks exactly like them.
Henk Agenbach is the CEO of one of the last real farmers' co-ops in the country and carries the torch for a highly successful project to help black farmers find their feet.
He does have one other thing in common with Che, though: He loves motorbikes. And it was on the long road to Kilimanjaro on his bike that he came to realise how farming could help change the country.
“Riding clears your head. You have to focus on your surroundings. I started seeing that Africa's entire economy happens along the main roads. If you turn off, there is nothing. People are desperate beyond logic. And that is what we all need to help change, especially those of us with means.
“We need to help build a better deal for all – it isn't just our responsibility, it is also our insurance for the future of our grandchildren in this place.”
Read all about it in this week's edition of Afrikaans digital weekly Vrye Weekblad.
This is the recipe: The Co-operation provides finance to help black farmers settle and then provides support and technical assistance to get the business going. Experienced commercial farmers work with upcoming black farmers and every farm is run on strict business principles.
“We need to step away from the concept of projects. We don't do charity. It has to work. There has to be incentive for everybody,” says Henk.
He and his team are not afraid of a challenge.
“It is tough sometimes and people want to give up. Then they come to us to help them survive.”
Read the full article (FREE) in this week's Vrye Weekblad
Must-read articles in this week's Vrye Weekblad
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BLESSER, BULLY BOSASA | Adriaan Basson's book Blessed by Bosasa reads like a mafia saga, with dodgy characters like Gavin Watson who smiles like a Bible-belt preacher on the front cover, and the formidable former Rag Queen and self-appointed Bride of Christ Lindie Gouws.
WIN ARTSY FLAVOURS | Painter Lientjie Wessels' first cookbook is out and three readers can each win a copy.
NEW MONEY | Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg had to explain his plans for a new cryptocurrency, Libra, to the US House of Representatives last week. We look at where this new currency fits into the bigger picture.