Piggery pays off for beneficiaries

Doornspruit Piggery was started after the Roman Catholic Church gave back 20ha of land in 2004 to the local community. Instead of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform paying the church for the land, it was agreed that it would pay the community to use the land for agricultural purposes.

Beneficiaries contributed R10 each to become an active member who receives dividends after selling the pigs, and each household received a subsidised amount of R20 000 from the then Department of Land Affairs to plough into the project.

"The idea of starting this piggery came from the community after we had a series of meetings to discuss the most viable business opportunity that we can venture into," said project manager Malose Malinga.

"After discussions we realised that there were many poultry producers in our nearby communities and that it was a congested market, so we had to apply our minds and come up with a different business altogether."

The project was boosted by a donation of R999 000 from an enterprise development agency for infrastructure support and development, while the Department of Trade and Industry gave R300 000 that went towards the purchase of a truck.

An independent contractor constructed 10 pens to house the more than 200 pigs, an office and shower block as well as a feed shed.

"There are prospects of us supplying Pick n Pay stores. We also plan to expand to three sheds that each can accommodate 400 pigs. Then we'll be able to say we have achieved something.

"The project exists because we wanted to develop a successful black-owned piggery enterprise in Polokwane municipality to contribute to the economic growth of the country. This enterprise can be used as a model to pave the way for other black emerging farmers to enter the piggery industry," he added.