Unlike her contemporaries who settled for glamorous cushy corner office jobs, daily clad in high heels and upmarket garments, Kgabo Mashishi settled for unfamiliar terrain in the economic arena. Mashishi a graduate from the University of Limpopo holds a BSC in Agricultural Plant Production (Honors Digree). She is one of the millions of young South Africans who are confronted by the harsh realities of the economy which is struggling to produce much needed employment. The ratio with which the current economy produces jobs is not congruent to the number of graduates seeking employment. Instead of leaking her wounds, twiddling her thumbs and lamenting the unfortunate reality of lack of jobs, Mashishi took a bold stand by putting her qualification to great use.
Armed with Agricultural Plant Production qualification she took unchartered route of food security as an economic activity for a living. Her journey of a thousand mile started with an apportunity to work as a contract extension officer with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development in the Limpopo province. She used her six months stay at the Department to great use as she acquired much needed experience and forged valuable mentorships which would later add value to her enterprise. So far it would appear that her journey had been without pitfalls and hitches. The reality, however, was the inclines in her journey had been steep but instead of being melancholic she persevered with both her eyeballs on her goal.
Having entered a six months contract with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, she always knew that her stay in the public service was temporary. Unlike many of her peers who immediately get into depression with the knowledge of idling at home at the completion of their contract, Mashishi boldly confronted her impending fate. She refused to let conditions dictate her fate and instead took her fate in her capable arms.
Through her networks which she forged during her six months contract, she managed to lease a piece of land [1 hectare] in Mokopane on which she planned to do vegetable production.
She then started planting crops and instead of smooth sailing the genesis of her farming life started on knotty terms. She lost crops under various circumstances with many of those circumstances being out of her control. At this stage quitting would have been an easy option. Going back to office job seemed a realistic option, however, her determination was greater than the difficulties she was confronted with. She persevered, toiled hard and refused to let impediments define her fate. She opted for the Chinese approach, which is to do trial and error instead of waiting to perfect something that may never start.
At this stage it was clear that nothing was going to impede this young lady from achieving her desired goal.
The question therefore is where does she get the strength to continue under these difficult circumstances given her tender age? There is an old English saying that says, “an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and similarly, “chip of the old block” these idioms describe precise resemblance of Mashishi to her parents. She is the daughter of the parents both of whom are educators with the father being the Principal of the school. Both parents are business oriented such that when it’s time to put the chalk down, they venture into the entrepreneur space. They hustle though catering, decorations, events management and the manufacturing of garments businesses. It therefore comes natural that the spirit of entrepreneurship which Mashishi possess was passed on to her by her parents. This therefore explains her attitude towards challenges which never deterred her from achieving her goal.
Kgabo Mashishi as she's affectionately known, describes her academic qualification as an important tool with which she managed to confront the many challenges which threatened to derail her. She further explains that the six months experience which she acquired at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development was invaluable as she had the courage to take the leap in planting the first seed.
At the end of her six months contract Kgabo was faced with the certainty of being unemployed joining throngs of young South Africans in this unfortunate reality. She, however, decided to change her fortunes by becoming an employer instead of joining the queue of those seeking employment. By working the land Kgabo entered the unchartered terrain and armed with only six months experience, her achievements can only be described in glory terms.
She currently boast a farm of cabbages soon to be harvested. The much awaited harvest will be sold to fresh produce market in Mokopane and Polokwane.
This is an inspiring story of a young lady who uses the land productively without government support and of course without lamenting. This is a classic example of a young person who deserves government support through the many developmental programmes that exist. She has proven beyond reasonable doubt that with some support she will not only provide much needed jobs to the many unemployed young people. She will be able to contribute to food security in the province and importantly in the rural settlements.
Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development programmes such as “Fetsa Tlala” and related programme can come in handy in support of people of Kgabo’s caliber. The current economic difficulties in the country need people such as this so that government’s efforts of growing the economy are supported by such initiatives.
Apart from venturing into food security, Kgabo also runs a successful small business called "Diyela tŝa Sepedi" specializing in manufacturing of Sepedi garments or dresses.
Her determination can be of critical benefit to government’s efforts of fighting youth unemployment in the country. She has perfected the fundamental Freedom Charter’s calling of the land shall belong to those who work it.
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