••• NEWS
Bora was born to do this !
The gift of farming raining on him
MEET BORA MONYATSI , AN ENERGETIC YOUNG UP-AND-COMING FARMER . MOST FARMERS START OUT BY LEARNING THE DAILY FARMING ACTIVITIES FROM A VERY YOUNG AGE . BUT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE WITH BORA .
FORCED INTO FARMING Bora was literally thrown into the farming fraternity when both his uncles , Pule Monyatsi and George Letlojane , died within a year of each other in 2013 and he had to step up to fill their shoes in 2014 . His father Wesley , who is a securities clerk at Senwes Credit in Klerksdorp , was the one who made the call to throw Bora in at the deep end .
THE START Learning how to swim was the only answer . In fact , while growing up Bora was actually terrified of cows . But he took on the challenge with one piece of advice from his father : “ You need to farm because of passion , not for money .” And
AUBREY KRUGER
Different worlds ! Bora ’ s farm is in the foreground with Sasolburg , Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging in the background .
with that advice his passion for farming grew .
He especially likes an old photograph of himself with a goat and his grandfather , Andrew Aphiri . This is something that he thinks about a lot lately and which gives him the idea that he was born to farm .
At the outset you must be able to accept that you will make mistakes . When they first planted he had already planted about two hectares of maize when one of the workers , Elias Dlamini , stopped him because he didn ’ t use a marker . So he had to replant and learned from his mistake .
Now , after two years on the farm , he has become a confident farmer who knows exactly what he wants . He now knows different cultivars , how to drive a tractor , how to plant , how to prepare the soil , etcetera .
UPBRINGING Bora , who was born in Mafikeng , speaks English fluently and is currently a vibrant 29-year old chap . He went to different schools in Klerksdorp , Stilfontein and Potchefstroom in the Northwest province and matriculated at Milner High School in 2005 . Interes tingly , Bora studied Civil Engineering and Information Technology before he changed to Marketing Management , for which he received a diploma from Unisa .
BEFORE FARMING After he finalised his studies he went around the block , from being an account administrator at Standard Bank and a salesman at Discovery , to name just a few positions before being thrust into farming .
ABOUT HIS FARM Bora farms on the farm Pula Ke Khumo – Trading One . Loosely translated it means ‘ Rain is wealth ’. Pula Ke Khumo is 1 365 hectares in size , 450 hectares of which are arable land .
The farm ’ s name rang true this season , even during the drought , as Bora says that the farm still received 600 mm over the past year , while they usually receive between 450 and 600 mm . But its not like that for every farmer in the Vereeniging region , where rain fell in
14 JUN / JUL 2016 • SENWES Scenario