Thabo Dithakgwe South Africa’s youngest farmer.
Nasi Thabo Herman Dithakgwe(19) is currently the youngest recognized farmer in South Africa’s North West province. He is a very passionate and proud young farmer, who loves farming with all his heart. His heart is pinned on farming and growing his grandfather’s legacy.
Nasi started farming at a very young age having grown up in a family of farmers. However, he was only recognized as a fully-fledged farmer at the age of 15. He is a progeny of Headman Dithakgwe and a grandson of Nasi (Snr) Dithakgwe . At 3 years of Age, Mr Dithakgwe used to help his grandfather milk the cows. At that time his grandfather Nasi Dithakgwe owned a communal farm.
“That is where love and passion grew. I learned everything from there, even riding a donkey” He told Sowetan LIVE.
Mr Dithakgwe runs his 970-hectare Constable Farm -home to cattle, goats, and sheep and breeds Bonsmara and Simbra type cattle and crosses. He sells the domestic animals to people in the old mining town of Pomfret in the Kagisano-Molopo District,100km from Morokweng. He also breeds Boerbok type of goats and Dorper and Van Roy crosses sheep. He is arguably South Africa’s youngest farmer.
After the demise of his grandfather in 2003, Headman Dithakgwe and his uncles took over and operated the farming business. He says they continued teaching about farming business while he was at school.
“Farming is my life. I spent most of my school holidays and weekends here on the farm,” he said. Mr Dithakgwe was given a pregnant heifer in 2014 by his father. “It gave birth to a young bull. I raised it from my own pocket and after 18 months, I sold it to a local farmer in Morokweng.”
Mr Dithakgwe family won a land claim under Barolon Boo Maiketso Communal Property Association from the government in 2015. The family then became the proud owners of Constable Farm.
“I am currently investing only on South African breeds as it makes it easier for me to sell at a reasonable price to my customers,” he says.
His life is built around the farm “I wake up and ride a horse, checking the soil, water and basic maintenance of the animals. There is always something to do, work does not end. It’s a way of life, I am doing something I love.”
In 2020, Nasi will fully venture into full-time farming and he will be pursuing studies in Agricultural Sciences at the University of South Africa.
Mr Dithakgwe also encourages young people who are interested in farming to love what they do. “ It’s not about money. Money is like a horse, if you run after it, it will run away,” he added.
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