27 June 2023
A farmer who was part of the Mohair Empowerment Trust’s first successful project was the overall winner at the Pearston Flock Competition & Expo in May.
The Boer goats exhibited by Simphiwe Fani, who farms with his brother Linda at Doornrivier in Somerset East, carried him to victory.
The Mohair Empowerment Trust is a non-profit organisation that helps previously disadvantaged black farmers become financially independent by becoming productive members of the mohair industry.
In 2014, it gave the Fanis an interest-free five-year loan worth R1 million, which they used to buy 1 000 Angora goats. Their profits allowed the brothers to repay the money within three years.
Other trust partners who showed their goats at Walsingham Farm in Pearston were Mzwakhe Ndlela, Lloyd James, Simon Miners and Ayanda Mehlo.
‘It is exciting to see our farmers putting effort into the preparation of their goats for the flock competitions that are being held in various districts,’ the trust says in its latest newsletter.
‘We appreciate and value the support that we receive from the different brokers and their field officers. Thank you for encouraging and assisting our farmers to select and prepare goats to compete with the commercial farmers. The competition was tough, very informative and good feedback was received from the judges.’
