By Dinake Nongo Motona, Vice President of the Industrial Dacha Development Chamber and Research Director for SACHIDA
Today I stand before you not only as a community member, not only as a farmer – but as a student.
Because before Mr Mogajane was a leader in agriculture, before he was a pillar in the Africa Farmers Association of South Africa, he was a teacher.
And I knew him first as Sir.
He stood in front of a classroom, shaping minds with patience and authority. He did not simply teach subjects – he taught discipline. He taught responsibility. He taught us how to think beyond our circumstances. He believed that education was not about passing exams, but about awakening purpose.
In that classroom, he was already planting seeds.
What many did not yet see was that the same man who planted knowledge in young minds would later plant transformation in the soil of our nation.
When he stepped into leadership within AFASA, he did not abandon teaching – he expanded the classroom. The classroom became the fields. The students became farmers. The lessons became about land, dignity, ownership, and economic freedom.
He understood something powerful:
That the liberation of our people is tied to the land.
That the future of Africa rests in the hands of those who cultivate it.
And in one of the greatest honours of my life, this teacher who once instructed me in school later called me into service again – this time to lead within AFASA, to pioneer the cannabis and hemp portfolio.
He recruited me not just into an organisation, but into a mission.
He saw in hemp and cannabis not controversy, but opportunity.
He saw rural farmers not as beneficiaries, but as leaders.
He saw that new crops could restore dignity, create industry, and return power to the soil and to the people.
That is what teachers do.
They see what others overlook.
They call out greatness before it becomes visible.
Even in agriculture, he remained a teacher. He guided farmers the way he guided students – firmly, wisely, patiently. He believed in structured growth. He believed in unity. He believed that African farmers must organise, must educate themselves, must own the value chain.
Ancestrally, there is something sacred about a man who moves from teaching children to organising farmers.
It means he understood continuity.
Children grow into land custodians.
Students grow into producers.
Knowledge becomes harvest.
Today, as we release him to the ancestors, we must recognise that his journey was not accidental. He was aligned with purpose. From chalkboard to plough. From classroom to congress. From educator to agricultural leader.
To his family – you shared him with us. And because of that, entire communities are stronger.
To the farmers – you lost a leader, but you inherited a responsibility.
To me – I lost a teacher twice. First when I left his classroom. And now as we lay him to rest. But his lessons remain alive in my leadership, in the cannabis and hemp work he entrusted me with, and in every farmer we empower.
A true teacher never stops teaching.
A true leader never stops building.
A true farmer never stops planting.
Mr Mogajane has been planted once more — this time in the realm of the ancestors.
And as we continue the work of AFASA, as we build sustainable agriculture, as we open new frontiers like hemp and cannabis for our farmers, we do so carrying his voice, his discipline, his belief.
Sir…
You taught us in the classroom.
You led us in the fields.
Now rest among the elders.
Your students are working.
Your farmers are rising.
Your seeds are growing.
May your spirit travel in dignity.
May your name be spoken with honour.
May your legacy multiply.
Burial Details
Mr Mogajane will be laid to rest today, Saturday, 28 February 2026 in Dinokana, North West Province.
Also read: AFASA announces the passing of a board member
