Eat your vegetables!

The Reikemetse Co-operative ladies, with their bottled vegetable business in Thaba Nchu, Free State. (Ma Selina stands in the centre foreground.)

For someone who grew up not really liking their vegetables, I’m finding these pretty tasty. We’re standing in Ma Selina’s vegetable bottling business in Potsane, a small village on the outskirts of Thaba Nchu. The house is constructed of orange clay mud bricks and the bare ground around her homestead has neat brushstrokes in the dirt, an indication of a house-proud owner who has neatly swept every morning.

Thaba Nchu is about 65km east of Bloemfontein near the border of Lesotho. The Free State is famed for its flatness and there’s an old joke that says on Sunday you can see Wednesday coming over the horizon. Although seemingly featureless, there’s a spaciousness about this part of the world that is refreshing, with a dome of blue sky above you, and air that's clean and clear. It’s the sort of beauty that sneaks up on you unawares, there’s nothing remarkable about it (you think), until you leave and then discover that you miss the space.

Given the low population in this province and that the main hub of industry is Bloemfontein, the outlying towns in the area battle with a depressed economy and unemployment, and poverty and malnutrition become real issues in the smaller villages like Potsane. So Ma Selina’s Reikemetse Co-operative is contributing towards job creation and poverty alleviation. It’s these types of small energetic enterprises that are needed to develop a strong grassroots economy. Which is why in 2010, the Old Mutual Foundation invested R179000 into their co-operative (Reikemetse mean “We stand on our own” in Sesotho) and it’s given the business a kick-start for purchasing materials and constructing a small 3-roomed factory from which the ladies can operate.

It’s evident that the ladies are proud of their work. They’re all kitted out in neat, white uniforms and caps. A bowl of soapy water and towel have been set on a chair outside their kitchen and no-one comes in without washing their hands. Inside the kitchen, the ladies have started cooking up a storm for our visit. Everything smells really good, and they’re all chattering away like mynahs birds whilst peeling tomatoes for one pot and a pile of pears for the other pot. I can’t speak Sesotho and they can’t speak English, so strangely we seem to be able to communicate best in broken Afrikaans.

When I speak with Ma Selina she tells me there’re 10 ladies in the co-operative, they buy their foodstuffs in at wholesale price and make up to 50 bottles in a day. They have a range of products from bottled vegetables like tomato relish, beetroot, carrots and atchar to bottled pears (each bottle neatly labeled), which they sell at nearby Thaba Nchu.

As with all small businesses we’ve spoken to, they have similar challenges – needing to secure regular contracts to various retailers and battling with access to transport. With the profit from their sales, they can contribute towards their household income. Ma Selina says, “I've learnt a lot since we started in 2008. When we meet together as women, we can stand together as a united front. We can advise each one another and our families can survive. Then we are able to help other people in the community.”

"As women, we must stand together," says Ma Selina Mokgothu, Chairperson of the Reikemetse Co-operative.

I’m impressed at their positive attitude towards creating a business, albeit a small one (for now), it's about taking initiative and being prepared to work towards a better future.

Later as we’re outside filming, Tim has asked the ladies to walk down the path towards tim. They're a bit awkward and we have to repeat it a few times. However after a few takes, we finally give them the thumbs up and they start ululating with delight. Of course there’s even more giggling when Mark gets onto a chair and starts directing them for the shot, “werk vir my,” he says - I presume this is his Afrikaans equivalent of, “work it baby!” Either way there’s much delighted laughter and I can see that this is going to provide conversation around the cooking tables for months to come!

We pack up to leave and I make sure that there’re a few bottles of delicious products tucked into my bags. So for those faithful blog readers who’ve enjoyed every step of the way with us, drop a comment and we’ll make a plan to get some to you. First come, first served!

It’s time to head back to Bloemfontein for our flights. This time it really is the end of the road for our Old Mutual Foundation road trip, Tim’s heading back to Jo’burg and Mark and I are flying back to Cape Town. We bump down a dirt road, dodge a few sheep and there on the side of the road is a huge billboard that says, “Come back soon to BIG SKY country.”