Location: Moletsane, Soweto Johannesburg
Introduction
This case study is about four young people whose lives took a positive turn when their community garden was selected to be one of gardening hubs to participate in the Industrial Development Corporation‘s (IDC) Social Employment Fund (SEF) programme. After years of going through life changing events with little hope for their future, they were introduced to the programme through the Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP).
Federation of the Urban Rural Poor
The Federation of the Urban Rural Poor (FEDUP) is one of the two social movements supported by two supporting NGOs – Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) and the uTshani Fund.
Community Organisation Resource Centre
After Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) signed a contract with the SEF to implement two project components, (the Urban Farming Hubs and Informal Settlements Profile Data) a number of individuals from different FEDUP saving groups and/or already had community gardens were identified throughout Gauteng, the Western Cape, Free State, North West, and KwaZulu-Natal to participate in the SEF programme. The programme gave them the opportunity to take their community gardens to the next level by using the growbag planting technology that waters crops, using a wicking method that saves water consumption by up to 10%. After the hub received training in growbag technology and other skills like time management, communication, and administration; these four individuals grabbed this opportunity to learn more about vegetable gardening as a means to improve their lives.
The SEF participants
Rethabile Mohapi is a 28 year old young single mother who was studying Civil Engineering at Molapo Tech TVET College but dropped out due to financial issues at home. She tried looking for jobs to further her studies but the struggled to find one. After much searching for job opportunities she lost hope on her future and studies, and decided to use her time to be with her son and mother. Since her mother is a member of FEDUP, she introduced the savings tool to her to try and save whatever amount of money should manage, even if it was just R2. She became eager to know more about FEDUP since she thought saving required a lot of money but when her mother explained the concept of savings through FEDUP it made sense for her situation. Then she became a FEDUP member and as time passed she learned that through FEDUP, savings is more than just saving money every week or month it is also about saving lives, and checking in on people and the saving group finding possible solutions and sharing information to help those who need it the most. In one of the savings meetings one of the leaders introduced the opportunity for a group of participants who already had gardens, were passionate about starting a vegetable garden. Each hub requires at least 40 participants with a minimum of one hectare to be able to accommodate 800 growbags using a wicking technique to transfer water to the growbags with crops. After registering for the programme, they were capacitated with time management through the biometric system, administration, leadership, communication, technical and gardening skills through the growbag technology.
They earned a monthly stipend for participating in the gardening project. With her first stipend Rethabile bought clothes for her child, and managed to pay her child’s school fees which made her feel like she was someone important not just to her family but to her son as well. After month two, she started saving aggressively to be able to continue with her studies as a Civil Engineer at Molapo Tech TVET College. She managed to finish her N1 and N2 and is currently doing her N3 – and is confident she will continue to save as long as she is still part of SEF programme! She hopes to finish her N6 one day and become a professional Civil Engineer, and start small businesses that will provide job opportunities for unemployed youth just as the SEF did for her.
Busang Radithepa Monyake is a 27 year old young student who saved his stipend to pay off an outstanding student loan, and continued to save about R300 for six months that he used to start a tie dye clothing business. With the remainder of his stipend and the profits from his tie dye business, he supports himself and his family while the remainder goes to paying his school fees for his N1 – N3 courses at South West Gauteng TVET College – George Tabor Campus. His goal is to capacitate others and transfer his tie dye skills to unemployed youngsters eager to learn about the tie dye business.
Musa Tsizwane is 27 years and studying Mechanical Engineering at South West Gauteng TVET College – George Tabor Campus. After his first stipend from SEF he started saving for registration and after saving for three months he registered for the N1 – N3 programme in Mechanical Engineering. His main goal is to finish his N3 programme and further his studies as well as register as a mechanical engineer.
Letlotlo Falatsa is 26 years old and had a student loan that frustrated him as he had no idea how he was going to pay it off. Through the SEF programme he managed to learn gardening skills and use the monthly stipend to pay off the amount he owed his college and now he is currently doing his final year in Civil Engineering at George Turbo TVT College. He is grateful to the SEF for giving him an opportunity to learn about vegetable gardening, and for the monthly stipend that helped him to continue with his studies. Through the programme he developed skills he believes have prepared him for future opportunities. Now he gets to live his life without the stress of student debt.
