Black Umbrellas - Tshepang Mamabolo of Dikolobe Tja Byatladi Projects Pty Ltd Interview

At Dikolobe Tja Byatladi Projects we run a free range piggery in a small village called Ga-Maria in the Mpumalanga province. What we basically do is breed and sell pigs. The business was started by my father as a hobby to keep himself busy after hours. Growing up I used to go there and help him do the farm chores and that’s where my love for farming began. In the year 2016 I did my research and found that one can actually make good money out of pigs, that’s when I decided to go attend a pig production course at the ARC to get proper understanding on how to run a piggery. I first heard of Black Umbrellas at the NYDA in Witbank. I’m only in my second month of the full incubation program and through the workshops I have attended thus far, I have realized that I know more on how to run a piggery but not how to run a business. The piggery is currently productive with 30 sows and the next step or goal is to have at least 100 breeding sows by the end of 2021.