'Agricultural sector must lead transformation agenda'

Even grass in black areas is not green

- By Denvor de Wee

South Africa must put “soul” into agricultural development and focus as much on building people as on securing land, the CEO of Kagiso Trust has said.

Mankodi Moitse was speaking at the 2025 Agricultural Transformation lekgotla, hosted by Food For Mzansi in Pretoria this week, where she opened with a stark reflection on inequality.

“Our country really has these First World and Third World features that are troubling,” she said, referencing aerial images of Mitchells Plain (Cape Town) and Avalon cemeteries (in Soweto). Even the graveyards do not have grass [on our side]. Can we put the soul in what we do, for the sake of what we are seeing in these pictures?”

She said the Kagiso Trust's 40-year-old mission was to ensure that children from poor communities can “write their own narrative” and transition away from poverty.

“These kids hold so much hope for their families. A rural child must have the comfort that somebody will find me - no matter how inconvenient,” Moitse said.