Since buying their farm near Gravelotte, outside Tzaneen, in Limpopo, Dr Sareta Schutte and her husband, Frans, have turned Kilima Horned Heritage into a diversified business spanning wildlife, tourism and livestock breeding.
The operation began with buffalo on a basic, undeveloped property. Today, Kilima includes an Ankole stud, Cape lob ear goats, and a private game reserve.
Schutte says Kilima developed organically, with each new enterprise growing from the opportunities that came before it.
She is recognised for her work with Ankole cattle and serves on the executive committees of both the Ankole Society of South Africa and Wildlife Ranching South Africa (WRSA). She also chairs the WRSA Foundation. Yet when she first entered the industry, she admits, she knew little about cattle breeding.
With a background in business, Schutte spent years working in multinational companies before becoming more deeply involved in agriculture. Today, she divides her time between her business responsibilities and Kilima, where she oversees livestock, wildlife and tourism interests. Although she has always expected to farm one day, she initially imagined a more conventional commercial operation, similar to the one her father ran.
“I spent a lot of time in boardrooms, but I also loved spending time in the Kruger National Park and in the bush,” she recalls.
After buying the property in 2006, Schutte and her husband initially focused on buffalo. The lodge followed, along with additional game species and, later, livestock.
Schutte first encountered Ankole cattle at an auction, where a bull immediately caught her attention. Although she knew little about the breed at the time, she decided to invest.
“I think the short answer is ignorance,” she says with a laugh. “I did not know enough to understand what I was getting myself into.”
She credits Dr Morné de la Rey of Embryo Plus and Ankole breeder Jacques Malan with helping her through the early years. They provided guidance on breeding and genetics, while experience on the farm gradually built her confidence.
There was more to learn than livestock breeding. As Kilima grew, Schutte found herself managing wildlife, hospitality and conservation alongside the breeding programme. She says the variety is one of the reasons she enjoys farming.
Women in livestock leadership
For Schutte, building a career in livestock also meant learning how to navigate a space where women were still in the minority.
“There were incredible people who supported me from the word go,” she says. “And I also know there were others who wanted me to leave through the same door I had come in. I chose to stay.”
Schutte focused on learning about the industry and building relationships with breeders willing to share their knowledge. As her confidence grew, she became more involved in organised agriculture, later serving on industry committees and taking on leadership roles across the sector.
Schutte believes livestock farming still needs more women in visible leadership roles. In her own work, she has found that empathy and intuition can be powerful tools when working with animals. These traits help farmers notice subtle changes in an animal’s behaviour or condition before those signs become obvious.
“I would be worried if you were not emotional about your animals. If you care about them, you read between the lines,” she says.
That same outlook shapes how she approaches fellow breeders. Schutte says she enjoys seeing others succeed and believes the industry is stronger when farmers share knowledge and support one another.
She hopes her own experience encourages others not to be intimidated by industries or opportunities that may seem out of reach. “If it doesn’t scare the living daylights out of me, I don’t engage with it,” she says.
For Schutte, a willingness to embrace uncertainty has shaped many of Kilima’s biggest decisions, from investing in Ankole cattle to expanding the farm’s enterprises. She believes waiting for the perfect opportunity often means missing it altogether.
Kilima’s legacy
Schutte’s main goal is to build an enterprise that can be passed on to her children and grandchildren.
For her, legacy is not a destination, but a continuing responsibility.
“A legacy is really the journey. It never has an end to it,” she says. “We have written out our legacy for fifty generations. That means this has to stand here for another 450 years. If you start making decisions based on that, you make different decisions.”
Twenty years after taking on Kilima, Schutte is still making decisions with the future in mind. Her focus is no longer only on what the farm can become in her lifetime, but on what it can mean for the generations that follow.
