Recently 18 four-balls teed off at the Victoria Country Club in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, to raise money for the managed by SA. The fund strives to make supplementary contributions to improve the SA agricultural community’s safety, so that it can continue to produce food for the population. he golf day was only the third in a series of similar days to be held in each of SA’s nine provinces this year.
Both regular and novice golfers played the 18 holes and the general consensus was that the course was challenging and fun at the same time. Great prizes were sponsored for teams that did well – as well as for those that didn’t do quite as well. Internationally renowned winemaker, Beyers Truter, of Beyerskloof in Stellenbosch, provided every player with a 1,5â„“ bottle of his finest red wine. Truter also sponsored additional wine that was auctioned off to raise extra money.
Additional money for the Agri Securitas Trust Fund was raised through an auction during the prize-giving. The necessity of the Agri Securitas Trust Fund and the good work being done were brought home by Sandy la Marque, CEO of the KZN Agricultural Union (Kwanalu), when she reminded players that safety and security issues were taking a major toll on the province’s farming community. “There have already been 25 farm attacks in KZN this year,” she said. “Alarmingly, this figure is more than the total number of farm attacks in the province over the whole of 2007.” L a Marque said that money received from the Agri Securitas Trust Fund was essential in helping agriculture better protect itself from safety and security threats.
Farmers in the province were also reminded that Kwanalu’s dedicated security desk, managed by Koos Marais, existed because of the support of the trust fund. D espite the many challenges faced by agriculture in the province, La Marque concluded, “Kwanalu and its farmers will never quit. Agriculture in KZN is here to stay.” – Lloyd Phillips
