Kagiso TV and Communications was commissioned by Liberty, to conduct a Financial Literacy Campaign in various communities across the country.  Lima was invited to encourage participants from its programmes, to take part in the campaign which aimed at encouraging responsible money management.

With funding from Northam, a garden fence and reliable water supply has been built for Mrs Mamzani Dotye in Bizana in the Eastern Cape. Mrs Doyte is a courageous woman who is currently supporting her husband (who is disabled and in a wheelchair) as well as three children. Northam funded the fencing and provided a tank to be set up with linked guttering to ensure effective rain water harvesting.

A large jungle gym has been constructed at Nkosiyabantwana crèche (KwaNjoko village) in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal, by CWP participants with the supervision of engineering foreman Mr. Blose. The Department of Co-operative Governance sponsors CWP, which enables Teba Development and Lima to provide all the tools and facilitation services.

In Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal, 1000 jobs are provided to the locals through the Community Work Programme (CWP). Over the last few months, there has been a need to repair the damage caused by soil erosion. The CWP team has worked hard to ensure the donga reclamation process has been successful.

Thembisa Mpengesi heard about CWP and started working for the programme in 2009, which encouraged her to build a new garden and grow it with the skills she had learnt through the programme. With the help of CWP, her garden was then fenced and she was headed towards success.

A farm in Mthatha that boasts two hectares of cabbages and potatoes belongs to a hardworking couple who have managed to sell produce which meet the standards of those similar to commercial producers. 

Abalimi Phambili has a food security element to the programme where Lima facilitators demonstrate the correct planting and farming techniques through a series of trainings within the project funded by Anglo Platinum.

Mr Nothwanga Notoyi is one of 400 farmers receiving support through a R 9 million micro enterprise support grant funded by Anglo Platinum. With funding, a fence has been built around Mr Notoyi’s homestead garden. He and his wife currently work as security guards for different companies in town but have still found the time to start their own micro enterprise.

A Farmers Day was held in Bizana during November, for sweet potato and banana producers who form part of the Abalimi Phambili Programme (APP) in the Eastern Cape. The Day was highly successful, with attendance from many farmers, municipality, SAPS, Institute of National Resources as well as the Department of Agriculture

The Government of KwaZulu-Natal has appealed for action that will strengthen solidarity in the provincial efforts to combat hunger, malnutrition and poverty. This was the underlying theme that Mrs Lydia Johnson, former MEC of the Department of Agriculture (DOA) put forward at the World Food Day event held in Vulamehlo municipality in the South Coast.

The Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements and the Development Bank of South Africa have ensured that fifty beneficiaries in Elliotdale, Eastern Cape, will enjoy living with their families in the comfort and warmth of their new homes during the festive season.

Gogo Karlina is a 91 year old woman staying in   Belfast, who did not have a home, no one to take care of her and had been partially blind since 2004. In response, the CWP team sought donations from various community members, bought building materials and built Gogo Karlina a one room home where they visit her daily, bath her and make sure she has at least one meal per day.

Tryphina Makhubele, is the founder of Tshembhosi Shelter in Lilydale, where she and other teachers cater to ninety-five children who are enrolled; mainly those with Cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and Hydrocephalus as well as children who are physically disabled, hearing impaired and mentally underdeveloped.

A Small Scale Cane Grower Sustainability Programme has been cultivated in the local municipality of Nkomazi, Eastern Mpumalanga, over the last two years to accommodate the needs of small scale farmers to bring in larger yields of sugar cane. A total of 1200 small scale farmers are involved in sugar farming on over 10 000 hectares of irrigated sugar on 36 individual projects, supplying the Komati and Malelane sugar mills. Yields from these growers were declining over time and they requested assistance from Tsb Sugar in dealing with issues of long-term sustainability.

Joy Tshingana, a facilitator for the Empowerment of Food Security Programme (EFSP) at Lima, attended the 2011 International Youth Culture and Study Tour in Taiwan which is located in the Republic of China. Delegates from Europe, Africa and Latin America were invited to share their diverse cultural experiences as well as the protection procedures each country undergoes to ensure the preservation of their environment for future generations.

 

An International Rural Youth Summit took place recently at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where various researchers, non-profit organisations, and young scholars were invited to discuss how the role of the youth may help fight against climate change. This theme was aimed at making various tools or systems available to young people, in order for them to orientate programmes in their own communities that can simultaneously combat climate change.

Bernard Dumeko will no longer have to endure living in his decrepit mud hut and will soon move into a home built by the Lima and Teba Development construction team for the Elliotdale Housing Project.

The MEC for Agriculture, Mrs Lydia Johnson, has voiced her concerns about the changing patterns of food intake in various rural areas and urban areas.  It has been noted that many people are relying on manufactured products or fast food outlets because of the lack of availability of electricity and refrigeration. These products are high in calories and may be contributing towards the increase in diseases and infections, or slowing the process of recovery for people who are already sick.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development together with farmers from Umkhanyakude District held a function to promote traditional food in Mtubatuba. The main objective was to promote Traditional Food Knowledge (TFK) by hosting a day where feasts of indigenous African dishes were prepared.

The Agricultural Development Agency (ADA) together with the Citrus Growers Association appointed Lima to do a social, legal and institutional assessment of ten land reform citrus projects in KwaZulu-Natal.

 

Over the last four years, the Community Work Programme (CWP) has provided work opportunities in many parts of the country; and due to the limited work opportunities in Nkomazi, the community of Nkomazi and its local officials welcomed the launch of this programme in their district. The CWP will inject substantial resources into the local economy and simultaneously keep families together by providing work in their home district.

Every year, Mandela Day invites people to give 67 minutes of their time on the 18th July, to honour the fact that Nelson Mandela spent 67 years fighting for the rights of humanity and battling social injustice. Lima Rural Development Foundation and Teba Development celebrated these festivities across the country.

Norman Hlubi, head of the Gugwini Trust in KwaZulu-Natal, is pleased that the goat handling facility built on the Gugwini farm in Colenso has been completed. Agribusiness Development Agency (ADA) sponsored the project while construction was undertaken by Lima under the supervision of MBB Consulting Engineers.

Nestlé has recently invested in and built a Chicory Processing Plant in Weenen. The Agricultural Development Agency (ADA) appointed Lima to undertake a socio-economic, institutional and infrastructural assessment of land reform farms and farmers, within a 50km radius of Weenen.

The Abalimi Phambili Programme (APP) began in 2002 and is a partnership between Teba Development and Lima with funding from Gold Fields. Gold Fields go beyond just being a leader in gold mining, by making meaningful investments into mine worker sending areas. They provide small scale farmers with technical and financial support, to grow their businesses into viable enterprises.

The Community Work Programme (CWP) team met with Oonagh O’Brian, an international academic from Edinburgh, to help her understand the social pressures that exist at the different CWP sites which influence those people living with HIV.

The South African Department of Health have appointed five participants, who have been working under the Community Work Programme (CWP) in Pietermaritzburg for the last year.

The Department of Co-operative Governance has provided participants of the Community Work Programme (CWP) with accredited health care training. The South African Red Cross Society has been selected to equip the participants with basic medical skills for home based care purposes.

The Teba and Lima construction team for Elliotdale Housing are pleased to announce that they have recently completed the first housing unit, which will be handed over to the first beneficiary, Mrs Nogaweni Mdinwa. This forms part of the overall project to complete 1000 units over a two year period.

For twenty-two years, Zimisele Mejini earned his wages by building houses and working as a bricklayer for various contractors. However, his life was transformed when he was enrolled in a builders training course for the Elliotdale Housing Project.

Lima is in the process of investigating further opportunities for the development of community or private partnerships (CPPs) in support of rural development in South Africa.

Over the years, Lima and Teba Development have extended the number of projects implemented each year, which has seen the improvement in the lives of thousands of beneficiaries. However, these achievements would not be possible without the help of our dedicated employees nurturing the projects with their time and effort.

Ministers of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) in the Eastern Cape walked the streets of Flagstaff picking up litter to mark the opening of the Clean Cities and Towns Campaign, held on the 11th May 2011 at the Flagstaff Sports Grounds.
Thembeka Pama, the campaign coordinator, said CoGTA introduced this campaign to turn waste into wealth, by keeping spaces in South Africa clean through sustainable job creation.

On the 4th May 2011, a group of small cane growers in Swayimane, an area near Wartburg, each received their first payment for harvesting and selling their sugar cane to the nearby Noordsberg mill.