Page 64 - Forbes - Africa (March 2020)

FORBES AFRICA
ENTREPRENEURS • KATLEGO PITSE

SOIL TOIL

A car accident made this graphic designer
more grounded, and take to farming,

tending to vegetables on a piece of land
far from Johannesburg.

BY MOTLABANA MONNAKGOTLA

BOUT 250KMS FROM THE SANITIZED SUBURBS had been a burning
of Sandton in South Africa’s Gauteng province is Going forward, [I desire since his days as
Randfontein, a rugged gold mining city in the West an art student thumbing
ARand, where we meet 31-year-old Katlego Pitse on his realized] if I was to spend through agriculture
farm where he is currently producing rows of crisp green lettuce. money, it had to be on magazines.

A few years ago, the Soweto-born farmer was far from any piece “I was constantly
of earth, and closer to a computer desktop, earning a living as a valuable assets that are doing research. It was
graphic designer. going to yield returns something I knew I
The only definition he gave himself was as a ‘creative’. that can be passed on. wanted to do but I
“Straight after high school, I studied graphic design from 2008 wasn’t sure when I
until 2012. From there on, I pursued a career in commercial arts. was going to be able to
Advertising is the number one industry that absorbs creatives,” says pursue it fully because
Pitse of his ‘other job’. you need an actual career,” he says.
He worked for various companies in Johannesburg and his career “There was an article I read about a farmer based in Winterveld.
was well on to greener pastures as he enjoyed a hefty salary with I called to ask if I could visit to see his operation in 2015. Just that
annual increments and a lavish lifestyle, until an unfortunate incident farm visit was an inspiration to start my business.”
threw him out of gear. Pitse was involved in a road accident in 2015 Pitse saved up enough money to buy a vacant two-and-half
and the snazzy, pricey car he had been spending so much on, had to hectare plot in Randfontein for R200,000 ($13,400). It took him
be written off. The accident was a facilitator, as he was faced with three years to start production, during which time he pursued his
some life-defining choices, and the prospect of a new direction, one graphic design career on the side.
that made him more grounded. In 2019, the first year of production, Pitse focused on
“I had to start over. This was the kind of catalyst that gave me a bit cucumbers – his pet passion – and did cycles of long English
of a wakeup call; going forward, [I realized] if I was to spend money, cucumbers. Due to the high costs, Pitse had to re-evaluate and
it had to be on valuable assets that are going to yield returns that can decided to move to a less cumbersome crop, lettuce. Photo by Motlabana Monnakgotla
be passed on,” he says. Pitse is currently employing two family members and still

He left a full-time job to freelance at a night club; this is where does the odd graphic design job to supplement his income.
he was exposed to the day-to-day operations of a business. It helped Surely, a small-scale farmer with big graphic dreams of
him take to entrepreneurship, pursuing agriculture full-time; which the future.

60 | FORBES AFRICA MARCH 2020 FORBESAFRICA.COM