Author - Casidra

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BEST EMERGING SEED PRODUCER ACHIEVEMENT

Waaikraal shone brighter than the sun when the farm won the coveted award of ‘Best Emerging Seed Producer for 2014’ during the Klein Karoo Seed Production’s (KKSP) Gala ceremony held at the Queen’s Hotel in Oudtshoorn. This prestigious event was attended by most seed producers for KKSP, with Waaikraal’s farm manager, Jolian du Preez, amongst them. Du Preez received the award on behalf of Casidra who manages the farm on behalf of government. According to Casidra’s CEO, Michael Brinkhuis, this...

2015-01-27By CEEDEERead more...
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CASIDRA’S 25 YEARS COMMEMORATION

Casidra hosted a prestigious event to celebrate its 25 years of existence during its year-end function on 28 November 2014 at Elsenburg College. The theme was ‘Casidra celebrating 25 Years of Excellence’. This event was well attended by high profile dignitaries and clients, role-players in rural development and the broader agricultural and economic development sectors as well as Casidra’s staff. Dignitaries who celebrated Casidra’s milestone included the Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde; the Chairperson of the...

2015-01-27By GENERALRead more...
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World Food Day commemorated in Suurbraak

The Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Swellendam Municipality, Casidra and various other stakeholders commemorated World Food Day on 16 October 2014 in the small village of Suurbraak where poverty is rife. World Food Day is an international day of action against hunger celebrated during the month of October. It has since then been observed by millions of people around the world who come together to declare their commitment to eradicate hunger in our lifetime. When it comes to hunger,...

2015-01-27By CEEDEERead more...
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Western Cape Farm Worker of the Year 2014

The Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) crowned its top Farm Worker of the Year for 2014 during their prestigious event held in Stellenbosch on 7 November 2014. This annual competition for Western Cape farm workers is hosted by the Department in conjunction with Shoprite. The event was attended by high profile dignitaries and approximately 700 farm workers and farmers across the Province. Michael Brinkhuis, Casidra’s CEO, was amongst the guests who attended the event. Prior to the final...

2015-01-27By CEEDEERead more...
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CASIDRA MOURNS THE DEATH OF ONE OF ITS STAFF MEMBER

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My Word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life” – John 54-26. Casidra is still in mourning after the death of Natalie Hoffmeester, who was a bookkeeper at our Regional Office in George. Natalie passed away after a long illness and will always be remembered for her dedication and hard work. Her valuable contribution for the...

2014-09-30By CEEDEERead more...
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Land Reform Programme for the Western Cape

The UTA conducted an evaluation of the Land Reform programme in the Western Cape. The report is summarized below: The Unit for Technical Assistance was requested to conduct an evaluation of the Land Reform Programme in the Western Cape Province. The purpose of the evaluation was to determine the rate of success on a sample taken from 246 agricultural land reform projects supported by the Department of Agriculture from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2013 through the Comprehensive Agricultural...

2014-09-29By CEEDEERead more...

Projects completed by the UTA in the 2nd quarter

Matzikama phase 2 – Feasibility Study Greenville Farm Estate – Water source determination Bonne Accord – Business plan development Dag & Nag – Water Source Development LS pig farming – Generic Lease Agreement African Roots – Pre-Feasibility Study Human Capital – Strategy Development Seasons’ Find – Environmental Impact Assessment Diagnostic & Design Evaluation of Service Needs of Different Farmer Categories Doebucks (Pty) Ltd – Viability Study.

2014-09-29By THE UTARead more...
UTAs success story

UTA‘S SUCCESS STORY

UTA received the request on the 02 February 2013 to conduct borehole test to check the quality and capacity of the borehole for Alona Fresh Produce. Brain and Eleanor Swart are the only beneficiaries of this project. During the time when this request was put forth, the farmers were farming tomatoes in a tunnel that covered 3000m² and were envisaging to add an additional multispan greenhouse and olives in the product mix. The UTA conducted the borehole assessment through Pumpcor....

2014-09-29By CEEDEE, UncategorisedRead more...
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GENERIC ABATTOIR MODEL – UPDATE

In our last quarterly newsletter, we discussed the viability of a low throughput abattoir that has the capacity to slaughter 6 units. This quarter, we discuss the viability of an abattoir with the capacity to slaughter 10 units per day. 10 Unit is equivalent to 10 cattle, 60 sheep/goats or 120 porkers. As mentioned in our previous quarter’s newsletter, the risks that are associated with the illegal/informal slaughtering of livestock are endless and dangerous to consumers and the environment, as...

2014-09-29By CEEDEERead more...
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AMALIENSTEIN RECEIVES AWARD / AMALIENSTEIN ONTVANG TOEKENNING

AMALIENSTEIN RECEIVES AWARD Casidra is proud to announce that Amalienstein’s Community Development facilitator, Liticha Fortuin, received recognition as runner-up in the Best Female Worker category during this year’s Female Entrepreneur of the Year award ceremony on the 15th August 2014 at Nelson’s Creek Estate. Fortuin received her award from Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities. Casidra congratulated Fortuin on this outstanding achievement! AMALIENSTEIN ONTVANG TOEKENNING Casidra is trots om aan te kondig dat Amalienstein se Gemeenskap Ontwikkeling fasiliteerder,...

2014-09-26By CEEDEERead more...
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Casidra makes school children’s dreams come true

Henry David Thoreau, born in 1817, an author, poet and political activist, said, "books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations". Casidra donated computers and furniture to the Crystal High School in Hanover Park a year ago. The school saw the need for valuable assets and set up a modern technological library for their learners. They invited various stakeholders to assist in developing the library and some former school’s learners assisted....

2014-09-26By CEEDEERead more...
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Greenhouse Farming and Hydroponics: The solution to farming in a country with limited water resources?

South Africa is a country with limited water resources and where access to land is an issue. With these limitations in mind, a task team from Casidra recently undertook a viability study on Greenhouse Farming (with Hydroponics as the backbone of this farming method) to see if this farming method can overcome these limitations cost effectively. Greenhouse Farming entails farming under a cover, while Hydroponics is the philosophy to irrigate plants (normally by means of drippers) with nutrient enriched...

2014-09-26By CEEDEERead more...
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St Boniface Primary School receives funding for food garden

The St Boniface Primary School in Molsvlei, with almost 600 learners, received support to develop a food garden. Molsveli is one of the areas that faces serious water challenges and depends on rain water to irrigate crops. Ten rainwater tanks and irrigation equipment were procured for the school by Casidra with the CASP funding received from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and two 3.5m x 15m Eco-tunnels were erected for the beneficiaries on site. The school currently has a...

2014-09-26By CEEDEERead more...
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Worcester Trout Project Demonstrates Growth Potential

Worcester Trout is a smallholder black farmer project in Worcester, which has been in operation for more than five years. It is currently being implemented by Casidra and is expected to be completed by the end of September 2014. Frederick Pienaar, the project beneficiary, has created one permanent job. The project was funded by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture through its Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme. Casidra, as an implementing agency, managed to procure all the necessary deliverables for the...

2014-09-26By CEEDEERead more...

Ashton Small-Scale Farmers Trust

Ashton Small-Scale Farmers’ Trust is a livestock farming project that has goats, sheep and chickens and is situated in the Bonnievale area in the Cape Winelands. This successful project, with its high growth potential, plans to expand its livestock to cattle. During its inception, project had 147 beneficiaries, 80 are currently active. The WCDoA and Casidra contributed positively towards this project by assisting with the testing of five boreholes to determine the ground water quality and capacity, and the replacement...

2014-09-26By CEEDEERead more...
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Seasons Find Chicken Abattoir

Seasons Find is a chicken abattoir project situated 2 km outside Hopefield in the West Coast region and is owned by two beneficiaries, Tyrone Poole and his wife. The project started way back in 2004 when it operated as a chicken abattoir for broilers. There has been excellent growth at this project since its inception, particularly in terms of job creation. Approximately 30 seasonal workers and 12 permanent workers were appointed at the project. The Western Cape Department...

2014-09-26By CEEDEERead more...
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Casidra – Gold Award Winner in Public Sector

Casidra walked away with a gold award during the Western Cape Regional Productivity awards’ ceremony held at the Table Bay Hotel, in the Waterfront on the 9th September 2014. The company won the Public Sector Category, in which competed with four other institutions. The awards were adjudged from four categories, namely, the Public Sector Category, Emerging Sector Category, Corporate Sector Category and Co–operative Category. The assessment criterion for these awards include productivity approach, results and impact, overcoming challenges and...

2014-09-26By CEEDEERead more...
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CASIDRA ACHIEVES ITS 25TH CLEAN AUDIT IN A ROW SINCE INCEPTION

Casidra continues to maintain its clean audit status after earning its 25th unqualified financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2014. This was confirmed by the External Auditors during Casidra’s Annual General Meeting before Adv. Gary Oliver, Chairperson, handed over the 2013/14 Annual Report to the Executive Authority, Minister Alan Winde. This is another excellent achievement for Casidra as a State-Owned Company, its Board, Management, staff and all external stakeholders. In his opening statement, Adv. Oliver said that...

2014-09-26By CEEDEERead more...
Front-Page

From the CEO’s desk

For Casidra, 2014 has been themed as the year of “Consolidation of Changes” after 2013 saw many internal organisational changes being initiated. Huge emphasis was placed on gearing the organisation through internal processes and organisational restructuring as well as aligning itself to effectively react to client needs. To this effect, a lot was done in the area of technological systems and staff realignment/re-assignment. A number of achievements have been reached and a few initiatives are progressing well and nearing...

2014-09-26By CEEDEERead more...
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UTA‘S SUCCESS STORY TABLE GRAPES CPAC

On the 14th of December 2012, the UTA received a request from the Table Grapes CPAC to conduct a soil classification and draw up a soil map for the Lushof Boerdery and WCB Farm. Although these farms are situated on the same premises, the management is different. Lushof Boerdery is a worker’s Trust and Mr. Warren Bam is part of it. He also have his own portion that measures 13.5 ha, that he is leasing from a neighboring farm,...

2014-06-30By THE UTARead more...

Projects completed by the UTA in the 2nd quarter of 2014

Matzikama Packaging and Cooling facility - Feasibility study De Heuwel – Economic Viability Ebenhaezer Irrigation project - Specialist input to planning models Business Registration and guideline – Generic guideline document City of Cape Town Food System – Investigation and evaluation on food security Elim Renaissance - Peer review Stellenbosch Commonage – Environmental authorisation Multi-purpose packaging facility Dysselsdorp – Concept plans Land Reform Evaluation – Western Cape evaluation of land reform projects Boschendal Treasury Trust – Business Plan.  

2014-06-30By THE UTARead more...
Casidra 25 years

CASIDRA CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE

The 1st of June is a very important date in the history of Casidra, as it will always be remembered as the first day when the company opened its doors in Paarl. This was way back in 1989 when the company was still known as LANOK. On the 2nd of June, Head Office staff gathered to celebrate its 25th anniversary. In his opening remarks, the CEO, Michael Brinkhuis, acknowledged the long-serving employees (Johan, Kobus, Freek and many others) for coming...

2014-06-19By GENERALRead more...
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DORING BAY ABALONE

Doring Bay Abalone is an abalone farming project situated in Doring Bay in the West Coast region. It is an equity project that belongs to the emerging farmers/ beneficiaries who are the community representatives and own 60% shares. According to the commercial farm owner, Wayne Cooke, who has 40% shares in the project, he is happy to report that this project is maturing into a great abalone farm. He said “We have now been through one summer and one...

2014-06-19By CEEDEERead more...
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BERGENDAL WORKERS’ TRUST

Bergendal Workers’ Trust was established in 2006 as an equity project and has 32% shares in the Manenberg (Pty) Ltd farming business. This Workers’ Trust developed 12hectares of vineyard (wine grapes) on Oukraalvlei in the Piketberg region. A total number of 91 beneficiaries are supported from this project. One of the Manenberg Trustees, Potgieter van Zyl, acts as a mentor for this Workers’ Trust and is actively involved in farming with the workers on a daily basis. The Bergendal Workers’...

2014-06-19By CEEDEERead more...
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CASIDRA DELIVERS RAINWATER HARVEST TANKS TO THE NEEDY

The Department of Water Affairs (DWA) appointed Casidra to implement the rainwater tanks for food production in the West Coast and Overberg regions. The Department of Water Affairs is the custodian of South Africa's water and forestry resources. Its aim is to ensure the availability and supply of water on a national level, ensure equitable and efficient provision of water services at local level and promote sustainable forest management. Meanwhile striving to ensure that all South Africans gain access...

2014-06-19By CEEDEERead more...
Provincial

PROVINCIAL GROWTH FUND

The Provincial Growth Fund continues to support a wide variety of business. The aim of the Fund is to support an enabling environment for businesses by providing financial support to innovative economic development projects that are aimed at assisting with the expansion and sustainability of a business grouping to minimum of two qualifying businesses. This Fund provides government support in the form of cost sharing with a maximum government contribution of 70%. This means that the 30% will be the...

2014-06-19By CEEDEERead more...