LOCAL ELECTIONS TOUR: Black woman farmer conquers citrus industry — but state stalls on land title

For more than four decades, Buyiswa “Steri” Ndyenga, a citrus farmer in the Eastern Cape’s fertile Sundays River Valley, has lived on Willowtree Farm. 

Ndyenga (56) moved to Addo with her family at the age of three and grew up on Willowtree, where her mother worked for the farm’s manager. She went to primary school in Addo and later, Masiphathisane High School in Motherwell. As a teenager, she handpicked fruit and hauled crates of produce during her school holidays. 

“It was something that made me want to work on the farm, because there is always a job on the farm,” said Ndyenga.

After high school, Ndyenga returned to work at Willowtree. She started as a seasonal “ticker”, recording the details of the produce harvested by the pickers using bags and buckets, and became a permanent worker in 1994. In 2000, she was appointed team supervisor. 

In 2006, the South African government bought Willowtree Farm and three surrounding properties from private owners as part of a land reform initiative for beneficiaries of the Sundays’ River Farming Trust, established a year later. 

“The government bought the four farms from the previous owners and [we] put them together and formed Sundays’ River Farming Trust. We were the workers of the four farms, then we became beneficiaries of the four farms. The farms are: Willowtree, Siyathemba, Glengrove and Sophumelela (Eendracht),” said Ndyenga.

We were sitting in her office at Willowtree Farm, where she is now the general manager of all four farms. Behind her, a side table held trophies and accolades that chronicled her storied career. The windows in the office looked out over the orchards.  

The Sundays River Valley is South Africa’s largest citrus hub. The region’s sprawling farms export about eight million cartons of oranges, lemons, grapefruit and soft citrus annually to countries around the world. In 2025, South Africa overtook Spain for the first time as the world’s leading citrus exporter, shipping a record 204 million 15kg cartons of fruit. 

In 2012, the beneficiaries of the Sundays’ River Farming Trust bought their own farm, Siyaphambile. Together, the five farms comprise 421 hectares, with 378 hectares planted. 

Ndyenga said the farms exported 393,060 cartons of citrus in 2025 to countries in the Far East, Middle East and Europe.

Election Tour

Ahead of the 4 November elections, Daily Maverick traversed the country visiting several municipalities that have been identified by the Auditor-General as being among the worst-run of South Africa’s 257 municipalities.

‘It’s a man-driven industry’

As Wandile Sihlobo has written in Daily Maverick, black farmers account, on average, for only around 10% of South Africa’s commercial agricultural output.

The data on the current state of women’s participation in the sector are shaky, but Sihlobo wrote that about 20% of South Africa’s roughly 40,000 commercial farm units are owned or operated by women. 

“The citrus industry is full of men. It’s a man-driven industry,” Ndyenga told us. 

“If you are in this industry, you have to fight for yourself. When you walk into a meeting, the room is full of men – white men, few black. As a woman, you must know your story. You must be able to stand up and say your thing. If you don’t know your story and you stand up in a room full of men, then you are a joke.”  

However, she said she enjoys the challenge of being one of the few black women farmers in the region.

“There are white people here [who] are working under [me],” she said. “It’s a good thing. It’s a good thing to show my daughters and the women that are growing up [around me] that [they] can do it. It’s not just for men, it’s for all of us.”

Ndyenga is currently training two women, one who is already an assistant farm manager and another who is in an administrative position. 

Ownership challenges

When the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform – since renamed the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development (DLRRD) – acquired the four farms in 2006, it did not transfer ownership to the black land reform beneficiaries; instead, it leased the land to the Sundays’ River Farming Trust, while the ownership remained with the state. 

Nearly two decades later, Ndyenga has still not received a title deed. She said this has been an ongoing “challenge” with the department, affecting her ability to grow her business.  

“The government is leasing the farms to the black owners, but [we] don’t have title deeds. The title deed opens doors for us as farmers. If you don’t have a title deed, you won’t get a loan at the bank; nobody’s going to take you [seriously] because you don’t have papers that say, ‘This is my business.’

“We want to grow, but we cannot grow because we don’t have title deeds [for] the four farms,” said Ndyenga.

In March, Land Reform Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso promised to accelerate the handover of title deeds to empower South African farmers. He acknowledged that the transfer of a title deed to small-scale farmers is critical as it “serves as a means of unlocking financial capital”, and is a catalyst for economic growth and a means of restoring dignity. 

In response to questions from Daily Maverick on 23 May, DLRRD spokesperson Cassiem Khan said the department was in the process of finalising the transfer of the four properties. 

“The department is fast-tracking the conducting of a land right enquiry to ensure compliance with applicable land rights legislation and to determine whether there are any persons residing on or occupying the affected properties whose rights may need to be protected in law, including potential long-term occupiers. This process is necessary to ensure that any transfer of state land is implemented lawfully, fairly and in a manner that does not prejudice the rights of any affected parties,” said Khan. 

At the time, he added that the DLRRD was “currently engaging” with the Sundays’ River Farming Trust and its partner, Sundays River Citrus Company (SRCC), with a view to concluding the outstanding Land Rights Enquiry Report by the end of June 2026, “subject to the positive cooperation of all affected parties and the finalisation of the required verification processes”.

‘When voting time comes...’

In her office, Ndyenga, however, accused the government of playing “hide and seek” with the title deeds. She said that, over the years, officials would visit Willowtree Farm in the run-up to elections, promising that title deeds would finally be granted – promises that were never fulfilled once voting concluded. 

“You know, the government is… What can I say? It plays hide and seek. When voting time comes, they [government officials] come and say they want to give us the farms. But we are still renting,” she said. 

With the local government election set for 4 November, Ndyenga expects these officials to return. 

“They will come back and say, ‘Let’s fill in these papers; let’s do this.’ Nothing will happen. I don’t know who can crack that wall between us and them,” she said. “I think it has to be politics. Nothing is happening because of politics.”

The DLRRD rejected the accusations. 

“With regard to allegations that title deeds are used as political leverage ahead of elections, the department rejects any suggestion that land reform or tenure processes are administered for political processes,” said Khan. 

“The department’s processes are governed by legislation, policy requirements and administrative prescripts, and not electoral considerations. [It] remains committed to implementing land reform in a lawful, fair and transparent manner that balances empowerment objectives with the protection of legally recognised rights.” DM

Daily Maverick’s Election Tour is supported, in part, by funding from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.