Vus’ithemba means “reviving” or “raising hope” in Xhosa, and I always thought that if I started my own business, that is what I would call it,’ says engineer and MBA-turned first-generation pig producer, Anton Mecchi, who started Vus’ithemba Piggery in 2010 with his wife Margot. Vus’ithemba is situated four kilometers from Vaalwater in Limpopo and is Pork 360-certified - the quality assurance certification for high-quality pork.
In addition to the pigs and extensive infrastructure, there are staff salaries, environmental and water use licences, biosecurity and other security issues that have to be addressed when establishing a piggery, which are very capital intensive. The input capital for for example our 340-sow breeder-to-finisher unit was approximately R22million.
‘Nedbank’s indepth knowledge of agriculture is invaluable to us and Nedbank Business Manager, Francois van Jaarsveld, and Regional Manager, Rikus Vosloo, have been with us through all the stages and helped us to convert our finisher unit to a breeder-to-finisher unit.’
Mecchi appreciates the value of having a good relationship with one’s banker. ‘My business success,’ concludes Mecchi, ‘depends on good relationships with my bank as well as all other relevant stakeholders.