In 2010 Manti Maifadi wrote a children’s book in Sesotho called Tshimong ya Meroho le Naledi (In the Vegetable Garden with Naledi). She was on maternity leave from her job in the National Department of Health as a Medical Scientist, while expecting the birth of her youngest child, Naledi.

The book is a fictional story that centres on a vegetable garden and was self-published in 2012. In the same year, Manti and her husband Sam, decided that they wanted to create a real-life vegetable garden; a physical space where children could come and “walk into the book”, to learn how food grows, roam around barefoot, and engage with the plants and the land.

In 2015 they found some land on the outskirts of Pretoria and moved from their city home to the three-hectare plot that they named Naledi Farm.

“The idea was to create a centre for teaching and healing. To get people away from the buzz of the city, to unwind and relax.”

They started with a simple ‘Harvest Table’ where friends would come once a month to enjoy the food from their garden and listen to the musings of an invited speaker. This soon grew into a more diverse operation that hosted sustainability workshops, children’s camps as well as an events venue and an artist residency programme.

Naledi Farm is a business, and there is no getting away from that, but it is an enterprise that aims to change people’s lives. They advocate for sustainable practices that promote self-care, independence and environmental responsibility.

“We provide the space where people can breathe a little before going back to the ever-demanding modern world. Hopefully, we inspire them to start their own little patch and grow a few rows of edible gardens. If we can do it, then anyone can do it…If we can inspire one person then our job is done.”

Manti is aware that many people are going through a lot, living behind high walls, bombarded by traffic, noise and other inescapable features of urban life that negatively affect their emotional and mental health. Trapped in this concrete jungle, with little to no chance of breaking free. It is the experience and values of her childhood growing up in QwaQwa, in the Free State, that she wants to extend to others.

“I don’t remember a day we had to buy vegetables. We were not wealthy but there was always plenty for us to eat from my father’s garden. That was my upbringing.”

To advocate for others to have peace in their lives is no small mission, and Manti has made it the centre of her business; a business that wants to heal the world, one busy city dweller at a time. DM

It’s Women’s Month in South Africa and so, throughout August, The Actionists will exclusively be featuring stories of inspiring women who are working to make a positive change in the world around them.

The Actionists was launched in early 2023 by photographer Thom Pierce. It consists of on-the-ground problem solvers, community activists, climate campaigners and human rights defenders who engage in direct action. They are people anyone can turn to in difficult circumstances: a growing community of people who care about the future of South Africa. Through a series of photographic stories, Pierce profiles these people. Through a website, discussion forum and social media, the aim is to provide ways for people to get involved.

Nominate Actionists in your circle at www.theactionists.co.za or email [email protected]