Operations at the Nkwene Garden Scheme are expected to resume after months of closure caused by heavy flooding that disrupted irrigation. The scheme, which operates as Nkwene Limited and includes 51 members, was forced to shut down in early January after the Mkhondvo River overflowed and blocked irrigation pipes.
Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla visited the site today with Minister for Tinkhundla Administration and Development Sikhumbuzo Dlamini—who is also the area’s Member of Parliament—alongside officials from Micro Projects and the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA). The team conducted an on-site inspection to assess the extent of the damage.
Dladla told farmers that rehabilitation work would begin once architectural plans from Micro Projects are finalised. She said the goal is to restore full operations by June and encouraged the group to tap into new markets by supplying local supermarkets. She also announced that the scheme would benefit from a cold-room vehicle funded by the Regional Development Fund (RDF), to help preserve and transport produce. 
Women in the scheme were urged to consider venturing into organic farming as a way to widen market reach.
Minister Dlamini said the floods had severely affected the community, disrupting a project that has helped women feed their families and send their children to school for decades. He pledged that a new tractor would be delivered to the scheme this year through RDF and asked members to formally request the cold-room vehicle as part of their development proposal.
Longtime member Bawinile Dladla shared how members have struggled to keep the irrigation system functional, sometimes crawling into clogged pipes filled with mud and encountering snakes. Despite the dangers, the garden has remained a lifeline for many families in the area.
Telephone Dlamini, who joined the scheme in 1961, remains one of its longest-serving members and a symbol of its importance to the Nkwene community.
