Statement by Melene Rossouw on behalf of the Siyabuya movement

Tshwane metro police want to fine or arrest him, but to Siyabuya Djo BaNkuna is a hero.

Djo has been growing cabbages and other vegetables to give away to the poor and hungry.

The problem is that his garden is on the verge outside his house, and the Tshwane metro police maintain he is contravening municipal by-laws. Grow grass and flowers, yes, but if you try to feed people we will take you to court and fine you.

BaNkuna is doing what Siyabuya is urging all South Africans to do – helping to feed the country’s starving millions. We are in a poverty and unemployment crisis, made many times worse by the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. That means we have a national hunger crisis.

As was pointed out on the food security webinar hosted recently by the FairPlay movement, Statistics SA estimated before the coronavirus pandemic that nearly 7 million South Africans faced hunger. Of these, 2.5 million adults and 600 000 children are hungry every day.

Add to that the world’s highest unemployment rate of 34%, and 44% if you count those who have stopped looking for work. That means that nearly half of those old enough to work are out of a job.

That is why Siyabuya is building networks across the country of people who are acting on their belief that the country can emerge stronger from the pandemic and its economic consequences. One of our three pillars is helping to feed the hungry and the unemployed that the pandemic is leaving in its wake.

Everyone who grows vegetables to feed the poor deserves a medal, and they deserve to be copied in every city and town in the country. Wherever there is unused land, on your property or just outside it, grow food and give it away to those who need it most.

Verges and pavements can look very pretty with flowers and ornamental shrubs. When millions are going hungry, those same patches of land can also feed the poor, as Djo BaNkuna has been doing. The mayor of Tshwane should be visiting Djo to praise him, not sending police to threaten him.

Siyabuya stands behind Djo BaNkuna, the self-styled “cabbage bandit”. We are proud to have him as one of our Siyabuya heroes.

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About Melene Rossouw
Melene Rossouw is the leader of Siyabuya. She is an internationally recognised gender and human rights activist, global award winner, public speaker, moderator, facilitator, strategist and consultant. An attorney with 13 years’ experience, Melene is founder of the Women Lead Movement in South Africa.

Her accolades include being selected by the prestigious Obama Foundation as an Obama Leader in Africa (2018) and as a Mandela Washington Fellow by the US Department of State in 2019 for the Presidential Precinct, an NGO in Charlottesville, Virginia in the USA. In October 2020, she was selected as one of the 100 Most Influential Young Africans and made the Top Ten list of Most Influential Young Africans by Africa Youth Awards. She was also recently named as one of the 100 Most Influential South Africans. 

About Siyabuya
Siyabuya believes South Africa can emerge stronger from the Covid-19 pandemic. It aims to build networks across the country of people who share this belief and are working to achieve it. Those who are helping others, creating jobs and feeding the poor, are setting examples others can emulate.

Siyabuya aims to #MakeSAbetter by instilling a common sense of mission, built from the ground up, through ordinary South Africans engaged in active citizenry to improve their fortunes and the lives of those around them.

For more information, visit our website at www.siyabuya.org.za

Revolutionary Aeroview Scout in-field app launched by Aerobotics helps highlight problem areas in the orchard, helping farmers save costs and water.

Cape Town, 6 December 2017 – Leading South African technology company, Aerobotics, which specialises in providing on-demand satellite and drone analytics for farmers, today officially launched the revolutionary Aeroview Scout in-field smartphone app that highlights problem areas in the orchard with GPS co-ordinates, allowing farmers to make notes, take pictures and remedy any issues early. Aeroview, developed by Aerobotics, uses artificial intelligence (AI) and a unique set of algorithms to transform satellite and drone imagery into useful information to assist farmers and help them optimise profits and yield by identifying problem areas in the orchard. Using visual and multispectral camera, the drones map the outlined area in 3D, highlighting individual trees with health or growth problems, and can even detect leaks – all leading to cost savings for farmers in the long run.

Farmers can look at each individual tree’s statistics, including health, height, canopy size and canopy volume. Crop health maps highlights problem areas on the farm and moisture index maps reveals any leaks to help reduce water usage and facilitate more effective irrigation. Aeroview Scout, the in-field smartphone app launched today, complements the Aeroview platform with GPS co-ordinates for individual trees so farmers can locate trees with issues, make notes, take pictures and remedy the problems early. The app also tracks progress of each affected tree (including in-field notes) so farmers can better manage their time and resources on a regular basis, reducing wastage in irrigation and pest management and helping farms to be more sustainable in their use of herbicides and pesticides.

First Fruits Consulting, a well-regarded citrus farm consultancy based in Simondium in the Cape Winelands, has been using Aeroview to help citrus farmers across the country improve their yields. “Since we started using Aeroview in 2016, the data has helped farmers find problem areas in their orchards and correct these areas through differential application of ameliorants and other area specific inputs, thereby increasing overall productivity in the orchards. In some cases, improvements could be seen clearly using drone data within only a couply of weeks after amelioration. With the Aeroview Scout in-field smartphone app, farmers can better react to problem areas in orchards, find the affected trees easily and remedy the issues quickly,” said Hein Gerber, Managing Director, First Fruits Consulting (Pty) Ltd.  For farmers growing fruits for the lucrative export market, being able to spot problems in trees early can help reduce crop failure and lost income. In a study conducted by Aerobotics on a 3.75 hectare Western Cape peach orchard, the Aeroview data highlighted how the farm could generate more exportable fruit by addressing the trees in need of help – the data would have mitigated a R400,000 loss in income for the farm.

The on-demand satellite and drone scans are not only limited to trees in an orchard. In 2016, the South African Cane Growers’ Association (CANEGROWERS) formed a partnership with Aerobotics to provide data for sugarcane farmers so they can reduce costs while increasing yields, improve sustainability and maximise profitability in today’s tough economic times. “Aeroview is becoming a key tool for us and our growers. The analysed data allows us to identify crop stress and address threats early, before the damage become widespread. Improving crop yields starts with the measurement and monitoring capability provided by Aeroview, which provides a key technological tool for improving farming practices and yields,” said Richard Howes, Head of Innovations at CANEGROWERS. James Paterson, Chief Executive Officer, Aerobotics, agrees: “Aeroview Scout is precision farming in the palm of your hands.

This smartphone app is going to be the next essential tool for all farmers who aim for greater yields and profits, while saving water at the same time.” Since its launch in 2014, Aeroview today has users in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the UK. Aeroview Scout is available on both the Apple and Android App Store. For more information on Aeroview and Aeroview Scout app, please visit aerobotics.co.- End -For high resolution screenshots of the Aeroview Scout app, please visit: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxVcu9bF02QSRjlqU1pmanFFY2c

About Aerobotics
Established in Cape Town in 2014, Aerobotics is a leading South African company providing on-demand satellite and drone analytics for farmers to help them farm better. It is the developer of Aeroview, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and a unique set of algorithms to transform satellite and drone imagery into useful data to identify problem areas on the farm with crop health maps, moisture index maps and individual tree statistics, including health, height, canopy size and canopy volume. Using the Aeroview Scout in-field smartphone app, farmers can locate each problematic tree using GPS co-ordinates, make notes, take pictures and track progress of treatment for each tree over time.

For more information about Aerobotics and Aeroview Scout, please visit aerobotics.co

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