Recent graduate Philasande Ntlebi has won Agri-SETA’s national Best Performing Learner: Internship award.
As a ND: Agriculture Management student Philasande did his Work Integrated Learning at Abagold in 2017, a post which was funded with an Agri-SETA internship grant. After he graduated the abalone farming company kept him on as a junior manager in one of their abalone out-grower farms.
Philasande expressed great surprise at winning the award but says it affirms that he made the correct study choice: “I’ve discovered I actually have so much potential to win all the goals I have set for myself. I want to open my own farming enterprise and employ people and make business throughout Africa,” he said.
The 23-year-old from Queenstown is the first Agriculture Management student to do his WIL at this company which had only worked with Food Technology students from CPUT before he came along. His enthusiasm and work ethic changed that and this year there are four Agriculture Management students doing their WIL at Abagold in Hermanus.
“I am proud to say I am helping them to understand what is going on in the company and how to carry out all the things they have to do.”
He described his WIL stint as “the most inspiring time ever.”
“At first it was difficult because I had to prove myself. I made sure to apply everything I learned at the university and just tried to show what I could do.”
For the last three months of his WIL Philasande was given the chance to supervise a farm’s operations and he had to quickly learn how to instruct people who were older than him. “I didn’t know I had it in me. I didn’t know I could take so much pressure or lead people.”
Next Philasande does want to do his BTech part-time while continuing to work at Abagold because he knows he needs experience as well as more knowledge to progress within the company, but he is keen to give it a go.
“I like to challenge myself. I feel that I have a big future in this field.”
Written by Theresa Smith
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