Small-scale success with olives in Gauteng

What started out as a small trial with just 10 olive trees almost 20 years ago has grown into a productive olive business for Hettie du Toit. She and her husband, Frans, who died in 2009, first decided to experiment with olives on their 26ha plot in Randfontein, Gauteng, as their vegetable farming operation was plagued by ongoing theft.

One of the main reasons they chose olives in a region not usually associated with this crop was that olives need to be processed before consumption; the fruit hanging on the tree is effectively inedible and therefore offers