First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.
Hit by difficult economic times and a provincial unemployment rate hovering around 47%, the Libode district in the OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape is a tough place to live.
Most people in the area feed their families by subsistence farming on communal land, and a six-year-old agricultural project run by a group of military veterans is helping to make a difference in their fight against poverty and desperation.
The Iringa Multipurpose Co-Operative, run by veterans of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK)and other military organisations, was set up in 2015.
Jongilizwe Mbovane, the chair of the co-operative, said the project began with five military veterans assisting learners around Libode with school uniforms.