Tea is a tough business in South Africa where the high value of the rand has undermined profits. At the Magwa Tea Estate in Transkei they have turned to tourism to supplement business.

Eight years after the erstwhile Magwa Tea Corporation was embroiled in a fraud scandal the estate is in full production and looking at expanding its interests.

The former black empowerment project lay dormant before an investment deal brokered by the East Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) allowed production at the plantation to start up again last year.

In 1998, five of the then management at Magwa were arrested on suspicion of fraud involving nearly R10-million.

But last July, a R50-million deal between the ECDC, Indian tea firm J V Gokal and German steel producer Ferrostaal, provided a lifeline for the thousands of workers who were part of the co-operative.

Since the deal, the management of the estate has continued uninterrupted and prospects for the future are good.

Under the new deal workers are regarded as shareholders.

Magwa general manager Ian Crawford said: “We have shareholders in the company in the form of workers; however, this is not just a profit-driven company but a community empowerment project as well.”

Magwa Enterprise Tea, as it is now known, will continue concentrating on growing and on-site processing of tea but because of the scenic beauty created by the both the tea plantations and their natural surroundings in rural Transkei, management has started several initiatives which it hopes will lead to an increase in the number of tourists in the estate.

And if it has its way, tourists from all over South Africa and the rest of the world will soon be sitting at Magwa sipping some of the best yellow tea produced in Africa.

“Since July last year we have slowly being getting into that system,” said Crawford. “In time we will have holiday accommodation on site. It will be more self-catering at first but, as time goes on, we are also looking at building lodges as well as a golf course.”

The yellow tea grown at Magwa is used to produce Lipton Tea and Crawford says the best tea produced by the plantation is comparable to that grown in Uganda, where Africa’s premier yellow tea is found.

The estate, established in 1965, already has an operational air strip where private aircraft are able to land.

Magwa has the added attraction of three major waterfalls within its boundaries. The Magwa, Visitors and Fraser all (dare one say it) fall within the 2 500 hectare estate

Some 1 800 ha of Magwa’s total area is taken up by tea plantations.

Another important aspect of Magwa’s tourism initiative is its plan for ecological development in this exquisite area some 30 kilometres from the sea.

There are already small patches of indigenous forest on the estate but Crawford is keen to plant more and to ultimately market the place as an eco-estate”.

This would create a number of jobs for Mpondo locals, but this may be some time in the future.

“Tours and guided walks will be run by the locals,” Crawford adds.

Currently Magwa employs more than 2 000 during peak season and 1 100 throughout the year.

Plucking season on the estate lasts for eight months while the remainder of the year is a time for estate maintenance, when the plants are pruned and prepared for the plucking season.

The tea is processed on the estate and visitors will receive guided tours of the factory.

Furthermore, Magwa is looking at putting in a packing plant which will produce pre-packaged tea for sale “to people who visit the estate. Its niche market, not for commercial use,” said Crawford.

Magwa is already involved in several upliftment programmes, including at a local school and nearby clinic.

“We are offering assistance and are hoping to get an ambulance” which will be based at the clinic.

“We want to uplift the school as well, with the ultimate goal being having a primary as well as secondary school on the estate,” said Crawford.