When Ramphalla’s tractor was burnt

WHEN the only tractor in a village breaks down in the middle of the summer, the community’s main worry is how they will plough their fields. But for the people of Tebellong, a village in the backwaters of Qacha’s Nek, Tsietsi Ramphalla’s tractor meant much more. As the tractor was engulfed in flames last week, the villagers knew what that disaster meant. The tractor, which the 66-year-old Ramphalla bought with nearly all of his terminal benefits payout in 2014 after working in a South African mine for decades, was much more than just a farming implement for the villagers.