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Karoo farm family strikes pay dirt
 THE Ngondo family donât have electricity on their farm â but they have enough uranium underground to power the nearby town of Beaufort West for a thousand years. In April they landed a breathtaking R20-million windfall when they sold the mineral rights on the farm Katdoringkuil to a London-based mining company, Uranco Incorporated. When they had bought the 6000ha of flat, dusty veld four years ago, with a state subsidy, nothing had hinted at the rich uranium deposits waiting under the Karoo scrub. âWe had a dream to own a farm, but our dream turned into another dream because nobody expected there to be something like uranium in that property,â said Thandi Ngondo, 59, a retired railway worker.He and his seven brothers and sisters set up a family trust to buy the land in 2001. Thandiâs brother Zwelinzima, 69, is the only sibling who lives on the farm, in a derelict house without electricity. He tends a vegetable patch and keeps a few goats, sheep, pigs and chickens. Posted by: Ebbolutch Thavick3284 2005-08-15 |
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