Remember Piet Kemp? It’s been more than three years since FORBES AFRICA featured him in its pages in October 2013. Kemp left South Africa for the Soviet republic of Georgia in search of greener pastures, he says he has found happiness and toil thousands of miles away from home. The 72-year- old Kemp claims to now be a Georgian citizen and vows to never come back to his homeland. He was one of 10 South African famers who left on the promise of free land.
I am really glad to be out of South Africa; it’s a dangerous place.
And the whole country belongs to colonialism,” says Kemp. He now has 30 laborers, who neither speak English nor Afrikaans, but Kemp says he is slowly learning the Georgian language. “Speaking the language was very difficult. My wife has been helping me learn it and I don’t need a translator anymore.” Kemp says spare parts are one of the big problems. “Sometimes when the tractor is broken, it takes a long time to get the tools to fix it. We have to import our tools and machines.” Before the age of 80, Kemp plans to retire.