Picture: Dr Dirk Strydom, GSA
by Eugene Goddard

At the halfway mark of South Africa’s showstopper for the agriculture sector, Nampo Harvest Day 2025, some solid attendance figures had been recorded.

Addressing journalists at the Media Centre on Thursday morning, 15 May, Nampo CEO Dr Dirk Strydom said 24,545 visitors poured through the gates on Wednesday, the second day of the four-day expo.

He said that because only one road from nearby Bothaville leads to Nampo Park, bumper-to-bumper traffic characterised the bottlenecking early in the mornings.

“But it’s to be expected. It’s also nice to see people complaining about the traffic but with a smile, because once they’re here, the excitement takes over.”

Some more fortunate visitors flew into the pop-up ‘airport’ that has become a standard feature of Nampo.

Strydom said 109 light aircraft and 19 helicopters touched down on Tuesday.

Although it was initially thought to be a new record, as previous weekly stats for the expo have recorded up to 400 landing logs for the duration of the week, Strydom said that there have been occasions when more than 200 flights have come in on a single day.

He said Thursday was expected to be another big day, with several politicians attending Nampo.

These included Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen, and Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson.

No doubt the highlight for Thursday was expected to be the “Nation in Conversation” event, “Understanding the implications of SA’s Expropriation Bill on agriculture.”