• Tzaneen residents are picking green mangoes before they ripen and selling them for atchar, to pay for bread and electricity.

• A full bakkie load can fetch R1,500 to R3,000 or more, but farmers say thieves steal their mangoes at night.

Tzaneen households short on cash are picking their green mangoes and selling them for atchar, instead of waiting for them to ripen.

The high cost of living is pushing residents to do it. It is mango season, and atchar factories across the region are paying cash to anyone who brings in green mangoes. Most households in Tzaneen’s townships and villages have at least one mango tree.

Some home owners load their green mangoes onto a wheelbarrow or a bakkie and take them to a factory of their choice. They come back with money for bread, electricity or whatever else they need.

Bakkie owners also go door to door, village after village, asking home owners to let them pick green mangoes for cash. Some pay home owners R150 to R200 per 20kg box. A factory can pay for a full bakkie load anything from R1,500 to R3,000 or more, depending on the weight.

Gondwana Chauke, a bakkie owner and father of three, says the season brings relief to his family.

“I love this season, because I am able to move door to door and look for mangoes then sell it to the factories and I know that by the end of the day, I will bring back home money which will help us,” he said.

For farmers, it is a different story.

“As much as it is supposed to be a joyful time for us, in recent years it has turned into a hurtful moment, as people come to our farm at night and steal from the orchard and in turn we are running at a loss,” said Khazamula Nghulele, a mango farmer.

The mangoes will start to ripen in late November to December. By then the factories will no longer take them, but juice factories will need ripe mangoes.