Seen from the air, the mighty Orange River snakes its way across the arid Northern Cape Province while on its banks, emerald green vineyards and orchards belie the harsh sunlight that creates so much sweetness in the various fruit grown here.

The crown jewel of this hot province is undoubtedly Upington where we find Dege Trekkers, a well-established outlet selling premium brands of machines and implements used mainly by the hardy farmers of the area.

“Dege Trekkers was founded in 2012 by its present owners, Hendrik and Aletta Dege, and we currently have a staff complement of 17, which includes people who work in administration, sales, parts and the workshop,” says Cobus van Niekerk, Dege Trekkers’ Sales Manager. “Our workshop is particularly important to us and here Hendrik Dege keeps his hand on the quality of work we’ve built a name on, along with two qualified mechanics and five assistant technicians.”

Apart from a wide variety of well-known brands in the agricultural space, Dege Trekkers has, since its inception, sold equipment made by the proud British company, JCB, which is now being distributed and backed in South Africa by Bell Equipment.

“We’ve always been proud to be associated with quality products such as those made by JCB as they add value to our offering to our wide and established customer base who support us from as far as 300km away,” Cobus adds. “Our business relationships with our customers are based on mutual trust and respect and we have our loyal customers coming back time and again because they know our knowledgeable staff won’t let them down.”  Dege Trekkers’ mechanics do field servicing as well and regularly travel in a radius of 300km or more from Upington.

A large holding of especially JCB replacement parts, service kits and consumable spares means that owners of JCB equipment minimise their downtime.

“Having had an established relationship with the JCB brand, we were especially pleased when Bell Equipment approached us to ascertain whether we’d like to continue selling JCB equipment to which we obviously let out a massive combined ‘yes please’,” Cobus says smiling. “We’re excited at the prospect of selling the great JCB brand under the umbrella of a truly South African stalwart company that Bell Equipment is and embracing both cultures.”

According to Cobus, the flagship yellow machine model in their area is the JCB 3DX Backhoe Loader which farmers favour and use for a myriad of uses like mixing and preparing feed for livestock, loading Alfalfa bales (considered high protein fodder), fixing roads, culverts and irrigation infrastructure and general farm work. Some farmers dredge canals with the backhoe and remove alien vegetation that threatens the free flow of life-giving water to crops, animals and humans alike.

“Our mechanics and colleagues working in parts have been impressed with the online training Bell and JCB have rolled out with prospects that regular training and product updates will be a continuing process,” Cobus adds. “In this way, there is constant learning and skills transfer which aids personal growth in the workplace and benefits everyone concerned, especially our customers.”

Dege Trekkers has made a point of showing off their JCB machines to the public with displays and this leads to enquiries that turn into sales.

“There are a great number of positives to having the Bell Equipment and JCB brands associated with Dege Trekkers. We know our strong brands and we certainly know our customers inside out and the peace of mind that they need on their farms, orchards and feedlots. The peace of mind is created by the machines as they simplify the work and that in turn sees our loyal customers enjoying their labour. This we believe will lead to many additional sales,” Cobus says.

Alette and Hendrik Dege.