The agricultural sector anticipates minimal impact on the export of produce as a result of last week’s unrest that disrupted operations at ports in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Services were restored swiftly and other agriculture exports rerouted to other ports of the country. So we suspect that the impact of the unrest on SA agriculture exports will be minimal,” Wandile Sihlobo, head of agribusiness research at Agricultural Business Chamber of SA (Agbiz), said.
Last week SA was rocked by an orgy of looting sparked by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma. The unrest disrupted port operations at Durban and Richards Bay, limiting the movement of cargo into and out of KwaZulu-Natal. Transnet, which operates all the ports in the country, says operations are slowly getting back to normal.
SA is an exporter of agricultural produce including citrus, grapes, and wine. The country is the second-largest global exporter of citrus fruit after Spain, exporting to more than 100 countries, generating about R20bn annually and supporting 120,000 jobs.
Despite pandemic-induced economic uncertainty, the agricultural sector has been flourishing in recent times, with the country shipping $10.2bn (about R150bn) worth of produce in 2020 or 3% more than in the previous year. The agricultural sector contributes about 3% to GDP and is responsible for nearly 900,000 jobs.
The unrest hit some farmers hard. Last week agricultural industry body Agri SA said trucks carrying produce were prevented from delivering goods to markets, threatening food supplies. There were also reports of sugar-cane fields and other crops being set alight in KwaZulu-Natal.
Agri SA president Pierre Vercueil warned that the unrest could affect the citrus industry amid the peak production season when large volumes of produce valued at almost R600m have to be transported weekly to the Durban harbour.
“Any disruption could lead to financial losses for producers and will prevent the products from reaching international markets on time,” Vercueil said last week.
The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa, the organisation representing growers and packhouses, said while the value chain has been affected by the unrest, most critically by the closure of the Durban port, the industry has moved to ensure that citrus is exported to important markets.
“In this regard, growers in the northern provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga have been diverting their fruit to other ports across the country, with citrus from other regions continuing to be exported from Cape Town and Coega ports,” the association’s CEO, Justin Chadwick, said on Monday.
Last week saw little impact on volumes of citrus being exported to markets including the EU, Middle East, China and the US, he said.
The industry has requested that SA National Defence Force troops continue to man the N2 and N3 highways to allow trucks to run 24 hours a day. It has also called for troops to continue to be deployed to other sites across the citrus value chain, including Durban port.
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