Johannesburg – As many as 30 000 jobs are being threatened in the berries industry due to the ongoing Transnet ports strike which began on Thursday, resulting in the ports authority declaring a force majeure across all South African ports.
BerriesZa chairperson Justin Mudge said, “The latest strike action could be the final nail in the coffin for berry farmers who fill a critical gap in the labour sector, due to their harvest season running from September to November before the early stone fruit and table grape harvest season commences.”
BerriesZA has written to key national ministers and the Transnet executive to request their urgent and forceful intervention as the situation is untenable, and unless urgent action is taken, the government will have to explain to hundreds of people why they do not have a job as a result of the government’s inaction.
Mudge said, “The open-ended strike has occurred during the peak of the berry export season, which means even a single day of the ports not operating will have a significant knock-on effect on the entire berry value chain putting 30 000 livelihoods who depend on the industry at risk, as well as millions of rand in export revenue.”
This strike action comes after the severe impact on the industry due to ongoing operational issues at the country’s ports, as a result of ageing and out of service infrastructure, inefficient systems and staff shortages.
“Delayed shipments, as a result of the poor ports’ performance, has affected the quality of berries that reach international markets, resulting in product rejection rates from receiving clients skyrocketing to an unprecedented quarter of a billion rand last year.”
“Compounding this problem is a surge in input costs faced by farmers including a hike in fertiliser and fuel prices, as well as soaring freight rates. As a result, over a third of local berry producers are currently not profitable, which means their survival and the livelihoods they support are under severe threat,” said Mudge.
Transnet is said to have been engaging with the industry over the past three days with regard to their negotiations with United National Transport Union (Untu) and the South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu), and reassured that the situation was under control.
However, the union's decision to embark on their strike and Transnet declaring a force majeure in the past 24 hours has clearly shown the industry that the ports authority does not have a handle on the situation.
Mudge said, “Inexplicably there is no indication of when this current impasse will end or detailed contingency plans provided.”
BerriesZA has written to the Transnet executive requesting a meeting to discuss what specific contingency plans could be put in place to ensure the continued movement of berries through the ports, furthermore they have also written to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Affairs, Thoko Didiza, and Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel requesting their urgent intervention.
“This is absolutely critical over the short term to safeguard the profitability and sustainability of hundreds of berry farmers and the jobs they sustain, as well as the long-term growth of the industry, which is expected to contribute at least R3 billion in export revenue to the local economy this season,” said Mudge.
IOL