BerriesZA has written to key National Ministers and the Transnet Executive to request their urgent and forceful intervention in the strike action that commenced yesterday, which has resulted in the ports authority declaring a force majeure across all South African ports.
The open-ended strike has occurred during the peak of the berry export season, which means even a single day of 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.
The latest strike action also follows the industry having been severely impacted by ongoing operational issues at the country’s ports as a result of aging and out of service infrastructure, inefficient systems and staff shortages. Delayed shipments, as a result of the poor port 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.
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.
Transnet has been engaging with 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 assured that the situation was under control.
However UNTU and SATAWU”s decision to embark on a strike and Transnet declaring a force majeure in the past 24 hours clearly shows that the ports authority does not have a handle on the situation, inexplicably providing no indication of when this current impasse will end or any detailed contingency plans.
While 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, it has also written to Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Affairs, Thoko Didiza and Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel, requesting their urgent intervention to mitigate the impact of the current strike and to ensure the current wage increase dispute is resolved as soon as possible.
For more information:
Thabi Ndhlovu
Tel: +27 61 993 6672