More than 12 000 jobs in the Western Cape’s berry industry could be lost should the ongoing Transnet strike not be urgently resolved, according to the province’s Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities Mireille Wenger and Agriculture Minister Ivan Meyer.
Meanwhile, BerriesZA chairperson Justin Mudge said the strike is costing the industry more than R134 million a week and putting thousands of jobs at risk.
In a joint statement released yesterday, the two provincial ministers said the jobs at risk included 4 000 permanent and 8 000 seasonal jobs.
The stone fruit season was due to start in earnest in November, making this a key time for berry exports, specifically blueberries.
It was also estimated that between 80% and 90% of those employed in the berry industry were women.
Meyer said the current labour dispute was a significant risk for the berry industry as it undermined the considerable growth it had experienced over the past few years, which had seen 33% growth in the area used to produce berries in the Western Cape.
Given the labour-intensive nature of the berry industry, it was an essential contributor to job creation in the agriculture sector.
“The berry sector is export focused. Blackberries from the Western Cape, for example, are primarily destined for the European markets, with roughly 55% of the Western Cape blackberry exports going to the United Kingdom, followed by Saudi Arabia at 13% and Kuwait (11%), among the top 10 importing countries. Given the above, the current labour dispute must be resolved as rapidly as possible. Failure to do so could impact other products dominating quarter 4 export activity,” Meyer said.
Meanwhile, Mudge said they were gravely concerned about the outlook for the berry industry as there was no end in sight to the current Transnet strike.
“As a result, more than 80 containers of berries destined for European markets have been sitting at the ports, with the strike currently costing the industry more than R134 million a week and putting thousands of jobs at risk.
“Even if a solution to the current impasse is found in the next day or two, the backlog in the berry value chain will take weeks to clear, resulting in hundreds of millions of rands in further losses for the sector,” Mudge said.
Despite the Transnet executive team indicating they would put contingency plans in place to ensure critical goods would continue being exported during the strike, this had not materialised.
He also said the fact that this scenario was not adequately planned for in advance pointed to poor leadership at the ports authority, which put South Africa’s entire economy at risk.
“This includes the livelihoods of 30 000 workers in the berry industry, with at least 90% of these employees being economically vulnerable women in rural communities,” Mudge said.
The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimate the daily cost of the strike to be R1 billion a day.
Berries ZA said it was clear the country must reconsider the current Transnet monopoly on port operations.
This as the berry industry alone was expected to contribute at least R3 billion in export revenue this season, which now stood to be lost. It was clear that South African businesses need alternatives to the deeply troubled Transnet-operated ports.
“It is therefore essential the government as well as the Competition Commission review the impact of the status quo on South African businesses and livelihoods,” it said.
BUSINESS REPORT