Dear Editor

The Democratic Alliance conducted an oversight visit at Addo and Kirkwood, in the Sarah Baartman District to ascertain the extent of the challenges faced by farmers.

Information received indicated that farmers were dumping citrus fruit, due to higher costs and various other factors, with tons of citrus fruit on the trees that must still be picked. See photos here, here and here.

The variable farming costs and other factors which caused the dumping of citrus fruit, amongst others, include the cost of production, transport and labour costs and the lack of market access.

The long unnecessary workers’ strike action, led by SANCO that took place earlier this year, caused infrastructural damages of around R500 million, and contributed to some of the current challenges.

The small towns of Kirkwood and Addo which depend heavily on the citrus farming economy are faced with bleak economic prospects and major job losses.

Despite these challenges, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) failed to assess the situation.

The black emerging farmers on 30 years PLAS farms lease are faced with a gloomy future. These farmers can’t pick or spray because they cannot afford it.

For many farmers who can, they are going to use this time to leverage with their banks before the situation worsens. However, the disgruntled land reform farm beneficiaries cannot use their farms as security to borrow from the banks to cover spraying and next input costs because their contract with the government does not make provisions.

Despite DALRRD knowing these challenges, it failed to make an allocation for this kind of disaster or future commercialization prospects.

Furthermore, farmers lamented heavily about the lack of market access in the United States of America (USA). In the past, the USA refused citrus from South Africa due to black spots. However, there have been incidents of black spots in California and Florida.

After the industry spotted the gap in 2017, they worked with the department and prepared protocol negotiation documents and to date, the industry has had no feedback.

While DALRRD was kept abreast regarding the increased planting of citrus in the country, the department has failed to intensify efforts of concluding new protocols for market access.

The current freight costs and petrol prices have made it uneconomical to take the fruit to the market. Hence, farmers have opted to dump these fruits. While the costs of picking the fruit, fertiliser costs, petrol costs and freight costs have doubled, the citrus fruit prices have halved.

The DA reiterates its call on the government to reduce the fuel levies to alleviate the burden of costs on food production.

Furthermore, we call on DALRRD to address key failures of the land reforms that include, amongst others, provision of post-settlement support, provision of title deeds to allow farmers to engage directly with the banks to borrow funding and opening of new markets for farmers.

Regards

Noko Masipa MP
DA Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

The South African National Parks (SANParks), in partnership with TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa and First National Bank (FNB) has announced that the 17th annual South African National Parks Week kicks off in a week.

The free access week will run from 12 to 18 September 2022.

“SA National Parks week is aimed at linking the South African national parks system to the communities and to showcase the best of our country’s national parks. During the week, all South African citizens are allowed to enter most national parks for free for a day visit,” said SANParks General Manager: Media, PR & Stakeholder Relations, Reynold Thakhuli.

“The week in partnership with TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa and FNB is meant to cultivate a sense of pride in South Africa’s natural, cultural and historical heritage, protected by the national parks system which is the basis for the established theme ‘Know Your National Parks’. It’s important for South Africans to visit and know the importance of national parks,” Thakhuli said.

This year SANParks will open the week in Augrabies Falls National Park.

The feature element of this campaign is the free access granted to all South African day visitors carrying their official Identity Documents. Young persons under the age of 16 will be allowed free access without proof of identity.

The free access to the parks will not include accommodation and commercial activities in the park such as guided safaris in vehicles or guided walks.

Kruger, Addo Elephant, Augrabies, Agulhas, Table Mountain and |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park will only have free access until Friday 16 September. Namaqua National Park and Boulders Penguin Colony and the Cableway in Table Mountain National Park are not included in the free access.

“Every year SANParks aims to increase the number of citizens that are granted free access to national parks during this time. Since we started the programme in 2006, some 619 252 South Africans have been afforded the opportunity to enter national parks, and we want to see these numbers grow, especially after the last two years which halted travel around the world,” Thakhuli said.

SANParks encourages all South Africans and especially the youth to diarise these dates and plan a visit to a national park nearby.

“The survival of the South African national parks system and our natural and cultural heritage lies in the people of South Africa,” said Thakhuli. – SAnews.gov.za

Eastern Cape Mountain bikers and trail runners have an “amazing opportunity” to enjoy the very best of the Zuurberg and Addo wilderness at the BDO Hayterdale Classic MTB Race & Trail Run later this month.

That is the opinion of BDO’s managing partner Mark Willimott, who is a seasoned cyclist and adventure sport enthusiast.

The Gqeberha tax, auditing and advisory services firm has stepped in as the new title sponsor, with a tacit commitment to support it for three further years.

Willimott, along with several colleagues, will put in the hard yards during the weekend of August 27 and 28 and urged riders and runners to take full advantage of the impeccable trails, which include several sections of the former South African XCO Championships course.

Competitors also use singletrack sections that are usually reserved for the Great Zuurberg Trek and Great Zuurberg Trek E-edition – both three-day boutique events.

“The trails are amazing and the Hayter family have invested a lot of time and effort in creating and maintaining it,” said Willimott. “They host a number of well-known events and it is really great to be associated with the family in this way.”

With less taxing options in both disciplines available, he felt it was the perfect opportunity for first-timers to experience something new while enjoying exercise in the scenic vistas of the Zuurberg mountains.

“If you haven’t been, come have a look,” said Willimott, who simply describes it as a “beautiful part of our region”.

He said the format made it easy to combine the races with a night away and to add excursions to a variety of activities – such as a drive through the Addo Elephant National Park – to one’s itinerary.

Willimott has cycled the trails on numerous occasions and said a longstanding friendship with race owner Trevor Hayter had led to their investment.

“We were onboard at their very first event and this is also a great opportunity for us to be involved with members of the community and to entrench lasting relationships.”

The company was founded in 2006 and have seen “incredible growth since its inception”, according to Willimott.

“As a founding partner of BDO Gqeberha, we started the office with the ambitious goal of becoming a fully-fledged professional services firm, within the brand of BDO and their trusted support.

“Now we have 125 professionals in the local office, and over 2 000 staff nationally.”

He said BDO employees described the environment as a “family with focus”.

“It is a positive work environment that promotes employee wellbeing, productivity and growth, which dovetails with lifestyle activities such as mountain biking and trail running.”

Nato Oosthuizen, a partner, said the company’s focus was to provide services to high-profile clients and to nurture young talent.

“BDO Gqeberha’s vision has been to create a base for local professionals to have the career they hope for through providing local and international exposure,” he said.

The BDO Hayterdale Classic MTB Race & Trail Run is supported by Investec, Nutritech, Engeli Enterprise Development, Pam Golding Properties, Hayterdale Trails and Mountain Events.

The trail run – which offers 18km, 12km and 6km route options – starts proceedings off on the Saturday. The mountain bike event, which takes place on the Sunday, has 40km, 40km e-bike and 25km choices.

The event takes place at Hayterdale Trails just outside Addo and online entries close at midnight on August 24.

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