South Africa’s citrus industry is concerned that as the industry approaches the peak of citrus deliveries to the port, criminals are now torching trucks on the country’s major routes.
The SANDF has been deployed to protect road users and police are making headway with arrests. To date, five suspects have been arrested in connection with the attacks. However, details about the motive behind the arson remain sketchy.
According to Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers Association (CGA), they are concerned by the recent wave of attacks on trucks and truck drivers.
Transport costs skyrocket
“What this economic sabotage does, is increase the cost of transport through higher insurance premiums, additional security measures, and replacement of vandalised equipment,” Chadwick said.
There are about 2 200 trucks on the road per week transporting citrus from the northern regions, with a further 1 200 in the Eastern Cape, and 1 000 in the Western and Northern Cape.
The increased costs are passed on to consumers of the transported goods, Chadwick pointed out.
“In the case of citrus, exporters now have to pay more impacting on already strained returns to the farm; and in the worst case, some trucking companies are refusing to operate under these circumstances,” Chadwick explained.
A strong case for railway
The CGA has welcomed the strong response by the government. However, they said there is a strong case to be made for moving a good tonnage off the roads and onto the rail.
“Here again, criminality is an issue as cable theft impacts rail reliability. The perishable nature of fruit as a cargo means that it must move seamlessly through to the port, with no delays en route,” Chadwick said.
The CGA believes that in order to see significant volumes shifted from road to rail, the issues around reliability will need to be addressed, as will investment in equipment and infrastructure.
Trouble brewing in the US
The citrus industry is faced with another threatening reality, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). This is a preferential trade agreement of the United States with many African countries of which South Africa is by far the largest beneficiary.
Chadwick said if the United States decides not to extend their free trade agreement, citrus will suffer. “Almost two billion Rand in export revenue will be threatened and thousands of rural jobs would be impacted. Currently, because of phytosanitary restrictions, only citrus from the Western and Northern Cape is shipped to the US.”
The citrus industry in these two provinces sustains an estimated 35 000 jobs at the farm level, with additional jobs right through the supply chain. An additional 20 000 jobs in the US are also linked to the exports, Chadwick said.
Mzansi’s citrus is a huge hit with Americans
Over the last few years, South Africa has been exporting more and more of its citrus to this market, with Americans eager to buy SA’s oranges, mandarins and grapefruit.
Exports to the US almost doubled from 60 000 tons in 2020 to 112 594 tons last year, bringing in R1.6 billion in export revenue and supporting thousands of jobs.
This impressive progress is in large part due to Agoa, which provides preferential market access to a wide range of African products, including South African citrus.
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