The South Africa Farmers Development Association (Safda) is celebrating 10 years of existence. As part of their celebrations, they will be looking at the impact they have made over the past decade.
Food For Mzansi spoke to the chief executive officer, Dr Siyabonga Madlala, who reflected on their journey and what it means for them as a black organisation operating in the sugar industry.
Tiisetso Manoko: Reflecting on the past 10 years, what has been the organisation’s highs and lows?
Dr Siyabonga Madlala: The formation of our organisation was a tough one. We were formed from a split from an old organisation and there were doubts if ever blacks can really do it on their own. We were labelled as people who just wanted money or just entrepreneurs. So we crisscrossed KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga being on the ground telling our members and farmers why there is a need to form Safda.
We had people leaving the South African Canegrowers Association sacrificing their salaries to establish this organisation. So this was a difficult part but farmers jumped in and made it what Safda is today. And farmers understand the pains and troubles they have been going through will be addressed by our organisation. So it was a rough start for us. It took us two to three years until the industry could recognise it, they took us to court but we won.
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Do you think Safda has made a significant impact on the agricultural sector since its inception?
Even those who became our detractors have since become beneficiaries of the work we [are] doing at Safda. When we started the organisation, it was during the difficult times when the sugar industry was on its knees, the industry was going down. It was nearing a collapse and massive job losses were looming.
There were closures of some mills, the sugar tax matter was there, and there were imports where our localised sugar was being substituted by fake sugar. We came into the industry when it was devastated, we took this industry to the streets, [and] we marched to Parliament and Union Buildings. So we fought for the survival of the industry.
And this resulted in government looking at this industry in. different way, the revival of rural development became a reality, we played a role in ensuring that our government facilitate a master plan. At the moment the industry is at a better place compared to when we entered. Exports are not a threat like they were at a time.
Coming from a breakaway, how did Safda remain intact for the past decade?
I think like many other black organised agriculture organisations, we are a development institution and we have an element of advocacy in us. So we bring bread and butter solutions to our farmers. We are not trying to be a political party, we just remain in our lane and serve our members and as such there is no way farmers cannot want to be part of such an organisation. That is what is unique about us.
At the moment we have demonstrated our ability, farmers are benefitting across the sugar industry, we are doing what we said we going to do. Farmers are receiving benefits in terms of monetary value. The life of farmers is changing, their children are able to go to universities and build houses for their families both in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
What can we expect from Safda in 2025 as part of your celebrations?
Our celebration is actually looking back in the year 2024 where we got formal industry recognition from government. So for me, I believe the foundation has being laid for me – that is the biggest highlight as we talk about celebrations, We will be focusing on the milling, we want to see our farmers being integrated into the milling sector. We want our farmers not only to be a primary producer but to play in the entire value chain. We believe our farmers are ready to go to the other levels.
What is your message to the farmers as you guys celebrate 10 years?
We are reimagining the agricultural sector – that is our biggest message for the 10-year celebration. We [are] saying reimagine a black farmer taking centre stage in the entire agricultural sector. We want farmers to not only be consumers of the food they do but also play in the area of production. We [are] saying whatever we consume we must produce.
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