The paradox that is the South African fruit industry during the opening weeks of 2013 has been demonstrated perfectly after a special donation to farm schools in the Cape region.
While a disruptive and highly publicised farm workers strike moved into its second day, with police clashing with protesters in a number of regions causing major damage, the schools were benefiting from a donation of books collected last year during the promotional campaign for South African fruit in the UK.
The first packages of English language reading and textbooks collected during the 'Help a South African School Competition', which formed part of last year’s promotional campaign funded by South African growers to promote the sales of their fruit, were handed out on 10 January.
The competition saw schools in the UK submit South African project books with a donation of English language books, which were shipped to South Africa with the help of logistics service provider Damco to help rural schools in fruit growing regions.
Jacques du Preez, product manager at Hortgro, presented one of the first consignments of books to Wandred Theunis, headmaster at the De Rust Futura Academy – a school for many children from farming families up to the age of 18 years.
'It’s been fantastic presenting the book donations made by UK children to farming schools around the region, which are playing a vital part in educating and supporting farming families,' said Du Preez.
He noted that the competition was about creating links between the Cape schools and children in the UK, while also making a contribution to the process of transformation in the fruit-growing industry.
'This competition was the result of many months of careful planning and execution, so it’s great to see it finally come to fruition with the arrival of these books, which will be an invaluable resource for the schools in rural parts of South Africa,' Du Preez added. 'We are looking forward to building on the success of this project, when we launch it for a second year early in 2013.'
