Johan van Niekerk, chairman of the South African Table Grape Industry, has called for urgent intervention by all stakeholders to bring an end to violence in the Western Cape area.
He said: “As part of the fruit industry and the direct recipients of the current unrest, we commit ourselves to partner with government and labour to develop a fruit industry development plan, to address the challenges of the socio-economic environment in the Western Cape.”
Van Niekerk also highlighted the vulnerability of the harvest and pointed out the crop could be in jeopardy if it is not harvested at the correct time. “This will result not only in massive losses to farmers but also in the loss of employment income as well as the longer-term loss of export markets,” he warned.
The industry is concerned that ongoing unrest will cause long-term damage to the sustainability of the industry in South Africa as well as its image abroad.
“Finally and more importantly, farm workers’ lives are being threatened by criminals and the level of lawlessness is causing irreparable damage to Brand South Africa,” concluded Niekerk.
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