- The agriculture sector cannot risk transporting goods and produce on roads where attacks are possible.
- This is disrupting the supply chain from the farm gate to the shop shelves.
- Food security, especially in most affected parts of the country, is fast becoming a looming threat.
Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal face looming food shortages as riots and looting disrupt the agricultural supply chain.
A dairy farmer in the Ixopo area of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), who wants to remain anonymous, told Fin24 on Tuesday he had to throw away 28 000 litres of milk worth R160 000 because the transport company said it cannot risk its trucks on the roads.
The farmer says the same amount of milk will have to be destroyed every day until it can again be fetched and delivered to a processing plant in Durban. The plant to which its milk is delivered has also been damaged and repairs need to be done before it can again accept milk.
"Fresh milk has a sophisticated cold chain and this is going to have a massive impact. You cannot just sell it off the street," the farmer added.
Some farmers have lost up to R3 million between Friday and Monday because they could not get their fresh produce such as tomatoes and green peppers to markets for fear that trucks might be burnt and their produce destroyed, says Christo van der Rheede, executive director of the country's largest agricultural industry organisation, Agri SA.
"People are already lining up in front of food shops in KZN. I don't want to cause panic. It is still a localised problem only in certain areas at the moment, but we cannot have a situation where this becomes nationwide unrest and the economy coming to a standstill. We cannot afford for food production to be disrupted," he said.
He has heard reports of sugar plantations deliberately being destroyed and livestock being stolen. Furthermore, the citrus industry exports via the Durban harbour have come to a halt as the N3 is closed, says Van der Rheede.
"These are pure acts of destruction and crime. This anarchy cannot be allowed to continue. If this continues for another week or two it will seriously affect the availability of food in KZN and Gauteng," he said.
Distribution challenge
Dr John Purchase, CEO of the industry body for agribusiness, Agbiz, says it is engaging through Business Unity SA (BUSA) with government's security and economic clusters to help identify hotspots and mitigate risks.
"More than 600 stores have already been looted or burnt [down], mostly in KZN and Gauteng. This will make the distribution of and access to food a problem, especially in areas where there was only one food store. The distribution centres of big retail outlets will also be impacted," explains Purchase.
"The N3 corridor is very important and about 500 trucks were carting citrus down to the Durban harbour per day. This cannot be done now, causing a backlog as all the warehouses are already full. The cold storage chain is vital for fresh fruit. At the same time maize exports are hampered as well as the ability to bring in imported wheat."
He explains that usually agribusinesses provide the transport of produce from farms to processing plants, grain silos or abattoirs. From there it is distributed to supermarkets and shops.
"If agribusinesses are not able to get products to supermarkets and distribution centres, people are going to battle to get food in about three or four days’ time. Shops are likely not going to restock. We foresee a crisis worsening over the next couple of days in terms of access to food," said Purchase. "If the roads are not secure, it is difficult to move anything as the risks to lives, trucks and cargo are too great."
Alternative routes
Dr Theo de Jager, chairperson of the Southern African Agri Initiative (SAAI), says they have been looking at possible alternative routes to transport produce to destinations. They are also looking at potentially using alternative harbours and alternative storage facilities.
"The predicament of the agricultural sector is that our products have limited shelf lives. We cannot just wait until order is restored to transport our products to harbours and storage. Food security over the short term is at stake here. Unfortunately, I have seen a number of trucks burnt and looted, mostly on the main roads to harbours and storage facilities," says De Jager.
"At this stage, farmers are holding back as far as they can to see if conditions improve with law and order restored. A significant part of food that leaves the farm gates need to be kept in the cold chain and that is more vulnerable than normal transport and storage. There is enough food in SA, but it might become hard to get the food to where it is needed. We are really concerned about the vulnerability of the urban consumer market in Gauteng, which is the biggest local consumer market of food in SA."
Alcohol
Although the sale of alcohol is currently banned, the transportation thereof is not.
No incidents have been reported regarding transport in the wine industry in the Western Cape by Tuesday afternoon. According to Maryna Calow, communications manager of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), which promotes SA wine exports, it is keeping an eye on the situation.
Distell says it is not risking transporting products in areas affected by violence and looting.
According to a source in the bread baking industry, if the N3 cannot open soon, the supply of raw materials from suppliers in to major bakeries in Gauteng could lead to bread shortages as early as next week.