South African berry producers association BerriesZA has written to key national Ministers and Transnet’s executives to request their “urgent and forceful” intervention in the strike action that started on October 6, which has resulted in the ports authority declaring a force majeure across all South African ports.

The open-ended strike has occurred during the peak of the berry export season, which means even a single day of ports not operating will have a significant knock-on effect on the entire berry value chain, putting 30 000 livelihoods who depend on the industry at risk, in addition to millions of rand in lost export revenue, posits BerriesZA chairperson Justin Mudge.

“The latest strike action also follows the industry having been severely impacted by ongoing operational issues at the country’s ports as a result of aging and out-of-service infrastructure, inefficient systems and staff shortages.

“Delayed shipments, as a result of the poor port performance, have affected the quality of berries that reach international markets, resulting in product rejection rates from receiving clients skyrocketing to an unprecedented quarter of a billion rand last year,” Mudge outlines.

He adds that exacerbating this problem is a surge in input costs faced by farmers, including a hike in fertiliser and fuel prices, as well as soaring freight rates.

As a result, over a third of local berry producers are currently not profitable, which means their survival and the livelihoods they support are under severe threat, Mudge emphasises.

“The latest strike action could be the final nail in the coffin for berry farmers who fill a critical gap in the labour sector, due to their harvest season running from September to November before the early stone fruit and table grape harvest season commences,” he says.

Mudge says Transnet has been engaging with industry over the past three days with regard to their negotiations with the United National Transport Union (Untu) and the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu).

He says Transnet had reassured port users that the situation is under control.

“However, Untu and Satawu’s decision to embark on a strike and Transnet declaring a force majeure in the past 24 hours clearly shows that the ports authority does not have a handle on the situation, inexplicably providing no indication of when this current impasse will end or detailed contingency plans,” Mudge avers.

He informs that BerriesZA has written to Transnet’s executives requesting a meeting to discuss what specific contingency plans could be put in place to ensure the continued movement of berries through the ports.

Moreover, it has written to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza and Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel, requesting their urgent intervention to mitigate the impact of the current strike and to ensure the current wage increase dispute is resolved as soon as possible.