SOUTH
AFRICA’S AGRICULTURE AND THE JULY UNREST
WHEN THE BALLOON WENT UP, WHO DID THE
GOVERNMENT TURN TO?
The protests sparked by the imprisonment of former
president Jacob Zuma in early July of this year soon descended into anarchic
mayhem. The looting of food stores,
malls, retail outlets and small food supply businesses sent panic throughout
the country. The plunderers and looters
first targeted food outlets: supermarkets, warehouses, spaza shops, food
transport trucks, mobile containers and malls. They then moved on to whatever
else they could get their hands on. The
spectre of the country running out of food must have haunted the powers that be
because they turned first of all to the farmers to ensure that there was enough
to eat for the citizenry, whatever else was happening in the country.
Leaked to the media was a government blueprint issued in a
hurry to ensure that food, above anything else, would not be plundered or
destroyed. The preservation of the
country’s food system and its safe distribution was priority number one for the
ANC government. On Saturday 17 July 2021, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries Thoko Didiza issued a statement saying she was “working with farmers
and other role players to ensure that there would be no shortage of food in Kwa
Zulu/Natal and Gauteng.” The minister
met with farmers in Durban to discuss the impact of the increasing unrest on
agriculture and food sector. She also told communities not to panic and
declared that “there is enough food in the country”, although the distribution
of this food “could be a challenge.” A
KZN agricultural group declared that transporters and distributors of food
should be a target for official protection and that “protection and security of
infrastructure during this distribution was of critical importance”.
INTERVENTION
The undated government blueprint outlined “intervention
required within the next 24 hours”. (Clearly it was being prepared early in the
week of Juy 12 as the looting and destruction got under way). Some of these
interventions included “maximum security and protection of hot spots along the
N3 and N2 national road routes;
protection of key food production firms’ facilities and infrastructure
(warehouses, bakeries, fresh produce markets, retailers and workers in KZN);
transportation of key food processing ingredients (wheat, yeast and packaging
material as well as animal feed) in and out of KZN province; and the setting up of temporary sales points
and storages (eg, mobile containers) in rural areas and townships, and
integrating SMME’s and spaza shops.
Immediate actions required to comply with the government
blueprint were that food chain retailers and other actors would share
information among themselves; that they would coordinate information concerning
limits on sales quantities of food to ensure availability of supplies; that the safe transportation of food and
non-food essential products would be ensured by protecting hot spots along the
N3 and N2 national road routes in KZN and up and down the KZN coast; that existing
food properties in Durban such as bakeries, milling facilities, distribution
centres, storage facilities and fresh produce markets in Durban and Richards
Bay would be protected; that temporary
sales points and mobile containers in rural and township areas would be set up;
that the availability of and access to fuel, electricity and water would be
secured; and that transportation of animal feed for poultry and pigs in KZN
would be protected.
It was re-emphasised in this government blueprint that the
facilities mentioned required “immediate protection”, and comprehensive lists
of names and addresses of bakeries, maize milling facilities, distribution
centres and storage facilities were included in the document.
WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR TAKING THE ACTION
REQUIRED BY THE BLUEPRINT?
Those in charge of putting the blueprint into action to
protect essential food services were designated by name. Minister of
Agriculture Didiza, for example, was to ensure optimal security and deployment
of “security personnel” by 16 July 2021 “to safeguard and open the N3 and N2
transportation routes”. This she was tasked to do “after consultation with
security cluster”. (It can be assumed this cluster meant the police and the
army. There is no other official group tasked with securing national roads and
road transportation in South Africa.)
The minister was also to “ensure optimal security and deployment of
security personnel by 16 July to patrol the identified key and strategic food
processing facilities.” A list of 16
bakeries was attached to the blueprint, as well as 26 maize milling facilities
that needed “immediate protection”. The
“distribution centres” outlined by the minister in the blueprint needing
“immediate protection” amounted to 36 in all, and they were named. They
included Pioneer Foods, Simba factories, Boxer meat packing outlets, Spar
supermarket in Phoenix (a suburb in Durban) and in other areas, Shoprite
supermarkets, Pick n Pay food retailers, a food import warehouse, Woolworths,
Ackermans, Pep stores, Clicks, SAB and Clover, to mention just a few.
A crucial point made was that Minister Didiza must provide
“a contact person in the security cluster that private companies could contact
for coordinating safe transportation of food along the N3 and N2 national
roads.” Minister Didiza was also responsible, with Ms. Ntshavheni, the
president’s press spokesperson, to provide “a contact person within the
security cluster that private companies could contact for protection of
temporary sales points in rural and township areas.”
(Ministers Gordhan and Mbalula were tasked with providing a
“contact person” who would assist businesses to facilitate the use of air
freight for emergency food and medical items in KZN using the King Shaka
airport.)
WHAT WENT WRONG?
It all looked very efficient on paper. However, it happened
that the “security cluster” of which the minister speaks – presumably the
police and the army – were totally overwhelmed by the numbers of plunderers and
looters and burners, so the ability of the “security cluster” to contain
anything, let alone the protection of bakeries, warehouses, the national roads
and the mills, was woefully inadequate.
Persons who were actually contacted within the “security
clusters” have not been revealed, if anyone was contacted at all. Clearly as
thousands of looters and plunderers descended on shopping malls, supermarkets and warehouses and robbed these places to
their hearts’ content, those within the
“security cluster” who were tasked to protect these places were nowhere to be
seen. In many instances, the overwhelmed
police simply stood behind barriers and watched the passing parade of loot. It
was not their fault – some tried to act but were hopelessly outnumbered. They
ran out of rubber bullets. There was no barbed wire and no tear gas. The
citizenry were forced to defend themselves and their properties using their own
devices. Businesses were left high and dry, despite the contacts ostensibly
made within the “security clusters”.
Supermarkets, malls, warehouses and hundreds of small shops
were thrown to the wolves. Their staff could not keep the mobs at bay. The
police (and then the army who were deployed at a later stage) were in many
instances simply spectators. Where were the designated people within the
“security clusters” which Minister Didiza was supposed to have selected and
whose details were to be passed on to the food outlets so they could be
contacted for protection?
THE DAMAGE
More than 300 Shoprite Holdings and Pick n Pay stores were
hit by looters during the riots in both KZN and Gauteng. The Foschini Group
reported 190 shops damaged and looted, while Pepkor announced that 489 of their
shops had been plundered, as was one of their distribution centres. One hundred
and eighty four Spar shops were looted and damaged. A video of a Spar truck
burning on a road surrounded by dancing plunderers stealing the trucks’
contents was seen by thousands not only in SA but in Holland, seat of the
company’s head office, and all over the world. (What an invitation to possible
investors!). Massmart lost 33 shops to the mob, plus two distribution centres
which were seriously burnt.
As for the highway situation, newspapers printed maps of
“hot spots on the N3 and the N2” where transport vehicles were stopped, burnt
and robbed. No police were seen near these vehicles to protect drivers, let
alone the trucks’ contents. The plunderers’ N3 roadblocks started at Harrismith
in the Free State and continued right through to Durban. There were ten places
on the road identified as impassable due to violence and unrest. Some truck drivers
were lucky to escape with their lives, others were not so fortunate. These
crucial thoroughfares were closed to traffic for nearly a week, despite
minister Didiza’s promise “to ensure security and deployment of security
personnel to safeguard the N3 and N2 transportation routes, after consultation
with the security cluster”.
(In the first quarter of 2021, transport truck hijacking
increased 17.5% on the previous year. This burning of trucks has been occurring
in South Africa for four years but the government has done nothing to control
this hijacking tyranny. Each truck can cost between R3 and R5 million.)
Shoprite said of the 1189 outlets trading under the
Shoprite umbrella, 119 stores had been
”severely damaged as a result of
looting and fire damage”. (The Star 21.7.21) Out of the 537-store South African
LiquorShop businesses which were at the time restricted from trading under
Covid-19 alert levels and lockdown regulations, 54 stores were impacted, while
35 out of the 340 South African furniture division stores were severely damaged
by vandalism, looting and/or fire. Of the 444 SA- based OK franchise stores, 16
were badly damaged.
Pick n Pay said that 136 stores across the group were
looted and/or damaged including 68 Pick n Pay stores and 68 Boxer stores. In
addition 76 P n P and Boxer liquor stores were looted and/or burned. (Doing the
rounds during the mayhem was a video of a Boxer store being attacked in
KwaMashu near Durban, with no police in sight. The public were reporting on it
and taking pictures but nobody from a “security cluster” appeared to help
defend this store. Staff were doing their best to keep the mob at bay, with
little success).
Massmart reported looting of 33 stores and two distribution
centres. Mr. Price lost 7% of its total footprint, while Pepkor lost almost 9%
of its total footprint. Tiger Brands lost stock of more than R150 million,
while 200 liquor stores and warehouses were looted. Ninety nine of Famous Brands franchise stores
(Wimpy, Debonairs, Fishaways) were damaged beyond repair and could not reopen.
Its logistics warehouse in Westmead, Gauteng, was damaged beyond repair.
(Rapport 18.7.21).
Many farms in KZN were targeted. Around 353,000 tons of
sugar cane was burnt to the ground. Two broiler chicken farms and one chicken
breeding farm belonging to Astral foods were burnt or vandalized. Thousands of
day-old chickens had to be destroyed because there was no food for them. Dairy
farms in KZN supply around 25% of the country’s fresh milk and some of these
farms were targeted. According to paper manufacturer Sappi, 28 tons of pulp and
7 000 tons of paper worth R220 million were destroyed. Around 110 cell phone towers were damaged in
the mayhem, and at least 1400 rural banks were decimated, with at least 300
post offices plundered. These examples
are truly the tip of the iceberg.
So who within the “security clusters” did Minister Didiza
contact? Police Minister Behke Cele? Police commissioner Sithole? Local police
station officials? Will we ever know?
All we can surmise is that the plan of “intervention” to prevent damage to
South Africa went horribly awry, but nobody has commented on this monumental
failure of putting into action what was promised in Minister Didiza’s
“intervention plan”. This lapse cost South Africa the very fabric of its
society. It almost cost the country its soul. Nobody appears to have been
called to account for this particular catastrophe. Will a Commission of Enquiry
get to the bottom of why the “security clusters” were not up to scratch, given the forewarnings and the locations of
outlets to be especially protected?
It is ironic that when panic set in around possible food
shortages, the government went first to the farming community and the food
chains. These groups responded quickly and saved the day for the ANC. Despite
the plunder and the looting, there was food available for 60 million people.
To date this year there have been 153 farm attacks with 25
people murdered, yet no comment has been forthcoming from Minister Didiza. Yet
this week a black farm family was attacked and killed on a Free State farm.
Minister Didiza’s immediate press release denounced this incident. Last week
Mpumalanga head of police said he would not rest until the suspects in the
murder of a black security guard on a farm near Brondal were behind bars.
Said Henry Geldenhuys, TLU SA president: “It’s tough not to
conclude that the minister and her colleagues find the murders of some people
more important than others.”
We can add the trait of gratitude to the long list of the
ANC’s lack of many basic human virtues such as compassion, accountability,
shame and a sense of responsibility. Why should we expect gratitude given their
behaviour and their less-than-salubrious history?
Minister Thoko Didiza declared that she wanted to safeguard
the food chain. The question is: will she have any food chain to safeguard if
farmers are not secure on their properties? The source of all the food in South
Africa is with 35 000 commercial farmers. If she ignores their welfare, in the
end she will have no food chain to protect.
http://tlu.co.za/nuusbriewe/int-bulletin/25/int-bulletin-25.html
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