South Africa

A farmworker, Doreen Frieslaar, has been killed and numerous others have been injured in a road accident on Tuesday, 4 January on the N1 between De Doorns and Worcester.

Restrictions on people’s movements during the various COVID-19-related lockdown stages last year appear not to have helped reduce the number of murders on South Africa’s farms and smallholdings.

It is too early to determine the extent of the damage caused to grain plantings following extremely high rainfall in parts of the western Free State during the past two weeks, but it can be assumed that the damage is extensive.

South Africans have been warned not to use the parasiticide, ivermectin, as a preventative or curative treatment for COVID-19. This is after the international debate on the drug’s effectiveness against the disease reached local shores late last year.

The South African wine industry expects a promising 2021 wine grape harvest, according to the industry’s first crop estimate.

While macadamias rode out the storm last year, 2021 is likely to see a price decrease in US dollar terms for the first time in years.

Not only is a record crop predicted for this season’s wheat harvest, but wheat prices have also achieved record highs.

Limited marketing opportunities for secondary fruit can be a big challenge for table grape producers this season, according to Francois Rossouw, managing director of Mooigezicht Estates near De Doorns.

The strong demand for avocados is expected to keep prices stable during 2021 as global players start entering the Asian market. In the past, demand for avocados was driven by consumers in the US and EU, but Asia was fast catching up.

Although chicken and eggs are popular, lower-cost protein sources for many South African consumers, widespread unemployment and other COVID-19-related economic challenges will pose a major threat to demand in 2021.

The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza recently gazetted the new statutory citrus export levy for 2021, which has been welcomed by the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA).

A recent ruling in the South African Land Claims Court (SALCC) has opened a door for landowners to successfully achieve court orders compelling farm dwellers to reduce their livestock numbers on overstocked land.

The mango harvest is in full swing, and an increase in volume on the market has led to pressure on prices.

During coming months, South African consumers will be educated about and encouraged to consume more locally manufactured sugar and sugar products.

The signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between South Africa and China in December 2020, offers a major opportunity for South African fruit exports to China.

A small group of residents of traditional authority lands in KwaZulu-Natal, together with supporting non-governmental organisations, recently jointly submitted an application to the Pietermaritzburg High Court to challenge the Ingonyama Trust Board’s (ITB) decision to make all residents of these lands sign lease agreements.

The executive board of the International Society for the Study of Rural Crime (ISSRC) recently bestowed the prestigious Joseph F. Donnermeyer New Scholar Award on Dr Willem Lombard, an agricultural economist at the University of the Free State.

Tongaat Hulett’s ailing fortunes in recent years appear to be on a trajectory of recovery, judging by its recently released interim financial results for the first half-year ended 30 September 2020 (H1 2020).

The wine industry has expressed relief that the ban on wine sales by wine cellars on Sundays has been lifted, reversing regulations published in the Government Gazette on 15 December, prohibiting wine tastings and sales on Sundays.

The Competition Commission’s (CompCom) third essential food pricing monitoring report has found that retail food prices have not returned to normal, following increases during the initial ‘hard’ lockdown in South Africa to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.