‘Stay out of markets,’ Grain SA warns government

Instead of meddling in the free market system, government should address poverty, separate politics from the economy and take responsibility for addressing the country’s crime. So said Grain SA chairperson Neels Ferreira at the Grain SA winter grain meeting in the Western Cape.
Returning to a regulated environment, as ANC President Jacob Zuma recently suggested, “is not the answer”, Ferreira said. “We’d have poverty within a year if we were to lose the free market system. This would lead to anarchy as it’s impossible to govern hungry people.”
Dr Roelof Botha, joint managing director of the Gopa Group SA – a joint multidisciplinary research company – added that South Africa would quickly lose its place as one of the top 30 developing countries in the world if investors got wind of a reversion to a regulated market.
He argued government needs to create a macroeconomic climate that allows producers to supply food at sustainable prices. But the rest of the supply chain also needs to do their bit.
Ferreira commented, “We can’t have single individuals making super profits at the expense of consumers and producers.” He added Grain SA and its affiliates acknowledged their role in making food more affordable. To this end, the association’s been speaking to various governmental and political roleplayers, as well as input suppliers. But, he said, Grain SA’s negotiations and requests seem to fall on deaf ears when it comes to the agriculture minister, Lulama Xingwana.
Botha believes there’ll be more impetus when the new government is announced, as the new candidates seem to grasp the importance of agriculture for job creation, food security and rural development. He said former president Thabo Mbeki’s decision to make Xingwana the agriculture minister revealed his total lack of regard for and insight into the importance of agriculture.
Ferreira also warned about the dire consequences of mixing politics with economy, especially in the agricultural sector, as this impacts on the country’s food security.
“The minister of agriculture must make peace with the fact that we farmers are here to stay and we’re part of the solution,” he said. “We won’t allow South Africa to turn into a Zimbabwe. We’re the ones that can help South Africa reach its potential and remain food-secure.”
Ferreira stressed that government must do something urgently to make the production environment safe, as the rule of law no longer seems to exist.
For this reason Grain SA is among the roleplayers who have committed R500 000 to sue government for failing to protect its people. This matter will be discussed at the Grain SA congress later this year. – Glenneis Erasmus