Damage to sugarcane farms putting ‘thousands of rural jobs at risk’
The South African Canegrowers Association has written to government asking for immediate financial relief for small scale growers in KwaZulu-Natal impacted by last month's civil unrest.
Chairperson Andrew Russell says millions of rands' worth of sugarcane has been rejected by mills.
Mills were temporarily closed during the violence.
This meant farmers were stuck with their cane for a while.
Some of them suffered damage after their fields were torched.
Russell warns there are now thousands of rural jobs at risk.
”Sugar mills in the province have rejected more than a 130 000 tonnes of damaged cane so far, which amounts to R84.5 million in lost revenue. Almost a third of this belongs to small-scale growers who can least afford revenue losses of this magnitude.
“We are engaging with stakeholders, including the Department of Trade and Industry, the IDC and Parliament.
“In recent weeks we have hosted oversight visits to show these stakeholders the scale of the damage. We hope these visits will spur urgent intervention, including immediate financial relief.”
