The poultry industry in the Western Cape is crying foul over the implications of Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel’s decision to suspend poultry tariffs, putting more than 1000 jobs on the line.
The South African Poultry Association said the industry was the second biggest agricultural industry worth a R50 billion and employed more than 50 000 people across the country.
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) last week gazetted a decision to suspend anti-dumping tariffs on chicken imports from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland and Spain.
The Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) estimated that in the Western Cape, more than 1 000 jobs would be lost in the sector.
The union’s deputy general-secretary, Vuka Chonco, said the decision would reverse the gains that the industry had made.
He said many jobs were lost in the industry as a result of dumping between 2012 and 2015, which resulted in the stakeholders embarking on protests in 2016.
“Foreign chicken in our market is 30 to 35% which led us to go on the streets in 2016 to fight for our locally sold chicken. We won that fight because foreign chicken is 25% and local chicken is 75% (of the market).
“For the minister to not sign anti-dumping duties, this will give importers a space to bring more foreign chicken and we go back to square one,” he said.
The Western Cape accounts for 18.9% of the chicken market in South Africa, with the broiler birds share at 13.5%.
The South African Poultry Association’s Izaak Breitenbach said the industry had created 1 600 jobs and established black farmers as fully-fledged businesses.
“We ask for protection only against unfair and illegal trade. Minister Patel asked the industry to invest and grow and (implement) transformation in the process.
“To date, the industry has invested more than R1.5bn in growing capacity by 10% and also to create in excess of 1 600 jobs,” he said.
He said with suspended tariffs, the industry was forced to compete with dumped products despite significant investments.
Charlene Bodenham, the director of Kauthar’s Broiler Chickens in Hopefield on the West Coast, said Patel’s decision would affect their ability to stay competitive, due to high operational costs.
“This suspension will have a big impact on us because the South African Poultry Association has been fighting against these anti-dumping duties.
“If you buy in bulk, we often negotiate the prices which depend on the number of chickens you want,” said Bodenham.
Sisamkele Ndundula, a backyard Delft poultry producer, said he might be forced to decrease his prices to counter the foreign imports, while “the costs of the feed for the chickens would not drop down.”
The SA Meat Importers and Exporters Association (AMIE) has, however, supported the decision, stating that the suspension of additional tariffs on imported chicken was a first step in the right direction.
Fawu said it had called for an urgent meeting with Patel.
Weekend Argus