IT appears that all is not too sweet in the sugar industry as the South African Farmers Development Association (SAFDA) is at loggerheads with the South African Canegrowers Association.
This after members of SAFDA took to the streets on June 30, to protest and raise their grievances against the South African Canegrowers Association.
SAFDA accuses SA Canegrowers of having some disturbing ‘colonial and anti-transformation’ tendencies.
SAFDA chairman Dr Siyabonga Madlala said in a statement that black farmers left the SA Canegrowers at the end of 2015, to form SAFDA because of what they called oppressive colonial legacy of SA Canegrowers.
Madlala says SA Canegrowers swallowed all African, Indian, and Coloured farmers’ organisations in the early 90s in the name of uniting farmers, but black farmers found themselves just being parked with no support programmes.
“The prevailing thinking at the SA Canegrowers was never to use levies from large levy payers, those being white commercial farmers, to support those who contributed little to the levy budget of this colonial organisation. As a result, more than 30 000 farmers were lost as black small-scale farmers struggled, failed and exited this industry, which is why SAFDA was then formed to rescue these farmers,” says Madlala.
The Chairman says it is disappointing that after a long journey of changing the laws of the industry to accommodate black small-scale farmers, introducing transformation funding interventions to help sustain black small-scale farmers, and celebrating such strides as being progressive, that the SA Canegrowers is showing its “colonial colors once more by adopting disturbing tendencies, of which is to block transformation funding meant to benefit black small-scale farmers”.
“They are also involved in abhorrent fronting by using black faces to whitewash an organisation that in its core nature and character, does not believe in black people, resists their support but wants to bluff the public by wanting to be seen to be transformed and progressive,” says Madlala.
He said black farmers are not going to allow SA Canegrowers to dictate terms on the funding that was introduced through their activism for the benefit of black farmers.
“We are going to vigorously resist these tendencies and expose them for what they are. There will be a display of this resistance across the sugarcane belt to send a strong message once more,” warned Madlala.
Mzansi Agri Talk reached out to SA Canegrowers, which strongly rejected SAFDA’s allegations.
SA Canegrowers says it believes in an inclusive sugar industry and has been a leading voice in the transformation of the industry for all growers and safeguarding the livelihoods of their 21 000 small-scale growers.
In a statement, SA Canegrowers says it has, over the years, worked closely with industry stakeholders and government to achieve this.
“The success of small-scale sugarcane growers in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga is critical to ensure the future of the sugar industry in South Africa and to stabilise rural economies. As such, it is of utmost importance that transformation funding reaches all small-scale growers with fairness and accountability.
“The recent media statement by SAFDA makes several serious allegations to the contrary, and SA Canegrowers strongly reject these.
SA Canegrowers says it is an inclusive association comprised of both commercial and small-scale growers.
“The leadership and board of SA Canegrowers is democratically elected at its Annual General Meeting and is made up of individuals who are active small-scale and commercial growers, which makes it unique among sugarcane farming industry bodies. “Therefore, SAFDA’s claims that SA Canegrowers is “fronting” are patently false and is an allegation with serious implications,” read the statement.
SA Canegrowers continued to mention that transformation funding in the sugar industry comes from various sources, which are intended to support and develop previously disadvantaged individuals, including small-scale growers.
“Industry members have agreed to continue pay towards these worthy initiatives in the current 2024/25 season, committing R239 million, which surpasses the amount spent in 2023/24 (R232 million).
“Under the stewardship of the SA Sugar Association (SASA), proposed transformation interventions for 2024/25 are being reviewed following independent studies that show transformation projects should be region specific to be measurable, relevant, and impactful.”
In accordance with the recently amended Sugar Industry legislation, SA Canegrowers and SAFDA have equal responsibility to represent all South African sugarcane growers.
SA Canegrowers says it will continue to work on behalf of all canegrowers in South Africa and ensure that transformation funds are spent in an accountable and transparent manner.
“We will also continue to stand for what is right and that is to ensure that the funds reach the intended beneficiaries and are not intercepted. It is imperative that transformation is implemented in a sustainable and enduring manner across the various cane growing regions, and we will continue to advocate for this. The survival of the industry already faces many external challenges, including cheap sugar imports and the Health Promotion Levy, emphasizing the need for a fact-based collaborative approach to grower development and sustainability.”
The South African Sugar Association (SASA), a statutory body duly empowered and mandated to represent the sugar industry in South Africa, says it is aware of the issue, which is currently the subject of discussion with their members, the South African Farmers Development Association, the South African Cane Growers’ Association and the South African Sugar Millers’ Association.
SASA says the matter is being dealt with on an urgent basis.
“Over the last five years, as part of a five-year transformation plan, SASA spent R1.12 billion on transformation interventions/initiatives, especially for the benefit of black small-scale growers (SSGs). The SASA five-year transformation plan, which ended in the 2023/2024 season, has been extended to 2024/2025 with an allocation of R238.9 million. In addition, in terms of the small-scale grower support, a minimum of R60 million of Premium Price Payment (PPP) to SSGs as part of the Industry Master Plan, for a period of three seasons (2021/2022 to 2023/2024), was allocated, escalating annually to R68 051 340 in the 2023/2024 season. The 2023/2024 season was the last year of PPP,” explains SASA.
However, on 20 March 2024, SASA Council approved the extension of PPP to 2024/2025 with an inflationary adjustment, meaning the allocation for this season is R72 527 776.
Currently, SASA says it is driving the “Reimagined Cane Industry Strategy” which features diversification and transformation as the main pillars to ensure the sustainability of the industry.
“We are going to be leveraging Phase 2 of the Industry Master Plan to achieve the objectives of the ‘Reimagined Cane Industry Strategy’. As SASA, we remain fully committed to advancing meaningful transformation and sustainability throughout the value chain. I would like to call on all industry leaders to join hands and work together towards a common future – we must put aside our differences and prioritise the interests of the industry, especially those of all our growers,” said Advocate Fay Mukaddam, Independent Chairperson of SASA.
