KZN and Gauteng unrest: Citrus industry rolling out a recovery plan to continue exports
19 July 2021
The Citrus Grower Association of Southern Africa (CGA) strongly condemns the wave of looting and arson that swept across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last week. While the citrus value chain has been impacted, most critically by the closure of the Durban port, the industry has and will continue to ensure that citrus is exported to key markets.
In this regard, growers in the northern provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga have been diverting their fruit to other ports across the country, with citrus from other regions continuing to be exported from Cape Town and Coega ports. Last week saw little impact on volumes of citrus being exported to markets including the European Union, Middle East, China and the United States.
In order to ensure the full recovery of the entire value chain in KwaZulu-Natal , the CGA has been engaging with stakeholders in the public and private sector on a daily basis to get an update on the situational analysis on the ground and to identify any risks that are hampering the full recovery of the supply chain. Through its membership in Agbiz, this information is then being provided to government on a continuous basis.
With calm having been restored in most areas in the province, the Durban port and arterial routes and railways to the port have reopened. All citrus fruit cold storage facilities in the province are also fully secured and operational.