BEE boost for citrus packing giant

SOUTH Africa‘s largest citrus packing operation, the Sunday‘s River Citrus Company, is on its way to transformation thanks to a R26-million injection from the government.

The funding, from the land affairs department, was allocated to buy three farms for the company‘s empowerment partner.

“The farms span 300 hectares of prime land near Addo and have the capacity to produce 400 000 cartons of export citrus and sustain 150 jobs, of which 40 are permanent positions,” said company marketing manager Jan Alberts.

“Our primary objective in this venture is to play an active role in the transformation of the industry and, in the long term, increase productivity,” he added.

An initial 4% annual increase in export citrus is expected by the company, which currently exports 90% of its annual 8,5 million cartons of fruit.

The provincial land affairs and agriculture departments, together with the company, have established the Sundays River Farming Trust, which has been allocated a 3,5% share in the company.

The trust will act as the commercial holding entity responsible for the management and continuous improvement of the purchased properties until the intended beneficiaries have been fully enabled to successfully farm the properties.

“The Sundays River Valley municipality acts as a development enabler that will ensure that infrastructure and services are improved within the locations, as well as act as the liaison among all role players,” said Thembile Dlamini, the municipality‘s local economic development official.

“Three emerging black farmers, together with the existing employees of the company, will be afforded with an opportunity to become beneficiaries of the trust,” said Alberts.

“They will be tasked with the operation of the farms and will undergo a focused training programme, covering aspects such as horticulture, financial planning, marketing and human resource management,” he added.