The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) has lambasted the government for failing to deliver on its promises that it would support the development of the local sector over the past six years.
Sapa’s Broiler Association CEO Izaak Breitenbach criticised the government for giving mere lip service to the Poultry Sector Master Plan (PSMP), which held promise to stabilise an industry hammered by dumped imports.
The PSMP was conceived as a public-private compact to rebuild the battered broiler value chain after years of illegal chicken import dumping. The master plan was signed in November 2019.
“It undertook to grow jobs, broaden black ownership and unlock export markets. Six years on, the rhetoric remains loud, but delivery has been uneven,” Breitenbach said in a statement on Monday.
“This is the story of a well-crafted plan, which achieved early gains, but risks being remembered as momentum without movement.”
The Master Plan sought to restore the effectiveness of trade remedies to curb the flood of dumped imports, which had been undermining local production, and it aimed to stimulate local demand and production growth to strengthen the domestic industry. It also envisaged the massive expansion of chicken exports, raising volumes and opening new international markets, while its fourth pillar focused on supporting transformation and broadening ownership.
“Finally, the plan aimed to strengthen governance, monitoring and financing, including the establishment of an industry-government oversight council to ensure accountability and progress. With clear targets set for 2030, the Master Plan also introduced an implementation structure to track and guide progress over time,” said Breitenbach.
He said the industry had moved swiftly after the Master Plan was signed.
“More than R2.2 billion was committed to new investment over the next five years, exceeding the Master Plan’s target of R1.5 billion. Duties and trade remedies, assisted by bird flu outbreaks in the Northern hemisphere, began to turn the tide on dumped imports, giving domestic producers room to breathe.
“Large producers expanded facilities, signed up contract growers and created jobs in line with Master Plan commitments. Transformation projects took shape, with emerging farmers brought into value chains under formal off-take agreements.”
Breitenbach said the steps had proved the plan’s potential. However, progress had slowed since the last election as the PSMP had been delegated to deputy ministers and had “lost impetus”.
Ministers have reaffirmed the Master Plan and pledged Phase 2 support. Government briefings in 2024 and 2025, including statements at a poultry conference by Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen, spoke of new financial packages, stronger veterinary surveillance, cold-chain upgrades, and greater support for small farmers.
“They also promised a mass vaccination campaign against bird flu to prevent another devastating outbreak. Yet, despite strong words, there is little measurable delivery. Exports remain locked behind bureaucratic barriers and veterinary laboratories remain understaffed and outdated,” he said.
“Critical vaccination programmes have yet to gain any traction because the government refuses to relent on conditions that poultry producers say are unaffordable and not implementable.”
Breitenbach said the master plan made government directly responsible for securing veterinary protocols and trade agreements with key markets such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the EU.
“The government’s job included upgrading animal health systems and certification capacity to safeguard exports and manage diseases while rolling out blended finance to enable small and black-owned producers to scale up. On these fronts, results have been disappointing.
“Export negotiations have stalled, leaving producers who invested in world-class cold chain and processing facilities with no new markets to sell to. Veterinary laboratories, essential for issuing internationally recognised health certificates, remain underfunded and understaffed.”
Breitenbach noted that some industry insiders have said “exports die in the lab” because “producers are ready, but the paperwork isn’t”.
“Every delay in opening export markets is a lost opportunity for black contract growers, for workers in processing plants and for all too many rural communities relying on the poultry value chain.
“The industry has played its part, but policy inconsistency and administrative inertia are turning a national success story into a stalled project. If the plan is to deliver its promise, government must move beyond pronouncements. That means publishing time-bound actions, accelerating veterinary and trade negotiations, and enabling the finance needed for small producers to stand a chance,” said Breitenbach.
