South Africa has enough money to import the maize it needs to address food shortages this year and it is working with logistics providers and the agricultural sector to ensure the country has the capacity and equipment to manage the additional import demands.
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Senzeni Zokwana, gave these assurances during a media briefing on Friday where he announced that his department would also provide drought relief to the value of R305.3 million.
“National conditions are generally poor in the maize triangle (Mpumalanga, Free State and North West), with Mpumalanga showing optimism on maize condition,” said Zokwana, noting that up to six million tonnes of yellow and white maize would need to be imported.
“Combined with the predicted regional needs such as Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland, import needs will be at 10.9 million tonnes, covering other commodities such as soya and wheat,” he said.
Zokwana said ports should be used as throughput areas and not as storage points, to ensure the creation of space.
“Transnet will allocate addition trailers to match the needed capacity,” he said, adding that government and industry had already established a logistics coordinating team.
