SA CANEGROWERS ANNUAL ROADSHOW A MASSIVE SUCCESS

Colleen Dardagan

The SA Canegrowers’ leadership and top management have concluded the organisation’s annual roadshow, visiting its members in all 12 of the industry’s sugarcane growing regions.

Above: SA Canegrowers’ Board Chairman, Higgins Mdluli welcomes growers to the annual roadshow meeting in Pongola.

The meetings which took close to two weeks to conclude started in Paddock on 22nd May in Southern KwaZulu-Natal and ended at Malalane in Mpumalanga on the 30th of May. 

Chairman of the SA Canegrowers’ Board, Higgins Mdluli, said the main aim of the roadshow was to report back to growers on the organisation’s work over the previous year and to give them an opportunity to raise any questions or issues that they might have. “It is always a privilege to report back to growers on the work that we are doing at SA Canegrowers' to support them and to make sure they remain profitable, sustainable and resilient.” 

Mdluli said the meetings were well attended across the regions.

Above left: SA Canegrowers' Vice Chairman, Andrew Russell thanks the growers who turned out in their numbers at each of the roadshow events. 

Above right: SA Canegrowers' Industry Affairs Manager, Dr Muhammad Kadwa informed growers on key industry issues linked to the import tariff, the Health Promotion Levy, pricing and market conditions.

Vice Chairman at SA Canegrowers, Andrew Russell, said one of the highlights was the appreciation expressed by the growers who attended. “So many expressed their appreciation for the professional and considerate way their issues are addressed at SA Canegrowers. It is a very important thing for us that our growers are given an opportunity to raise any issues that they might have and to ask questions about the work that we do to support them,” Russell said.

Above: SA Canegrowers' Vice Chair, Nolusizwe Mzoneli addresses growers who attended the SA Canegrowers’ roadshow event at the Umhlali Country Club.

Russell said key questions from those who attended included progress on diversification strategies, grower development, the sugar price, sugar tax and the import tariff.

SA Canegrowers’ CEO, Dr Thomas Funke, detailed strategic aims, governance, communication, innovation and how the organisation is driving its diversification strategy which had started with the development, production and marketing of Shesha™ - the first energy drink made from raw sugarcane.

Grower Affairs Manager at SA Canegrowers, Jacques Schoeman, highlighted development and other projects undertaken by staff in the various regions which had positively impacted commercial and small-scale growers and the extended communities who exist in and around sugarcane producing areas.

Above: Dr Thomas Funke brings growers up-to-date on the strategy adopted by SA Canegrowers to drive diversification of the industry.

Above: SA Canegrowers Grower’ Affairs Manager, Jacques Schoeman detailed development programmes which were run during the year to benefit small and large-scale growers as well as the extended communities that exist in and around South Africa’s sugarcane growing regions.

Dr Muhammad Kadwa, who heads up the Industry Affairs portfolio at SA Canegrowers, focused particularly on the RV price, the import tariff and progress on the Tongaat Hulett Limited business rescue process. “The Health Promotion Levy or sugar tax was also an important topic for growers and its impact on the overall sustainability of the sector into the future. We also discussed the need for a higher import tariff and why we think government needs to make some adjustments to the Sugar Industry Agreement.”

Above: The Vukani Ladies Co-operative at Eston who actively market the SA Canegrowers’ Shesha energy drink in their region.

Dr Kadwa stressed that it was now more important than ever that growers assist the association with its Large and Small-scale SA Canegrowers Industry Surveys. “More and more we are being asked for accurate industry data – particularly from the government – so it is really important that we continue to produce credible and accurate data which we have done for almost 100 years,” he said.