Botswana, Namibia ban import of some SA produce
Botswana and Namibia have made the decision to ban the import of a number of South African agricultural commodities.
Agri SA says it has written to the Minister of Agriculture Thoko Didiza to request her urgent intervention.
The organisation’s Christo van der Rheede says the decision is not linked to any South African issue, but rather a need by those two countries to protect their own local producers.
Botswana and Namibia continue to export their produce to South Africa.
The bans include tomatoes, potatoes, beetroot, cabbage and coloured peppers.
Van der Rheede says the two governments will only review the bans in two years’ time, and indicated that the list of banned produce will likely expand.
This could have a dire impact on the South African economy.
Van der Rheede says local farmers already face immense competitive challenges as the national minimum wage of R23,90 far exceeds the labour costs in Namibia and Botswana at R12,23 and R5,05 respectively.
He says the bans on South African produce is in violation of the letter and the spirit of the Southern Africa Customs Union Agreements.
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