Black commercial farmers decry racial discrimination in Limpopo – SABC News – Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa’s news leader.

Some black commercial farmers in Limpopo are decrying what they call racial discrimination-based criteria that is limiting their access to export markets.

The farmers allege that their produce is not treated the same as that of their white counterparts despite meeting necessary market requirements.

Themba Ngwenya, a young citrus farmer outside Musina, alleges that they must be members of certain farmers’ associations that facilitate the exports.

Ngwenya however says the membership application process is marred by red tape.

“It’s sad because we are using the same production inputs, costing per hectare, fertilizers and water but as  black farmers, we face challenge to market access, you need someone with proper brand to be able to take your fruit to proper destination and export is the biggest challenges.

When it comes to the pricing, it is bad even though we are all using the same resources to produce the very same crop. Our challenge comes when we must get the actual returns of which as the same as the other producers, so we had to get like 4000 where as other people are getting 6000 per ton.”

A young Bonsmara cattle farmer in Fort Edward near Louis Trichardt, Ndivhuwo Ndou says despite meeting all requirements, their animals are either turned away or sold at low prices at auctions.

“One of the biggest challenges that we face are market segregation whereby you’ll find that there certain markets that are for few people and few breeders. When we try and penetrate them it’s very difficult, they will want you to be part of a society, then when you become part of the society, then you have to maintain that, the cost of doing that it’s so exhibiting that it’s so hard for black people to get into that market and maintain it.”

Meanwhile, Bennie van Zyl from the Transvaal Agricultural Union, says failure to meet requirements is usually the reason produce are being rejected.

“The market forces are quite interesting, it works very on a discriminate manner against those that do not produce. So if you produce not enough or the quality is not in place then the market forces at the end of the day will make decisions to throw you up from the market.”