Eastern Cape Business 2022-23
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Coega Dairy is one of the <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong>’s largest agro-processing facilities. Credit: Coega Development Corporation<br />
potential to produce high-value organic meat, a product that is<br />
increasingly popular in health-conscious international markets.<br />
There are about 70 000 people employed on commercial farms<br />
across the <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong>, with a further 436 000 people dependent on<br />
smaller farms, mostly in the east.<br />
The Magwa-Majola Tea Estate is making some progress<br />
towards rehabilitation, with the support of the provincial<br />
government. Bulk sales for 2021 generated R18.5-million and<br />
plans are underway to commercialise and diversify production<br />
at the estate to improve sustainability.<br />
The National Woolgrowers’ Association of SA (NWGA), with a<br />
membership base of 4 500 commercial and 20 000 communal<br />
members, is based in Gqeberha, as is <strong>Cape</strong> Wool SA.<br />
The <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong> provides approximately a quarter of<br />
South Africa’s milk and the industry is further expanding as<br />
producers are favouring high-rainfall coastal areas such as the<br />
Tsitsikamma region.<br />
South Africa produces about 54% of the world’s mohair and<br />
Gqeberha is the mohair capital of the world. Farms around the small<br />
towns that dot the open plains south of Graaff-Reinet, Aberdeen,<br />
Somerset East, Jansenville and Willowmore, routinely produce<br />
nearly half of South Africa’s production. The office of the South<br />
African Mohair Growers Association (SAMGA) is in Jansenville.<br />
Grootfontein College of Agriculture, the only tertiary educational<br />
institute in the country to offer a programme aimed at Angora<br />
goat farming and mohair production, is in Middelburg. Processing<br />
of mohair takes place in Kariega, Gqeberha and Ntabozuko (Berlin)<br />
outside East London. The mohair value chain includes brokers,<br />
buyers, processors, spinners, manufacturers and retailers.<br />
The SAMIL company has divisions all along the value chain. The<br />
Stucken group controls Mohair Spinners South Africa, Hinterveld (a<br />
mill) and the processing company Gubb & Inggs in Kariega.<br />
Ouma Rusks are still made in Molteno where they were invented.<br />
Cabdbury Chocolates operates<br />
a big site across the lake from<br />
the Nelson Mandela Stadium in<br />
Gqeberha and Nestlé makes 11<br />
kinds of chocolate at its factory<br />
in East London. The Sasko mill in<br />
Gqeberha is the province’s only<br />
big milling plant.<br />
Deciduous fruits such as<br />
apples, pears and apricots<br />
are grown primarily in the<br />
Langkloof Valley. Another crop<br />
in which the <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong><br />
leads national production<br />
is chicory. The province’s<br />
pineapple crop is grown in<br />
the same part of the Sunshine<br />
Coast that produces chicory.<br />
The <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong> holds<br />
21% of the country’s cattle<br />
(about 3.2-million), 28% of<br />
its sheep (seven-million) and<br />
46% of its goats, making it the<br />
largest livestock province by a<br />
large margin.<br />
Coca-Cola Sabco and<br />
SAB’s Ibhayi brewery are the<br />
major beverage manufacturers<br />
in Gqeberha and Distell has<br />
a bottling plant in the city.<br />
Sovereign Foods in Kariega is<br />
the country’s fourth-biggest<br />
producer of poultry. ■<br />
ONLINE RESOURCES<br />
Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa: www.cga.co.za<br />
<strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Cape</strong> Rural Development Agency (ECRDA): www.ecrda.co.za<br />
Milk Producers Organisation: www.mpo.co.za<br />
South African Mohair Growers Association (SAMGA): www.angoras.co.za<br />
27 EASTERN CAPE BUSINESS <strong>2022</strong>/<strong>23</strong>