Tag Archives: gel

Drought could cost SA almost R10bn in food export revenue

The South African economy could potentially take a R9.2-billion knock in export revenue loss for food crops as the drought continues. Citing industry sources, Business Day reports that this figure excludes the drought’s effect on farmers’ income, job losses and any inflationary aftermath. Grain South Africa published on its website recently that the country would have to import 770 000 tonnes of maize until the end of April next year at R2.2bn. The country will also need R1bn worth of wheat imports to make up for shortfalls triggered by drought conditions. In the 2013/2014 financial year, SA produced a bumper […]

Continue reading→

Saying You Don’t Have Time to Start a Business. Make Time With These 6 Tips.

Think of how many amazing business ideas are left on the shelf to collect dust because they are not pursued. Dreams are left to die because their creators assumed that he or she didn’t have the time to start a business. What a horrible excuse. If you have an idea for a business, go for it. Why? Because if you don’t, you are going to regret it and you might be passing on a truly amazing experience. “I’ll start it next year.” What if there isn’t a next year? “I’m not sure if now is the time.” If you don’t […]

Continue reading→

Truck ban will hurt consumers

Consumers will bear the brunt if the Department of Transport passes a law banning heavy trucks from roads during certain hours, the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) said on Monday. The new regulations state that goods vehicles exceeding 9 000kg cannot use public roads between 06:00 and 09:00 and between 17:00 and 20:00 from Monday to Friday. In April, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters announced the move in response to the rising road death toll and the department said the intended regulations would be published for public comment and discussion later in 2015. The change will incur costs for […]

Continue reading→

New transport regulations unclear

epartment of Transport has introduced amendments to the National Road Traffic Regulations for goods-in-transit which could have far-reaching consequences for the agricultural transport industry – including a requirement that goods-in-transit be “fully insured”. In terms of the amendments, effective from 31 January this year, transport operators now need to provide written evidence that both vehicles and goods to be transported on a public road are insured “for damages that can occur as the result of an incident”. The insurance must be taken out either by the “consignor” (a person dispatching more than 500 tons of goods in a month by […]

Continue reading→

The ripple effect of SA’s maize crop shock

The ripple effect of SA’s maize crop. AGRICULTURAL NEWS – South Africa’s maize crop, the smallest in eight years, will probably fuel inflation in the months to come as the price of maize increases. Jaco Visser spoke to economists as well as an agribusiness about the outlook for food prices, inflation and interest rates. The first harvest estimate for South Africa’s maize and other summer grains points to a vastly smaller crop, potentially leading to food-price inflation that is likely to fuel overall inflation. This will hit the poorest consumers hardest. White maize is a staple food in South Africa, […]

Continue reading→