THE Portfolio Committee on Agriculture met with the stakeholders involved in the multimillion-rand Ncera Macadamia Farming project in the Eastern Cape, to discuss what led to the collapse of the business and the possibility of reviving it.
On 28 January, the chairperson of the committee, Dina Pule said they received briefings from those involved in the once-promising project – the private business partners, the traditional authority and members of the community – that closed operations almost two years ago.
While none of the parties wanted to take full responsibility for the failure of the business, the presenters blamed the collapse on cashflow problems (late payment of committed funding by government), market collapse, Covid-19 and vandalism of infrastructure.
However, committee members were not entirely convinced with some of the reasons provided and challenged the stakeholders on reports that the business had already started showing signs of collapse during the Covid pandemic. For example, the vandalism that occurred during the pandemic took place during labour unrest following the non-payment of salaries, demonstrating that the business was already struggling.
Ncera Macadamia Farming was a partnership of private business, the community, the traditional authority as landowners and the government, which pumped in a total of R195 million through various funding agencies and departments.
Pule said it was disappointing to see the failure of such a project, which had the potential to lift many people from the nine villages under the Imidushane yaseLwandle Traditional Authority out of poverty.
“The government pumped money into the project because of the community. It is painful to see a father who had a job and was able to take care of his family now back in poverty because of the failure of this project. The collapse of Ncera is a huge setback for economic development and job creation in the province,” she said.
The committee also raised a concern about the business’s failure to produce financial reports and wants accountability for the loss of such a huge investment.
The committee was due to receive briefings from the MECs for Agriculture, Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and the national departments of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
The Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency has taken over the project and plans to revive the business.
