Are national fresh produce markets coming to an end?
FAST FACTS
South Africa’s national fresh produce markets are a crucial price-discovery mechanism.
The markets ensure wide food distribution and provide a key service for all sellers.
Poor management is placing these markets in a precarious position.
The failings within the national fresh produce market system are serious and well-documented. They include ageing infrastructure, poor management, unhygienic practices, lack of security, and questionable finances. The question now is whether the success of the fresh produce industry as a whole is masking these problems, and how much longer the markets can stave off a collapse of the entire system.
Jaco Oosthuizen, CEO of RSA Group, is straightforward: he maintains that were it not for the strength of the industry as a whole, the country’s municipal market facilities might easily have gone the way of other struggling state-owned enterprises, which are currently paying a heavy price for a lack of upkeep.
“The country’s market network, despite its degradation, does a good job of servicing the needs of producers and buyers, which means the consumer has reliable access to fresh produce through retail and informal trade channels. South Africa’s markets
