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The department of labour – in partnership with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) – is investing R800 million in labour intensive agriculture and related business projects in the coming year. The announcement of the investment comes on the heels of commitments made by social partners at the Jobs Summit last week.
Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) commissioner Teboho Maruping said the UIF has commissioned a report by the PIC to investigate the feasibility of investing in poultry and abattoir projects nationwide.
Maruping said preliminary findings by the PIC had shown that there was viable investment to be made in these projects in KwaZulu-Natal, North West, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.
Maruping said the investments would be guided by the uniqueness of each province, and would take advantage of the competitive edge of that province.
He was speaking during a site visit led by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant and Deputy Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Sfiso Buthelezi at Daybreak Farms, a poultry project in Delmas, Mpumalanga.
In 2015, the UIF – an entity that is part of the department of labour – invested close to R500 million in Daybreak Farms through the PIC.
The PIC acquired a 100% stake in Daybreak Farms on behalf of the UIF and the Compensation Fund, which each hold 33.33% of equity. The remainder is held by the Government Employees’ Pension Fund.
Speaking at the site visit, Daybreak Farms CEO Boas Seruwe welcomed the investment and said more than 3 000 jobs had been created as a result.
He said the company had made a loss of R28 million in 2015, but the tide had turned after the UIF investment and the company had made a R193 million profit in this financial year.
The company currently produces 12 kinds of chicken products, including mixed portions, which are sold at retail stores around the country.
Oliphant said she wanted the investment to benefit and support the workers and the local communities.
“This money belongs to the workers, therefore, they should be at the forefront of benefiting from this investment,” she said.
“The workers must have shares in the company because it’s their investment and they have to participate in the economy of the country.
“When the workers have shares, they are unlikely to go on strike because they understand that, when production is reduced, it will affect profit,” she said.
She welcomed the fact that the investment had been used positively to turn things around and make the company profitable.
“If you treat the workers well, the production will increase and the profit will also increase. I would like to thank the PIC for its role in this investment in workers,” the minister added.
“When the Compensation Fund and the UIF are paid back and receive interest, it allows the funds to increase the benefits to workers.”
She said that, if the project continued along this successful trajectory, it would be replicated in other provinces.
Oliphant also highlighted that the department of labour, through the UIF, was able reskill workers to avoid retrenchments at companies in distress.
