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THE
GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY
OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
ႃႂ
Station
Capacity (tons) Station
Capacity (tons)
Frankfort
5 800
Ficksburg
2 600
Heilbron
5 800
Middelburg
2 600
Klerksdorp
5 800
Makokskraal
2 600
Reitz
5 800
Moorreesburg
2 600
Bethal
4 800
Potchefstroom
2 600
Bethlehem
4 800
Leslie
2 600
Kroonstad
4 800
Pienaarsrivier
2 200
Bothaville
4 800
Ventersburg
1 800
Kinross
4 800
Kaallaagte
1 800
Senekal
4 800
Koster
1 800
Rendezvous
4 800
Leeudoringstad
1 800
Lindley
4 800
Makwassie
1 800
Balfour
3 000
Val
1 800
Clocolan
3 000
Westminster
1 800
Ventersdorp
3 000
Davel
1 800
Vermaas
3 000
Standerton
1 800
Vrede
3 000
Settlers
1 750
Coligny
2 600
producers until it was delivered or dispatched to buyers. Because storage in the
open (often on the platform of the railway station) caused material problems with
contamination and quality, large corrugated iron stores were constructed in which
the bags of grain were stored.
The increase in production during the early 1920s and the requirements regarding
the weighing, cleaning, grading and storage brought about by increased exports em-
phasised the storage problem. At that stage Canada and the USA were already using
silo storage and a delegation was sent there to investigate this method. On the ba-
sis of this investigation, as well as the report by the Clark Committee, South African
Railways and Harbours (SAR&H), which was part of the government administration,
built two silos – one at the Durban harbour with a capacity of 42 000 tons, and one of
30 000 tons at the Cape Town harbour.
The SAR&H also started constructing silos along railway routes and by 1924
the following silos (later commonly known as the Railways silos and then as the
B silos), with a total storage capacity of 101 850 tons, had already been constructed
in the interior:
These silos received, graded, weighed, cleaned and stored only grain, and did not
trade in grain themselves.
Initially, grain was delivered at the silos mainly in sacks, but also to an extent in
bulk. The way in which the grain in silos was managed had several benefits, includ-
ing certainty with respect to grade and mass, the possibility of guarantees by way
of grain vouchers and a reduced risk of losses during the loading process.
Storage at silos initially encountered considerable problems and the safe and
effective storage of maize was a source of concern for the Maize Board and the
government from the earliest days. The problems experienced led to the govern-
ment ordering an investigation into the storage of maize in 1945. As a result of
this the Maize Board sent a delegation overseas in 1949 to investigate methods
of bulk handling in Australia.
In 1951 the Maize Board allocated an amount of R300 000 for the construction of a
grain silo at Lichtenburg. The bulk store that was constructed was commissioned
in 1953 and was the forerunner of the movement to construct bulk handling facili-
ties for maize in South Africa.