A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

THE

GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY

OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

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attention was the quality of the urea. The party in Switzerland was in constant con-

tact with Dr Piet Gous, General Manager of NAMPO, to ensure that the product met

all the required standards. Only after they had been assured of this fact, the transac-

tion could be finalised. Both parties performed according to the agreement, and the

urea was received in the Durban harbour later in 1982.

At the insistence of Minister De Villiers and the Fertilizer Society, the urea was

stored by the latter at their plant at Umbogintwini in KwaZulu-Natal. However, the

Maize Board was not satisfied with the way in which this was done and later moved

it to other covered storage facilities of their choice.

The fertiliser was sold by the then co-operatives. Noordwes Koöperasie (NWK)

of Lichtenburg in North West, under management of Mr Andries Beyers, played a

very important role in this.

The Maize Board was satisfied with the overall transaction, as it was of great benefit

to the maize producers, because it simultaneously brought higher producer prices for

maize and lower fertiliser costs. The financial benefit for the maize industry amounted

to several millions of rands.

1982 – disaster drought and imports

During the 1982/1983 production season, the maize producing areas again experi-

enced a disaster drought. By the end of January 1983 the situation had worsened

to the point where Viljoen (the Vice-chairperson of the Maize Board at that stage)

in the absence of the Chairperson, Von Abo, announced that no more maize was to

be exported. This step, together with action from the Maize Board in buying back

maize already sold for export, succeeded in the end and the Maize Board could

carry over approximately 1,2 million tons of maize to the next season. In spite of

this, due to the lengthy drought and consecutive bad crops it was still necessary to

import large quantities of maize during the following year.

The reality was, however, that there was no white maize available in the world and

that mostly yellow maize was imported from the Gulf of Mexico. It was third grade

yellow maize and especially at the beginning of the import programme a lot of the

maize was contaminated with aflatoxin, which forced the Maize Board to destroy it.

The first imported maize arrived in Cape Town harbour on board the ship Sea

Grand Ace on 19 June 1983. A total of 157 shiploads of maize with a total mass

of 4,4 million tons and a value of approximately R800 million were ultimately im-

ported during this period. The last of the imported maize arrived in Cape Town on

board the ship Nosira Sharon on 18 March 1985. At the beginning of the import

programme it was estimated that only about 225 000 tons of maize/month could

be imported due to capacity restrictions. However, during some months as much

as 335 000 tons were offloaded, thanks to excellent co-operation between the dif-

ferent role-players: The South African Transport Services, inspectors and clearing

agents for the Maize Board and the dock workers.

IT IS IRONIC THAT THE

ROMANIANS FED THE

MAIZE OBTAINED FROM

SOUTH AFRICA TO THEIR

PIGS, AND THEN EXPORTED

THE PIGS TO THE USA,

WHICH HAD INTRODUCED

STRONG SANCTIONS

AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA.

MAIZE EXCHANGED FOR CRUDE OIL

In the period around 1985 South Africa was severely affected by interna-

tional sanctions and the country could not get crude oil for fuel. Negotia-

tions were started with Iran to exchange the biggest part of South Africa’s

exportable surplus maize for crude oil. The transaction was negotiated by

representatives of the Maize Board and the South African government dur-

ing a secret meeting in London. The international political environment and

attitude towards South Africa at that stage, together with the sanctions

against the country, demanded extreme secrecy. No contracts were signed

and the transaction was sealed only with a handshake. Again, both parties

performed duly in terms of the agreement.

The following persons were among those who attended the negotiations:

Messrs Japie Grobler, Vic Mouton, Jeff Wayland, Pieter Meyer and Leon du

Plessis of the Maize Board and Dr Kit le Clus of NAMPO.