A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

THE

GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY

OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

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Because of this, the Maize Board decided to set an annual carry-over supply of

630 000 tons of maize. The required carry-over supply was adjusted from time to

time and in 1985 it stood at 900 000 tons.

This policy of the Maize Board to make provision in good years for possible deficits

in the future was known as the Joseph’s Policy, borrowed from the Bible story of

Joseph who had advised the Pharaoh to store grain in the seven good years with a

view to the seven lean years that had been predicted.

The Joseph’s Policy was one part of the Maize Board’s carry-over supply policy.

Provision was also made for bridging supplies in order to ensure that sufficient

maize would be available until producers started delivering their crops and the

Maize Board was in a position to make decisions about their distribution. Before

the time of technology like fax machines and the internet (which came into being

only in the last years of the Maize Board’s existence in any case) information on

grain delivery was sent to the Maize Board via magnetic tape, and it was received

on average only after ten working days. Only then could arrangements for the

distribution of the supplies be made, which necessitated keeping bridging supplies

so that the demand by buyers and processors could constantly be met.

Price fixing

The Maize Board’s annual report of 1951 reported that in terms of the Maize Control

Scheme the maize price was determined annually by the Maize Board with the

approval of the Minister of Agriculture. The Maize Board determined a proposed

price, after which organised agriculture could make inputs before this price was

submitted to the National Marketing Council, who had to submit a report on the

proposed price to the Minister.

The Maize Board calculated the proposed price on the basis of the following factors:

• The average production costs of maize determined in that year with reference

Swaziland

Botswana

Zimbabwe

Mozambique

Namibia

KwaZulu-

Natal

Lesotho

Northern Cape

Western Cape

Eastern Cape

Free State

Mpumalanga

Limpopo

North West

Gauteng

Area A

(North West, Free State, Gauteng and Limpopo Provinces, as well as

the northern and north western parts of KwaZulu-Natal and a small area of the

Northern Cape in the Hopetown area)

Area B

(Various small areas in the central, southern and south western parts of the

country – not indicated on the map)

Area C

(rest of the country)

The three production areas of the Maize Trust.