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THE
GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY
OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
ႄႄ
At the beginning of each season the Board, with the approval of the Minister of
Agriculture, set an advance price for buckwheat, which was paid to producers on
delivery. When the entire crop had been marketed, the final price was determined
by deducting the expenditure and costs involved in the marketing of the crop from
the income derived from it. The net proceeds were then paid to the producers who
had delivered buckwheat to the pool, pro rata according to the mass delivered by
each one. In some years an intermediate payment was made as the marketing of
the crop progressed.
Buckwheat for domestic use was graded according to the prescriptions of the Maize
Board, as no grading regulations had been published under the Marketing Act.
However, buckwheat destined for export was graded by inspectors of the Directorate
for Agricultural Product Standards according to prescriptions published by the
Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing.
Composition
The first fully fledged Marketing Act was established with the commencement
of the first Marketing Act (Act 26 of 1937) in 1938. From 1968 the Maize Board
functioned under the Marketing Act of 1968 (Act 59 of 1968) until it was eventually
abolished under the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act of 1996.
From 1979 the Maize Board was also subject to the Summer Grain Scheme, as
announced by Proclamation R45 of 1979, in carrying out its functions.
Since its establishment the Maize Board was constituted from representatives from
all the groups of role-players in the industry, as well as designated government of-
ficials. However, the principle of producer majority in the control boards also applied
in the Maize Board from the beginning. In the initial years the government was very
involved in the Maize Board – to such an extent that the first two Chairpersons were
government officials. However, since 1938 the Chairperson was always elected from
the ranks of the producer members.
The first Maize Board (1935) comprised 15 members, namely four representatives
from maize producers who were members of co-operatives; four representatives
from producers who were not members of co-operatives; one representative each for
the maize trade, maize brokers, maize millers, maize exporters, animal feed producers
and consumers, as well as an official from the Department of Agriculture.
In terms of the Maize Control Scheme of 1939 the number of members of the Maize
Board was increased to 19 by increasing the number of producer members to twelve.
At the same time, the representation of maize brokers and exporters was abolished,
but the consumers and maize trade each received two representatives on the Board.
In the course of time the composition of theMaize Board and itsmembership changed
several times, but always retained the principle that the majority of its members had
to comprise representatives from the maize producers.
The Maize Control Scheme made provision for the appointment of advisers to assist
the Maize Board. The Minister of Agriculture could appoint one or more officials from
the former South African Railways Administration and one or more officials from the
Civil Service as advisers to the Board. The Maize Board itself was also entitled to co-
opt no more than two persons as advisers to the Board. In addition, the Maize Board
was assisted by committees who were tasked with investigating certain matters with
respect to the Board and submitting recommendations in this regard to the Board.
Since the establishment of NAMPO in 1980 NAMPO nominated the producer mem-
bers, who constituted the majority on the Board, to the Maize Board, and the Minis-
ter of Agriculture appointed those nominees.
The agreement reached with the Minister in 1987 implemented the important
change with respect to the composition of the Maize Board that it would return to
the arrangement that had applied until 1985, namely that the producer members
on the Maize Board would once more be appointed by the Minister from the ranks
of NAMPO nominees. The NAMPO members were elected from the 24 NAMPO
regions, which also meant that they were responsible to their electoral colleges. The
regions were divided into groups of three, which each appointed a representative.