4 / 8
THE
GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY
OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
IV
INTRODUCTION
Jannie de Villiers
As a young man I greatly admired all the old
ooms
in the industry who always
sounded as if they knew everything and could say exactly what would happen in
the future. Considerably later in my career I realised that agriculture had an inher-
ent inability to convert by itself from the controlled system to a free market. People
and events from the outside eventually contributed to the metaphorical plug of the
controlled system finally being pulled in 1997. The 1937 Marketing Act was revoked
and was replaced by a new act. This led to major changes in the grain industry.
Not only individual grain producers had to adjust, but organised agriculture had to
make dramatic adjustments as well.
During this transition many meetings were held. Preparation for these meetings
was extremely important. Many of the meetings assumed a character of ‘bravado’:
‘We are going to this and that them’, or ‘we will never allow them to…’ was heard
everywhere, until reality kicked in and many compromises had to be made to give
the grain industry – and ultimately food security – a firm footing in South Africa.
There were three main parties around the tables: The producers, the buyers and
the new government. Each topic had its unique partnerships. Sometimes the pro-
ducers were alone, with their backs against the wall and sometimes it was the
government and producers against the buyers. You never knew exactly with whom
you were going to negotiate about what.
After the new policy framework had been settled, the adjustments for role-players
and organisations started. Producer organisations had to find their new role and vi-
sion, agribusinesses virtually all adopted a new company appearance and producers
had to learn the very hard way in the new environment – particularly with respect to
marketing. However, what is crystal clear is that everybody adjusted extremely well
to the new circumstances. It happened by fits and starts, but the new environment
was soon defined and adjustments were made.
New structures were created, like the different grain and oilseeds trusts, the
South African Grain Information Service (SAGIS), the Southern African Grain
Laboratory (SAGL) and the South African Futures Exchange (Safex) and adjust-
ments were made to the Crop Estimates Committee to continue the services pro-
vided by the boards in the free-market environment. These organisations and
institutions all had their own teething problems, but the leaders of those transi-
tion years ensured that world-class institutions were established. This is not a
subjective opinion – each is highly regarded internationally in its own field.
In the process, the different industry organisations also found their own role in the
new environment. Producers’ needs suddenly changed and the services rendered
to them had to be adjusted. The culture in the organisations also had to change. It
The Afrikaans writer Langenhoven once said that if you
want to look ahead, you first have to look back at where
you came from. This research and recording of Grain SA’s
history is aimed not only at remembering the history and
giving recognition to the leaders of the previous generation,
but also to look back as organisation to help us find the path
to the future.