North West Premier attempts to halt Clover SA’s R1.5b move to Durban

North West Premier Job Mokgoro says national government will help persuade Clover to stay in the province and he is leading the efforts.

This week, dairy group, Clover SA announced that it will be shutting down its factory in North West, which is the country’s biggest cheese factory due to poor service delivery in the province.

POOR SERVICE DELIVERY SENDS CLOVER TO DURBAN

The factory, which is one of South Africa’s biggest cheese factories will relocate to Queensburgh in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

“Ongoing poor service delivery is the main reason for Clover’s decision to move its cheese production from Lichtenburg to Queensburgh, Durban. Clover already has operations in Queensburgh and the eThekwini municipality has proved to be supportive,” Clover said.

Lichtenburg’s Boikhutso township is streaming with raw sewage running down streets and tonnes of black plastic bags lie alongside roads where refuse has not been collected for months. The road leading to the CBD of the farming town is piled high with rubbish on both sides.

It has been widely reported that water and electricity are not guaranteed, and this is not ideal for a company which relies on refrigeration and pasteurisation.

In an interview with eNCA, North West Premier, Job Mokgoro said that a team was dispatched on Tuesday, 8 June to try and engage with Clover management on their move to Durban.

“I was shocked when I found that the issue between Clover SA and the Ditsobotla local municipality have been ongoing for years. We are going to meet with the management and other stakeholders to try and salvage as many jobs as we can,” Mokgoro said.

In April this year, a business took a failing municipality to court in a landmark case in South Africa.

According to Business Tech the issue was brought by poultry producer Astral Foods, which said that the Lekwa local municipality in Mpumalanga had not been able to provide clean water or electricity. The group claimed that 40% of its production was under threat due to the crisis.

Astral Foods obtained a High Court order against government and the Treasury.

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