Sundays River Citrus Company (SRCC)
Black ownership
8.83%
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Black female ownership
1.63%
Our empowerment philosophy
SRCC supports land reform and also actively participates in such projects. To this end, SRCC takes minority shareholding in projects if required. A team of extension officers assist new farmers with hands-on advice to enable them to produce export quality citrus. In this way, it ensures that the new businesses develop optimally with a view towards long-term financial viability. The empowerment farming projects that SRCC is involved with are either 100% black owned or 75%, with the view of growing towards 100% black ownership.
The good relationship between SRCC and their empowerment farmers is founded on mutual trust, highlighted by the fact that the existing management contracts have been renewed a few times. The Primary Production Unit established by SRCC provides management and administrative support services at cost price. While SRCC makes no profit from the service, it ensures the production of high quality citrus by the Black farmers, which in turn, benefits all parties.
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An important element in SRCC’s approach towards land reform was to recognise the need to take some form of financial risk by committing its own capital to its empowerment projects. The company has also aligned itself strategically to gain access to cheaper funding which is then loaned to BEE projects. This is possible by way of its lending agreement with Humansdorp Co-operative, which is an agent of the Land Bank’s Retail Emerging Market Fund, which lends money at below the prime lending rate, for on-lending at equally favourable rates to its associates.
INTERNAL INITIATIVES
Socio-economic initiatives
Socio-economic initiatives are driven through the SRCC Foundation. SRCC growers are also invited to contribute to this fund and use it as a vehicle for socio-economic contributions. The overarching goal of the foundation is poverty alleviation and upliftment in the surrounding communities with a focus on Health, Education and the Environment.
Health
Soup Kitchens
Tablets (immune boosters)
Education
Creche (Moses Mabida neighbourhood in Kirkwood) – maintenance and staff salary (crèche already built/improved from Foundation funds)
Schools – annual donations
Schools – annual Eisteddfod
Bursaries
Knitting project
Environment
Recycling project
Clean-up operations
Training initiatives
Great focus on lower levels – ABET, NQF levels
Mentorship programme for all employees
Farm manager development programme (level 3 & 4)
General farm worker development programme (level 2)
Other ad hoc programmes: Wellness; SIZA standards; Basic Financial Skills; Computer skills; etc.
Enterprise development initiatives
We remain involved in the empowerment farms that are shareholders of SRCC through the provision of management and admin services.
EMPOWERMENT FARMS
Sikule Sonki
Black shareholding: 100%
Beneficiaries: 27 (23 male, 4 female)
Total surface hectares: 480 ha
Established: 2007
Funding method: DRDLR, through PLAS
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Luthando
Black shareholding: 75%
Beneficiaries: 48 (38 male, 10 female)
Total surface hectares: 130 ha
Established: 2003
Funding method: Private
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Mbuyiselo
Black shareholding: 100%
Beneficiaries: 23 (20 male, 3 female)
Total surface hectares: 62 ha
Established: 2005
Funding method: Private
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SRCC'S LAND
REFORM FOOTPRINT
98
672
92%
2003
Number of land reform beneficiaries
Hectares of land empowered
Average black ownership of projects
Years since first project established
New horizons - watch this space!
We envisage the following new developments:
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Ikamva Lethu
'Ikamva Lethu", which means “Our Future”, is SRCC’s most recent land transformation initiative. The land has already been bought and water rights acquired for 675 ha.
Through this project SRCC-growers will be able to improve their own scorecards while creating a viable and sustainable business from which their farm workers and other shareholders can benefit financially in the long run.
Twenty farmers have signed up to participate in this venture in which we will plant and develop 708 ha. ​Each of the twenty shareholders will create a Trust. 50% of their share in the business will be given free of charge to their Employee Trust.
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These 20 shareholders make up more or less 20% of the current producers of SRCC, but they make up a larger portion of the volume in terms of fruit delivered. Therefore this project will have a significant impact on the SRCC empowerment picture. This farm will produce lemons for the local market, as well as for the production of oil and juice.
Shareholders in the venture are the farm workers of SRCC-members, Ikamva Lethu farm workers, SRCC pack house workers, SRCC and SRCC members. The BEE-component owns 60%, with the balance split between SRCC members (34.5%) and SRCC (5.5%).
It is expected to directly benefit approximately 400 project beneficiaries and to create 800 job opportunities over time.