SA food producers warn of higher prices as infrastructure crumbles

South African food producers, among the biggest on the continent, are spending hundreds of millions of rand mitigating prolonged rolling power blackouts, water supply issues and crumbling infrastructure.This investment, sometimes at the cost of essential capital expenditure, will eventually be passed on to consumers, making food prices higher for longer, food companies, economists and lobby groups told Reuters.

It comes at a time when South Africa is already struggling with acute unemployment, 14-year high interest rates and ballooning inflation and complicates efforts of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to ease interest rate hikes.

“We are very aware of the struggles that consumers are going through … but inevitably some of it will be passed on to our consumers unfortunately,” Chief Manufacturing Officer Derek McKernan of Tiger Brands, said.

The group, one of the biggest food producers in Africa, has allocated R120 million ($6.4 million) in capital expenditure for the second half of its financial year to mitigate the impact of power cuts, he said.

Source: news24

In other news- A police officer arrested for allegedly assisting an awaiting trial prisoner to escape from custody

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Police spokesperson Captain Stephen Thakeng said the 56-year-old officer was arrested by the Provincial Anti-Corruption Unit after he was found to have had a role in the prisoner escaping. Read more