UAE a significant partner for South Africa

Two-way trade between the countries has grown to 27 billion rand in 2015 from 13bn rand in 2011, according to data from the president Jacob Zuma’s office.

South Africa is a substantial supplier of produce to the UAE and a Zimbabwe-style economic meltdown could affect food supplies into the Emirates.

By 2011, the country was the 13th largest supplier of food to the Emirates, according to South African government figures. However, this is likely to have grown as two-way trade between the countries has grown from 13 billion rand (Dh3.63bn) in 2011 to 27bn rand in 2015, according to data from the president Jacob Zuma’s office.

A 2015 CNN documentary noted that the UAE was one of the fastest-growing markets for South African food products, in part to meet the needs of the 100,000 or so South African expatriates living in the Emirates. Steak, dried meat products called biltong and, of course, the country’s beloved national sausage, boerewors, are now freely available in the UAE.

At the same time South Africa’s position in the Southern Hemisphere means it can supply summer fruit and vegetables to the UAE during the latter’s winter season. Already the Emirates is the second-largest importer of South African oranges, data from AgriSA, a farming industry representative body, show. The UAE is also in the top 10 destinations for its grape products.

The Emirates is even the largest importer of South African lucerne hay – commonly used as horse feed.

Much of the produce originates on the 30,000 or so commercial farms that dot the country. Most of these are white owned – up to 90 per cent according to AgriSA. Typically these will be Afrikaners, descendants of the original Boer settlers who spread from the Cape colony in the 19th century. The word “boer” means farmer in Dutch. Whites make up about 10 per cent of the population.

The Boers emerged badly from the war of independence against the British at the turn of the 20th century. Thousands lost their farms to a scorched-earth tactic the British used to bring the conflict to an end.

Successive white governments, however, helped them to rebuild and enacted laws to ensure white farmers had access to land, finance and other state aid. Blacks, on the other hand, were squeezed into smaller and smaller areas.

Now, with the era of white rule long over, pressure is on to return agriculture to the indigenous inhabitants of southern Africa. In neighbouring Zimbabwe most of the white commercial farms have been seized, about 4,000 or so since 2000. The result has been a collapse in food production and a stagnating economy.

South Africa is not as dependent on agriculture as Zimbabwe; and, being more industrialised, people’s aspirations tend to be toward middle-class suburbia. A census in 2011 found that 4.9 million black people owned fully paid homes compared with just over 500,000 whites. It is also becoming apparent that the nature of farming is changing. Small farms are giving way to large agribusinesses, says AgriSA. This is a worldwide trend that sees corporate style businesses replacing family-run farms.

And, if Mr Zuma has his way, it could well be that these agribusinesses will be owned and operated by a new set of corporate players.

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