Flooding, road inacessibilty, collapsed electricity pylons and damaged infrastructure threaten hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fruit exports
The Western Cape fruit communities that bore the brunt of the recent gale force winds, excessive rain and floods have been promised assistance by South African minister of agriculture John Steenhuisen.
Steenhuisen paid an aerial visit to the regions yesterday (18 May), accompanied by fresh produce business leaders.
The fruit industry welcomed his undertaking to engage with both Western Cape government officials and national counterparts to escalate support, identify solutions, and assist the business.
Pieter Graaff, chairman of Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing and well-known fruit industry leader from Ceres’s Witzenberg region, said the damage caused by the extreme weather will have long-term economic consequences for the region and the broader agricultural sector.
“The storm’s impact has been catastrophic,” he confirmed. ”As rivers swelled, roads, homes and lives were swept away.
”The damage to infrastructure will take years to repair and cost billions of rand,” Graaff warned. “This disaster has set our province back significantly, but with strong leadership, we will prevail.”
Meanwhile, the South African Table Grape Industry (Sati) has called on both provincial and national government authorities to urgently provide disaster relief and recovery support to table grape producers and rural communities.
“Although the 2025/26 table grape harvest season concluded recently, widespread damage to farming infrastructure has been reported across several production regions,” Sati stated.
”The most severely affected areas were parts of the Berg River, Hex River and Olifants River regions, where some farming operations have been partially or severely disrupted.”
A major concern during the visit was the collapse of between six and ten electricity pylons in the Waaihoek area between Wolseley and Worcester, leaving the region with a severely constrained power supply.
Industry leaders warned that the estimated four-week repair timeline poses a serious threat to the fresh fruit industry, which is heavily reliant on electricity to maintain fruit quality and continue processing operations.
“There are more than 300,000 tonnes of freshly harvested export fruit currently in cold storage that require electricity to maintain market quality,” Graaff explained.
“There is insufficient generator capacity to keep these cold stores operational, while diesel costs are placing enormous financial pressure on businesses.
”If the fruit deteriorates, it cannot be packed, which could result in thousands of job losses and major export revenue losses,” he pointed out.
Graaff added that the Ceres is currently receiving electricity from an alternative source, but that it supplies only approximately 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the area’s total demand.
“We are expected to wait about a month for the infrastructure to be repaired, which will cost the industry tens of millions of rand.”
He further noted that Ceres Fruit Processors face mounting pressure, as the facility still needs to process more than 100,000 tonnes of apples and pears into concentrated fruit juice while operating on costly generator power.
“A major concern at present is access,” said Mecia Petersen, CEO of Sati. “In several areas, access roads have been damaged or washed away, leaving some farms inaccessible.”
According to feedback received through a survey conducted among Sati members in the affected regions, some farming operations remain severely disrupted due to extensive infrastructure damage.
Producers have reported widespread damage to vineyards and agricultural infrastructure, including flooded vineyards, collapsed netting and poles, damaged trellising systems and irrigation infrastructure.
Some farms reported that more than a third of their plantings had been affected.
