YOUR recent report refers, “Illegal” chicken dumping job losses.
One has tremendous sympathy for union members of FAWU who have lost their jobs. However, are these chicken imports “illegal” in the statutory law meaning of that word, or are these imports merely undesirable “dumping” of subsidised product that cannot be sold in the EU?
If illegal, then in terms of what statutory laws here in South Africa does that illegal problem arise?
If indeed there are statutory law infringements, then why has our border control authorities not seized the chicken products and which way was the National Prosecuting Authority looking if importers have in fact contravened any South African laws?
One hardly needs to travel overseas any longer to experience cuisine from overseas – imported foods festoon our supermarkets as if one is actually shopping in Paris or Beijing.
The ultimate insult recently was when my wife noticed that even a well known brand of toothpaste is made in China.
That geographic product fact is only made known to shoppers in the smallest possible print on the toothpaste tube packaging.
Come on South Africans, surely to goodness we can make our own toothpaste at competitive retail prices and produce our own chicken meat even in drought years?
If only government had a sensible subsidy system in place for producers to be shielded during the difficult years when feed costs shoot up and our producers loose their competitive edge.
Plus the will to put South Africa first instead of endless fowl-yard type bickering among our politicians who are endlessly sorting out a “pecking” order in the succession debate.
Is it any wonder why voters eventually get to vote in people like Donald Trump when their own hard working citizens and their families have to go hungry because a government is too lazy to control borders effectively or perhaps has sent teams to international trade conferences who actually do not look after South African interests first.
John Davison
Pinetown
