Fresh produce market opens in Mooketsi

Mooketsi Market situated on the R36, 15 kilometres south of Modjajiskloof, in Mooketsi was officially opened by the Mayor of the Greater Letaba Municipality, City Modjadji.

Speaking during the cutting of a ribbon to mark the official opening, Modjadji said the market will ensure food security for the communities.

He said farmers in the region will no longer travel long distances to deliver their produce to the market. “It also provide entrepreneurial and job opportunities for the local people,” said Modjadji.

The deputy director of Marketing at the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), Stanford Manthata said that the new regional fresh produce market will not only provide a much-needed link between farmers and the community but will also create jobs, stimulate entrepreneurship and facilitate skills development. “This state-of-the-art 3 000 square metre regional market will ensure greater food security, improved accessibility and a much wider variety of fresh produce at cheaper prices,” said Manthata.

Jaco Oosthuizen, group Managing Director of the RSA Group said the new facility guarantee the sustainability of emerging farmers in the wider region. “They can deliver their produce personally to the new facility, their transport costs will be cheaper plus emerging farmers can learn about critical business success factors such as packaging, sizing,sorting, grading and quality control at the time of delivery. All of these factors are essential if farming businesses are to become sustainable over the long-term,” said Oosthuizen.

He believes that the new regional market is a win-win opportunity for everyone in the fresh produce chain- including the consumer- and it represents a successful template that can be replicated throughout South Africa and the rest of Africa.

Built on land owned by ZZ2, the Mooketsi Market is co-owned by FGX, ZZ2 and the RSA Group. It is RSA’s first regional market and has a growing list of around 3 200 registered buyers, predominantly from Limpopo but also from Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The facility currently handles over 20 lines in various packaging types and will expand into a one-stop-shop for all products as demand grows.

The facility is all under roof and boasts six cold-rooms, each of which can run at a different temperature. Importantly, the design enables trucks to deliver directly into the cold-room and because of the dock levels, isone of the few markets where all ambient product is offloaded under cover.

Oosthuizen said employment and entrepreneurhip opportunities would increase in line with growing product volumes and demand. “A number of new jobs have already been created in transport and distribution services as well as in the portering of product from the market floor to the loading area. With regards to the porters, the market has elected to absorb the costs of registering them and providing them with all necessary equipment, which allows them to retain their day’s earnings in their entirety – a move which aims to improve service delivery and create a symbiotic relationship between the market and the entrepreneur,” he said.

The infrastructure and information technology systems at the new facility are identical to those in other state-of-the-art markets in urban centres around South Africa and have been designed to streamline the transaction process.

The Market Agent, RSA is APAC-accredited, which gives producers legislative protection through the Agricultural Produce Agents Act. Producers also enjoy the unique advantage of cover through the RSA Group’s Fidelity Fund. The RSA Group is the sole market agent at Mooketsi and it will be vigorously pursuing its vision of greater collaboration between industry role players in the region. “RSA will continue to play a leading role in establishing a sustainable framework and terms of reference which builds trust and confidence for everyone in the fresh produce industry,” said Oosthuizen. Sales hours are 05:00 to 11:00, Monday to Friday and 05:00 to 10:00 on Saturday. Deliveries are received between 14:00 to 04:00 Monday to Friday, Saturday from 13:00 until16:00 and on a Sunday from 18:00.