Banana farmers have their say at DA meeting in Uvongo

South coasters had an opportunity to engage with the DA leadership at a public meeting at Saints View Resort in Uvongo on Monday this week.

Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and Provincial Chairperson of the DA in KwaZulu-Natal, Dean Macpherson, was present and heard the concerns of residents and business owners.

Meanwhile, the Southern KZN Banana Association has slammed the DA for not being helpful, and farmers threatened to hold a protest with their tractors.

Banana farmer, James Miller, said that they have by all means tried to get help from the ministers and DA leaders with an issue which is impacting local operations.

According to Miller, about 60% of bananas are imported from Swaziland and Mozambique, and this affects them.
He added that they had hopes that with the DA being in the upper seats they would help them, but this is not the case, and the current Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen has also let them down.

“We have had meetings planned, but they get postponed at the 11th hour when we were meant to sit down to find a solution.”

Businessman Robin Petterson said that the DA has gained momentum not because of it doing well, but because of the opposition party being broken.

He raised that the DA needs more young blood to vote for them and new faces to represent it.
Furthermore, Petterson added this is because the people who are now councillors are perceived as ‘old people’ of the coast, and that it’s not going to help much if the DA does not bring young people in.

Another businessman, Anesh Sooklal asked whether there will be any new representatives for the DA in the next elections, and if so, they’d like to know who they are so that they can support them.

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