Mmegi

SA counts the costs of veggie import bans

High demand: The vegetable import ban has been extended to December 2025
High demand: The vegetable import ban has been extended to December 2025

South Africa’s vegetable exports to Botswana dropped 55% in value in the first year of the import ban imposed by Gaborone. With other SACU states considering similar moves, the region’s “minnows” are forcing a shakeup, writes MBONGENI MGUNI

South African agricultural economists estimate that the value of the country’s vegetable exports to Botswana dropped by 55% in 2022, the first year of the partial horticultural import ban imposed by Gaborone to boost local production.

The figures released recently are the first indication of the impact of the import ban effected in January 2022 by government.

Editor's Comment
The Boko-led administration has to tread carefully

‘When you make peace withyourself, you make peace with the world’- Maha GhosanandaThis may come at a huge cost if not handled properly. What started off on Labour Day in Letlhakane this year, where Boko was in attendance when the militant lawyer-cum-trade unionist, Robert Rabasimane rebutted the President’s address in defence of the trade union has seemingly spiralled out of control. The issue is now creating a cat-and-mouse type of a...

Have a Story? Send Us a tip
arrow up