Thieves put squeeze on lemon industry

Syndicates blamed for R30m loss in produce

SUNDAYS River Valley citrus farmers are losing millions of rands every year and the livelihood of impoverished residents is under threat as organised crime syndicates target the area’s biggest industry – lemon farms.

Farmers have lost upwards of R30-million in produce over the past two years and fork out six-figure amounts annually to try to keep criminals, with detailed knowledge of their farms, at bay.

They also have to contend with kingpins who have a hold on the community, with poor farm workers either becoming involved in the criminal activity or too afraid to speak out.

Even global fruit supplier Sundays River Citrus Company (SRCC) has felt the impact of the illegal lemon trade.

One of the largest citrus exporters in Southern Africa, the SRCC employs more than 3 000 people, most of them farm workers, and is responsible for 30% of South Africa’s organic citrus exports.

More than 45% of valley farmland, mostly around Addo, Sunlands and stretching into Kirkwood, is linked to the SRCC.

It delivers lemons to exporters who supply countries in Europe, North and South America, and Asia.

SRCC managing director Hannes de Waal, 49, said citrus theft on a small scale had always been a problem, but the situation had escalated.

“The farmers have been hit hard and anything that affects the farmers affects us,” he said.

Concerns raised at a special SRCC council meeting this past week were the easy access to farms with main roads running close to orchards, and the high value of lemons to domestic and export markets.

“At the minimum, lemons sell for R8 000 to R10 000 per ton, making it a high-value target for thieves,” De Waal said.

“In addition, thieves pick fruit that is not ready for consumption and damage the orchards and future harvests.

“The impact is far greater than just stealing one season’s fruit.”

The SRCC had considered supplying less fruit for export and more to domestic markets in a bid to undercut the black market and encourage people to buy from legitimate sellers.

“Our fear is something might happen that could have been avoided,” De Waal said.

“It may be only a matter of time until fed up farmers decide to take the law into their own hands.”

Police spokeswoman Lieutenant Gerda Swart said Addo police were investigating a number of incidents.

“We are also planning a meeting with the farmers and local community to look at how we can address their concerns,” she said.

Meanwhile, farmers have turned to Choice Decisions Security owner Glenn Miles to investigate the syndicates and help them keep their produce safe.

Miles, 45, who has done extensive research into the illegal trade of lemons, compared it to the perlemoen trade along the coast.

“Low-level criminals are paid to raid the orchards and then drop their haul off at a central point, where it is repacked for distribution,” he said.

“These goods are then sold to supermarkets, restaurants or at fruit markets.”

Well-organised groups, estimated to be in the dozens, cut the fences and drive bakkies or small trucks into the orchards at night, usually at full moon.

They strip the trees of fruit, often leaving hundreds of bruised and broken lemons behind to rot.

With the help of police, Miles has been able to close down at least two sites where traders repacked and sold suspected stolen lemons.

“The illegal pickers receive R50 for 50kg bags of lemons that are worth about R1 200 to farmers,” he said.

“The distributors then ask anywhere between R18 and R24 a kilogram after they repack it into smaller bags.”

Weltevreden farm owner Gerhard Fourie, 55, said he had been one of the first victims two years ago, when he lost 40 tons of lemons worth R300 000 in one night.

“We found a section of fencing that had been cut open,” he said.

“The trees in that orchard had been almost completely stripped and we found hundreds of bruised and damaged fruit on the ground.”

A few nights later, another orchard was targeted, and then neighbouring farms were hit.

It soon became clear that the criminals had inside information about the farms.

They knew which orchards were ready to be picked, which parts of the farms were easy targets, and what sections of the farms would allow for a quick getaway.

“About five years ago, a new group of seasonal workers came to the farms to work as pickers,” Fourie said.

“Some were foreign nationals and only worked one or two seasons, but we would still see them in the area.

“Shortly after they left the farms, the thieving started.”

Since then, Fourie has spent R300 000 a year on security, including R120 000 on electric fencing.

At the Rawson farm, staff spend at least an hour daily fixing fences.

Farm manager Tiaan Erasmus, 18, said they spent more than R20 000 a month on lookouts.

Last month, Erasmus caught 17 illegal pickers in a week, the youngest only nine years old.

The Addo Research Station neighbouring Rawson would have to fork out R2.5-million – a year’s profit – to surround its orchards with barbed-wire fencing, but this would still not guarantee that the losses would stop.

Station manager Barry van der Merwe, 45, said that besides the production orchards being pillaged, they had also lost years of research because of thieves stealing from their controlled research orchards.

He said it took up to 15 years to cultivate a new type of fruit, but their research was being compromised by the thieves.

“In one night, they mess up 15 years’ worth of invaluable research,” he said.

The research station had spent about R1-million to repair fences in recent months.

Despite the efforts of private security firms, farmers and police, the illegal pickers are now taking back roads to Colchester, from where the fruit is distributed.