Poultry firms 'face huge job losses over imports'
Two- thirds of the 130,000 jobs in the beleaguered broiler industry could be lost if no urgent action was taken against cheap European Union imports
Two- thirds of the 130,000 jobs in the beleaguered broiler industry could be lost if no urgent action was taken against cheap European Union imports, Kevin Lovell, the CEO of the South African Poultry Association, warned on Friday. Lovell said that over the past few years more than 10,000 jobs, including indirect jobs, might have been lost. "It is very bad. I do think it can be fixed as long as there is urgent action. So I have hope," Lovell said. Country Bird, South Africa's third-largest poultry producer, this week became the latest chicken business to cut jobs when it announced it was closing one of its three abattoirs in Mahikeng in North West. Last month, RCL Foods, formerly known as Rainbow Chicken, closed factories in Hammersdale outside Durban, slashing about 1,350 jobs. The local farming industry and unions have been raising the alarm against imports and repeatedly asked the government for bigger protection tariffs. Agribusiness Chamber CEO John Purchase said the local broi...
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