BL Premium reports that Astral Foods, SA’s largest poultry producer, on Tuesday flagged how collapsing municipalities were hurting business and the economy.   

It indicated in an update to shareholders that a water-supply problem in the Lekwa Municipality in Standerton, Mpumalanga, had cost the company at least R85m in profit and could threaten jobs.  Andy Crocker, MD of Astral’s poultry commercial business, said the water-supply problem had significant cost implications for the group.  Astral blamed the water interruptions on deteriorating municipal infrastructure, saying that it was “not supportive of the economic growth so desperately needed and sought after in this country, especially in the more rural areas."  Astral is the largest employer in Standerton, with 2,425 people employed at the processing plant and a further 900 employees in the agriculture supply chain.  "These employees are currently only working half of the normal hours due to a reduction from two shifts to the single shift allowed by the restricted water supply," the company reported, adding that if the water crisis persisted many of the jobs could be in jeopardy.  Yet, the municipality had continued to undersupply water, despite a mutually agreed court order requiring it to provide a necessary minimum amount.

• Read the full original of Siseko Njobeni’s informative report on the above at BusinessLive (paywall access only)

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