‘Trucking of logs to George could cause job losses in Tsitsikamma’
The economic hardship of the Tsitsikamma community might worsen if MTO Group, the local timber company, keeps on trucking all its saw logs from there to its George sawmill. So warns Swartland Investments, a manufacturer of wooden windows and doors that is in a long-term log purchasing contract with MTO which expires on 31 December. Swartland Investments CEO Hans Hanekom says in a recent media statement that the Tsitsikamma community was already hit hard by the 2017/18 fires and the effects of Covid-19, and now this company and other milling operations will experience "massive" job losses. Swartland employs
1 550 people.
He says the sawmill in Tsitsikamma was set up specifically to serve forestry operations in that area where forestry has been a mainstay of the community for over a century.
The transfer of the saw logs to George contravenes a number of FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) guidelines, among which the requirement that trees should be replanted after the timber is felled. FSC certification also requires the organisation to use local processing and services as far as possible, the opposite of what MTO is doing in Tsitsikamma, according to Hanekom. MTO chief stakeholder relations officer Itumeleng Langeni in response says MTO's decisions since the major recent setbacks were necessary to ensure that its business, and numerous businesses and jobs that depend on it, remain viable. The fires have decimated 16 635ha of plantations, but 8 863ha have been replanted. MTO is audited annually by the FSC. Its 2025 forecast planting schedule has been agreed upon with government and will enable job creation. Also, the termination of Swartland Investments' contract makes way for a more equitable tender process that will provide an opportunity for all to gain access to the industry, particularly previously disadvantaged stakeholders.