JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — The South African poultry industry is calling for improved municipal service delivery ahead of the 2026 local government elections, warning that unreliable infrastructure is directly inflating the price of chicken for consumers.
Francois Baird, founder of the FairPlay Movement, highlighted the severe impact of collapsing local government infrastructure on the sector. He explained that poultry farmers essentially convert feed, water, air, and electricity into protein. Any interruption to these critical inputs is catastrophic: a failure of just a few hours can result in the death of the birds, while a multi-day outage can cause an entire business to collapse.
To mitigate these risks, producers are forced to bear massive additional costs. Baird noted that one producer had to spend over R100 million to secure its own clean water supply because the local municipality could not guarantee a constant source. Similarly, farmers have had to build their own electricity generation capabilities to survive load shedding. Despite these financial burdens, the industry has remained resilient; when imports were halted during recent global disruptions, local producers ensured a steady supply of poultry meat to the market.
The poultry sector is a critical economic driver, currently ranking as the second most competitive in the world. It boasts an industry value of R74 billion and supports over 110,000 jobs across the value chain. Operations span all nine provinces, with a heavy concentration in rural areas and small towns. Since the first industry master plan was introduced in 2019, the sector has invested over R2 billion and grown production by 25%.
However, Baird warned that poor municipal management threatens this continued growth. He pointed to instances where infrastructure collapse forced major companies like Clover to pull out of local municipalities, resulting in significant job losses.
Looking toward the upcoming elections, the industry is demanding strict accountability and practical solutions. Baird emphasized the need for “ring-fencing” municipal maintenance budgets, ensuring that funds allocated for water, electricity, and roads are not siphoned into other projects. He called for a return to technical competence, urging municipalities to bring registered engineers back to manage water, wastewater, and electricity systems.
Furthermore, Baird stressed that long-term political and municipal stability is essential for rural development. He advocated for proper governance to ensure clean audits and urged municipalities to publish their reliability metrics.
“They must be forced to measure what they do and tell us whether they are delivering what they’ve promised,” Baird stated. He concluded that true accountability and restored infrastructure will ultimately lower production costs, allowing rural towns to develop and providing consumers with the benefit of more affordable chicken.
