Deputy Minister Flags Seven Infrastructure Gaps Blocking Macadamia Export Pipeline

John Steenhuisen, Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, stood before growers and processors in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday and named the bottlenecks plainly: market access, tariffs, port infrastructure, logistics, regulation, investment and skills development. Each one, he said, requires coordinated government action to resolve.

The occasion was the Macadamias South Africa regional engagement event, part of MacDay on the Road 2026, one of four regional sessions scheduled for September. The programme is designed to bring government directly to producers in key macadamia-growing regions rather than requiring industry to travel for dialogue that should reach them in the field.

Steenhuisen opened with a blunt assessment of the international trading environment. Countries worldwide are tightening focus on food security, supply-chain resilience and domestic economic protection, he noted, meaning South African exporters can no longer rely on established market positions. The ground has shifted. Staying competitive now requires both government and industry to actively identify new opportunities and deepen existing trade relationships before competitors fill the gap.

Market diversification is the central operational priority. Steenhuisen described the work as systematic: identify growing demand, understand consumer preferences, increase market share and address export barriers one by one. He pointed to the government’s effort to open Chinese markets to South African cherries as a working model, citing the navigation of sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, market access negotiations and tariff conditions as the kind of cooperation the macadamia sector now needs replicated on its behalf.

India is the concrete pressure point. Tariff barriers there continue to limit South African macadamia exports despite existing international demand. Steenhuisen was direct about what the industry is asking for. “We want to be able to just compete on a fair and equal basis with our competitors around the world and then let our quality and our product speak for itself,” he said. No preferential treatment. Equal footing.

Meanwhile, port infrastructure is constraining delivery before product even reaches foreign buyers. Steenhuisen identified Durban port as essential to export competitiveness and pointed to a public-private partnership there as an opportunity to improve the movement of goods. Without reliable port operations and efficient logistics networks, competitive product still arrives late and costs more than it should.

The Deputy Minister outlined five priority areas for the government-industry partnership: productivity improvements through mechanisation, new breeding techniques and technologies including drones; consistent quality and food safety standards to protect South Africa’s macadamia reputation internationally; market access, diversification and tariff negotiations; value addition through processing, manufacturing, innovation and branding (macadamia oil was cited specifically); and inclusion of new entrants and small-scale farmers alongside sustainability measures.

Steenhuisen framed government’s role in operational terms. “What government needs to do is look at ways in which we can create a much better enabling environment for you to unleash your talents, your abilities, your innovations in pursuit of growing the sector,” he said. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition reiterated its commitment to working with the sector on constraints and opportunities, positioning the partnership as ongoing rather than ceremonial.

Steenhuisen encouraged growers, processors, researchers, industry organisations, investors and government representatives to use the MacDay platform to identify concrete actions and partnerships. Three more regional engagements remain on the September schedule, and whether the commitments made in Umhlanga translate into resolved tariff negotiations and improved port throughput will be the measure that operators watch most closely.