"The competition was launched soon after New Year this year," said Mac Mackenzie, project manager of the Dutoit Group. "This following the negative circumstances created by the riots and vandalism that accompanied the labour strikes in the region during November 2012, as well as the threats to the business represented by the planned strikes that lay ahead for us later in January. The Dutoit Group has sustained considerable infrastructure losses due to vandalism and arson and labour relations had also suffered in the process. Management was keen to foster a spirit of enthusiasm and positive energy within their workforce and, thus, decided to extend the existing picking competition held on individual farms to a new, inter-farm level. This is the first time that the competition has been held at this level and this is likely to become an annual event within the company."
Within the Koue Bokkeveld area, the Dutoit Group has 112 picking teams consisting of 25 people each (16 pickers, six sorters, two tractor drivers and a supervisor). During the harvest this creates jobs for 2800 pickers. "Through this competition we hope to empower supervisors and their team members by encouraging a spirit of entrepreneurship within these units," said Gys du Toit, co-MD of the Dutoit Group. "Although our picking season is only for four months, good picking skills are of great value to producers and will allow these people to offer their services to fruit producers elsewhere in South Africa during other times of the year."
The competition was between the winning teams from Kromfontein, Vastrap, Nooigedacht, Tandfontein, Lindeshof and Paardekloof. The teams picked from Monday, 22 April to Wednesday, 24 April and the winning teams were announced on Wednesday evening by Gys du Toit at a gathering of the six teams and management of the Dutoit Production Division.
Petrus Ruiters, production manager of Lindeshof helped to co-ordinate the competition with Mac Mackenzie, the organiser and adjudicator of the competition. Mackenzie explained that the criteria for the competition are based on quality, quality and following the correct picking protocols.
"The quantity of bins picked per day is very important as the farms have to harvest the crop before the fruit becomes overripe. This harvest has been bountiful with a very large crop so the time pressure has been a very real consideration during the picking season.
"Careful selection of fruit quality and size are vital for the market. As the bins arrived at the central loading place, samples were taken from the bins of each team and subjected to a thorough quality control process for quality. This included ripeness, colour, size, damage due to wind, pests and disease, as well as well as bruising during picking) and the supervisors of each picking team received feedback on this several times a day throughout the competition.
"Pickers need to follow all the protocols that govern the picking process. These include orderly conduct, careful picking and handling of the fruit, orchard sanitation as well as prevention of damage to the trees, trellising and irrigation infrastructure. The competition has also been useful in promoting good skills levels amongst the picking teams."
The supervisors are permanent employees who live on the farms and have been working with their team of seasonal workers since January. The majority of the picking teams are Xhosa-speaking workers who are contracted seasonal workers from the Eastern Cape towns of Sterkspruit and Queenstown. They spend the picking season living on the Dutoit Group estates and return to their homes during the off-season. The picking season has been running for four months already and is nearly complete with more than 90% of the fruit already harvested. The timing of this competition marks the culmination of an intensive period of physical labour for the teams as they work up and down ladders for around nine hours per day. The possibility of a reward for hard work has been an inspiration for them through this period and has been successful in creating the excitement and enthusiasm the Dutoit Group had hoped to achieve with this initiative. The likelihood of this competition becoming an annual event is also providing excitement amongst the pickers for future opportunity.
The winning team was from Lindehof (supervisor, Andrew Pedro), the second team was from Nooitgedacht (supervisor, Thebe Mokalakala) and the third team was from Vastrap (supervisor, Ace Madondolo).
The prizes for the winning teams has been carefully considered and well chosen. "The Dutoit Group has an inclusive management style and, thus, we consulted with the supervisors about what the winning team would like as a prize," said Mackenzie. "The response was that the workers would like to visit Robben Island to see where former-President Nelson Mandela was incarcerated before South Africa became a democracy." The second prize selected was a visit to the Two Oceans Aquarium and a meal at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town and the third prize was a dinner in a restaurant in Ceres, the nearest large centre to these remote farms.
