This, after the dairy group announced that it will be closing its Lichtenburg plant and relocate to Durban. The company, in a media statement, cited poor municipal services as the root cause. The Ditsobotla Municipality serving the area is amongst the financially troubled 22 North West municipalities that have for years battled to generate revenue and provide basic services to residents. 

It is listed in the Auditor-General's report as amongst those municipalities grappling with a lack of financial controls and sound management. Mokgoro, meanwhile, says they have noted challenges in this municipality and are attending to them. He says the closure of Clover will have devastating effects on over 300 families.

"Our responsibility as government, at any sphere, remains to create a conducive environment for businesses to flourish. I must say in this instance we have neglected this key responsibility, hence Clover intends to close shop in this municipal [district]. We need to find ourselves and meet the needs of businesses if we are to grow our local economies and create more jobs," he said.

He adds he has noted how Clover processes about 350 000 litres of milk daily, and how 250 000 litres of milk is sourced from KwaZulu-Natal while approximately 100 000 litres of milk is sourced from the North West, which means the closure of the plant will ultimately also have a negative impact on local farmers.

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