The logistics company's IT system was targetted by hackers around the time of the unrest last month. It exacerbated the backlog of products waiting to leave our shores - which had started when KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were hit by violence causing some key economic routes to be shut down. The Durban-based SA Citrus Growers Association says they've had to issue the call as large amounts of produce were still coming through from as far as Limpopo and other parts of the country -  all waiting to go through the Durban harbour. CEO Justin Chadwick says 2.5 million tonnes of citrus are exported through the Durban port each year.

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Come December, when farmers near Cape Town harvest rooibos leaves, they will become the first generation to grow and sell a tea with a unique regional status, a designation awarded to other such products as French champagne or Irish whiskey, Reuters reports. Rooibos tea was the first African product to get such a status in the European Union in June. Farmers and agriculture experts now hope the EU's treatment of rooibos could help boost demand and improve the crop's profitability. Industry officials are now working on getting similar protected designations of origin for rooibos from the World Trade Organisation. South African Rooibos Council director, Dawie de Villiers, said with more value, it means farmers can invest more in sustainable farming. He hopes the EU nod would mean rooibos could be sold at a premium, much like champagne when compared with other sparkling wines.





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