Potatoes, summer fruits and citrus get the credit for the soaring revenues recorded at the Joburg Market over the past 12 months.
In August, for the third time monthly revenue topped R1bn, as it did in April and in October last year.
The 64ha market accounts for 46% of the national fresh produce market. It attracts an average of 14,000 buyers a day from across the country and the Sadc region. About 8,000 farmers supply produce, the biggest contributors being from Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
In August, potato sales contributed 28% to the total turnover, said acting COO Charles Park.
“The potato price went up 25.5% in August. In June it was so cold and the farmers experienced black frost. During the production stage, their products got damage and the volumes did not come through as anticipated. As there were less volumes, therefore the price went up,” he said.
Park said the first R1bn-plus month in October — an “historic turning point” — came at the time of year “where you move from winter products to summer products”.
“Summer products are your mangos, lychees and grapes. The volumes are not high because the season is only starting, so the price tends to be a little high. But once the volumes start coming in, the price normalises again.
“April is again the change of season when you move into winter. You start getting your citrus products like the lemons, naartjies and grapefruit. Those products don’t come in at full force but slowly, so the price tends to be high.”
Of the revenue generated by sales on the trading floor, 87.5% goes to the farmers, 7.5% to the agents who sell the fresh produce and the market takes 5%. In August, this 5% equated to a R50m profit for the city, which runs the market.
This month marks 50 years since the market moved to City Deep. It moved from Newtown, where it had operated since 1913, having been established in 1886 in market square. This square stretched from Rissik Street in the east to Sauer Street in the west, bordered by President and Market streets.
Joburg Market CFO Nkosinathi Baloyi said turnover had risen steadily over the past three years, from R8.76bn in financial 2022 to R11.2bn in financial 2024.
Park said 16 agents represented farmers on the trading floor. The agents employed 217 sales personnel to sell to the buyers.
Prices were determined by supply and demand. “Each buyer negotiates a price with the agent,” Park said.
“We don’t have insight to the negotiations between the salesman and the buyer. There are also different sizes in the fresh produce, and quality issues. The market can start at R20 for a bag of potatoes but the demand and supply can force it to R30 or drop to R10.
“As we speak, farmers across the country are packing potatoes which they will bring tonight. We get fresh produce 24 hours a day.”
The Joburg Market is the biggest by volume in Africa. In the last financial year, 1.4-million tons of fresh produce was sold.
But the market has had challenges, among them cable theft.
Clive Garrett, director of the Tomato Producers Organisation, said: “The fridges are sometimes not working, the banana ripening rooms are not working. Whenever there are issues with electricity, the back-up generators are not working. They are not doing proper maintenance of the facility with the money they make.”
Market managers acknowledged the problems but said they are being addressed.
Baloyi said the market had spent about R32m to buy three 2,000MVA generators, which started operating in December 2023.
He said a further R16m had been invested in a new power connection to Moffat View, which is less plagued by cable theft. “We have also installed solar panels on our buildings which help supply electricity to the cold rooms during the day.”
Joburg Market has 464 employees and the facility received R89m for capital expenditure in the current financial year. The market has started building new cold rooms, which cost between R40m and R50m.
The city is investigating how it can grow its infrastructure and is considering opening a meat market.
Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, said the market was a vibrant space for competition and transparent pricing and delivered the best value for consumers.
They don’t clean the place well. Sometimes when you are at the market you just get a funny smell
— Jacob Ndoro, informal trader in Parktown
“What we see in the Joburg fresh produce market is an example of efficiencies that have been put there over time, which is something that is important,” Sihlobo said.
But he said municipal authorities needed to improve the infrastructure not only for the Joburg Market but also those in Tshwane, Cape Town and Mthatha. “When these markets manage to make some returns, money must been reinvested to improve infrastructure.”
Nico Muller, who works as an agent specialising in vegetables at the market, criticised what he said was a lack of maintenance. “There is still a lot of stuff that needs to be improved. The facility needs upgrading. It is extremely old. Proper cleaning seldom happens there. You have to search for proper toilet facilities. If you employ a team of people to clean the toilets, that team must be managed and have a supervisor to ensure the work is done.”
Jacob Ndoro, an informal trader in Parktown who has been buying his produce at the market for 20 years, said: “You have to understand the movement of prices and the type of stock that you take. People who have storerooms have an advantage because they buy in stock and get a better price. We, who sell on the streets, do not always get the best deal on the floor.
“The other challenge is that customers do not understand price fluctuations. Today you sell them an apple for R3, tomorrow it is R4. They question why the price has changed in just a day,” Ndoro said.
He also complained about how the market was maintained. “They don’t clean the place well. Sometimes when you are at the market you just get a funny smell. It is an old problem and they know about it.”
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