![]() ![]() The money paid for these skins would be a direct injection into the community. This opens opportunities for small entrepreneurs who have a bakkie to collect these skins on a regular basis and take them to the brokers. There is, however, a huge wastage of hides and skins. Hides and skins are transported here from a network of collection points around the country. Most large tanneries are close to cities, where water as well as a sewerage system for the disposal of the waste water is available. Tanneries making good profits are those that have been in business for a long time with an established client base. It’s no good buying a R2 million machine and having it stand idle most of the day. What role can hides and skins play in creating jobs, particularly in rural areas? As tanneries need very expensive equipment and use lots of water, setting up smaller ones in rural areas isn’t easy. But many rural people who slaughter for traditional purposes often do not salt these hides, so they will be badly affected by the new legislation. The proposed export tax will place a premium on good quality hides and farmers will benefit by paying more attention to the proper salting of any hides that they handle. The tanneries will end up paying the tax, taking it from money that should have gone into the farmer’s pocket. Businesses exporting unprocessed or semi-processed products will probably reduce the price they’re prepared to pay as the tax on top of existing input costs will make our raw material too expensive on the global market. ![]() But, that aside, if the tax is implemented, not all hides and skins will suddenly be processed to finished leather. How do you view the recommendation by the Department of Trade and Industry to introduce an export levy of 60% on wet exports and 40% on semi-processed hides and skins? The latest information is that sheep skins will not be subject to the export tax. Consequently, the price of lower quality hides or skins, especially dry hides, are likely to decline. This will cost the tanneries money, as many skins may not survive processing. The downside for the farmer is lower prices, as all hides, irrespective of quality, will then have to be processed. What is your opinion on this? Several countries do this with the aim of creating more jobs locally. There’s renewed talk that government wants to ban the export of unprocessed raw hides.
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