![]() ![]() We all benefit from the factory,” said Jacobs. “For us not to work here was going to be a huge problem for all of us, because our children are also working here, season time when the schools are closed. Van Eck told Maverick Citizen that his father also works at the factory, adding that it is common for entire families to work there. “Last year, with the apricot season, it was only two weeks, and in the years, it was three weeks, four weeks,” he said. In recent years, there had been a decline in the amount of work available at the factory, said Rowan van Eck, a factory worker and resident of Ashton. Seasonal employment peaks at about 4,300 individuals who work for about three weeks during the apricot-processing season, according to Tiger Brands. The L&AF plant employs 250 permanent workers and takes on varying numbers of seasonal workers throughout the year. ![]() At the end of a day’s shift, workers queue to leave the gates of the Langeberg and Ashton Foods canning plant. To gain a better understanding of the importance of the plant’s survival, Maverick Citizen visited Ashton and spoke with residents from various walks of life, including factory workers, educators, business owners and nearby farmers. While the life extension of the plant has been a source of relief for the broad network of individuals and businesses that rely on it for income, some uncertainty around its longevity remains. “The decision was taken after a compact was agreed upon with organised labour, L&AF employees and members of the Canning Fruit Producers Association that allows the company to undertake the significant risk required to operate the business for the forthcoming season,” stated Tiger Brands in a press release. However, on 12 July, Tiger Brands announced that it would extend operations at the L&AF plant for another season – a decision that would allow potential buyers more time to raise the capital needed to take over the facility. And the hunger was also going to be there… everyone was going to starve. “So, it was going to be a ghost town and it was just going to be quiet. “All of us are dependent on this factory,” said Nompumelelo Jacobs, a factory worker and resident of Ashton. The closure of the canning plant would have turned Ashton into a ghost town, says Nompumelelo Jacobs, a worker at the factory. The imminent closure sparked widespread alarm in Ashton and the surrounding region. In the intervening time, the company had sought a buyer for the L&AF plant but had failed to reach an agreement with any interested parties. The announcement came two years after Tiger Brands stated its intention to exit the deciduous fruit business. Life in a factory town: Ashton's future uncertain as ca. We may literally be in the dark but everyone that calls South Africa home deserves to be enlightened. FACTORY TOWN LIMIT OF GENERAL STORES FREEIf you, like us, have had enough, then help us by contributing whatever you can so that you have free access to the truth of what is happening at all levels of government to make an empowered vote. We don’t have a paywall because our journalism is free. To our readers: we’re asking for your support. But what Daily Maverick can do is to ensure that we provide the only tool that enables all South Africans to make themselves heard: information. We can’t all be out repairing potholes and drilling boreholes. Not for the first time, ordinary South Africans are stepping up where the government isn’t… From creating apps to alert others about load shedding, to parking their cars and assisting as point guards to keep traffic moving, our collective ability to take care of each other when the chips are down might be the last thing keeping us going. ![]()
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