At the Eastern Cape Red Meat Producers Organisation (EC RPO) Annual General Meeting held in Cradock on the 8th of March, representatives formally adopted a proposal to place the EC RPO within the structures of Agri Eastern Cape (Agri EC).
The current Red Meat Desk within Agri EC will now fall away and Dehan Kukkuk, who currently manages this desk, will become the new Manager for the EC RPO, based in Gqeberha.
Dehan can now be contacted at Dehan.Kukkuk@agriec.co.za or on cell 072 618 0832 or via the Agri EC office landline 041 363 1890, by any EC RPO member, for assistance.
Dehan will be supported by the current Agri EC administrative staff, and with a full time manager, EC RPO members should shortly see the benefits of this new structure.
An interim Committee, headed up by Charles VD Spuy and Ezra Schoonbee, the elected Chairman and Vice Chairman of the EC RPO respectively, together with EC RPO regional representatives and representatives from Agri EC will be convened next week at the Agri EC General Council meeting.
This committee will determine the processes, way forward, membership structure and a new funding model, leading up to the Agri EC Congress in August where the formal adoption of this new committee will take place.
This new committee will retain the name, functions and purpose of the current EC RPO and all existing relationships with the Eastern Cape National Wool Growers Association, the National RPO and other bodies such as the National Animal Health Forum will be retained and strengthened.
Agri EC will now form part of the EC RPO/EC NWGA planned roadshows for 2023, where further detail will be shared.
Both organisations, are committed to ensure that the Eastern Cape, which has the largest number of livestock in South Africa within both the commercial and communal sectors is adequately represented at all levels and within all relevant structures within the red meat sector.