Auditing Newsletter

It’s crucial to ensure your contact information on the SIZA platform is accurate and current to keep you fully informed and updated on important developments. Audits are costly and have become increasingly important over the last few years. Therefore, it is important to gain as much knowledge about this expense in your business as possible because, without proof of compliance, you cannot access a variety of markets to sell your products. Having the right contacts listed allows us to deliver timely, relevant communication to the right person in your business.

From 01 April 2023 until 31 March 2024, 713 SIZA Social (ethical) Audits were conducted in South Africa on farms and packhouses. These audits were conducted throughout various seasons and included a wide variety of agricultural crops and commodities.

When it comes to understanding or preparing for an environmental audit, it can be a daunting task to think about all the different types of laws and requirements.

Managing waste on the farm involves handling, reducing, and finding new uses for the various types of waste produced during farming and processing. This includes leftover crops, animal waste, and by-products from processing.

Several producers in South Africa use TES’s services to supply labour during peak seasons. It is important to remember that the employment relationship between the employer and the TES is a joint responsibility.

When we look at recruitment, certain aspects must be met, not only to ensure one complies with SIZA but also with the law in South Africa to ensure that the employee or employer is protected in the employment relationship.

The cost of compliance has always been a sensitive and uncomfortable subject. The aim of compliance is not to create financial strain on the business but a requirement to ensure a third-party certification body has evaluated specific requirements of a standard required by the farm’s clients/buyers.

Many agricultural businesses have to undergo at least three types of audits, depending on the market they supply to: a food safety audit, a social (ethical) audit, and, nowadays, an environmental (sustainability) audit.

The SIZA programme supports the foundation for an effective grievance process and has a complaints process available for any interested party (agri-worker, manager, supervisor or stakeholder, etc.) to launch a complaint directly with SIZA either in writing or via the SIZA hotline telephone number (086 1111 568).

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is one of the key indicators of healthy soil life, as it reflects the amount of organic matter present in the soil.