From South Africa’s biggest cheese factory to a dilapidated building

The dilapidated former Clover cheese factory building in Lichtenburg is a monument of the devastating impact of collapsing municipalities across South Africa.

For decades, the Lichtenburg cheese factory was one of the town’s biggest employers and a cornerstone of its economy.

It employed 380 permanent employees, 40 temporary employees, 20 general workers, and 20 truck drivers and truck cleaners.

It was an important part of the agricultural industry and supported dairy farmers who supplied the factory with milk.

It produced award-winning cheese, and scholars in the area regularly visited the factory, where Clover proudly showed them what a top-class operation looks like.

However, in June 2021, Clover shocked the town when it announced it would close its Lichtenburg cheese factory.

“Ongoing poor service delivery is the main reason for Clover’s decision to move its cheese production from Lichtenburg to Queensburgh, Durban,” the company said.

“The Lichtenburg factory has been experiencing water and power outages for years, and the municipality has not maintained the surrounding infrastructure.”

“Despite numerous efforts to engage the municipality on these matters, the issues have not been resolved.”

Clover said the poor service delivery has negatively impacted production, and it is no longer feasible for the business to operate in Lichtenburg.

The decision was slated by politicians and unions who wanted Clover to keep the factory open and save more than 300 jobs in the region.

The North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Economic Development expressed “great shock and disappointment” about the decision.

North West Premier Job Mokgoro despatched a team to meet the Clover management in an effort to halt the relocation.

Mokgoro said the municipality cannot afford to allow Clover to close and relocate its operations, which would devastate hundreds of families.

Unions were more aggressive, threatening protest action and even called on the government to nationalise Clover to stop its exit from Lichtenburg.

The threats and political wranglings did not prevent Clover from moving the cheese factory out of Lichtenburg.

North West Premier Bushy Maape said the provincial government will devise other ways to attract investors to Lichtenburg.

“We regret that Clover had to disinvest, but we are looking forward. We are doing certain things to ensure that other investors return to Lichtenburg,” he said.

The provincial and local authorities promised to improve service delivery and fix the problems which forced Clover to relocate its factory.

Daily Investor visits Lichtenburg cheese factory

Daily Investor visited Lichtenburg to see whether matters improved to attract investors, as Maape promised.

When we turned into Lichtenburg, the first thing we noticed was the deterioration of the road infrastructure and the large number of people sitting around looking for work.

The national road between Potchefstroom and Lichtenburg was good, without any potholes. However, it all changed when we hit the municipal roads. Potholes were everywhere.

As we travelled towards the cheese factory, the tar road deteriorated to a level where it became a gravel road. It was clear that there was little upkeep.

We passed the Lichtenburg Licensing and Protection Services Centre, where a part of the roof was missing. It was a relatively new building.

Residents told Daily Investor that, instead of fixing the roof, the staff who worked in the area where it collapsed merely moved to another part.

When we reached the Clover Cheese factory, the decline was clearly visible. The building was dilapidated, and the roads were in a horrid state.

The industrial area was run down, with numerous empty buildings. It was a sign of a town where commerce was not flourishing.

This was unsurprising. Residents said the problems which chased Clover away were worse than ever.

The town had no water for three weeks, and the outages have become more frequent. What used to be water-shedding has become prolonged outages.

The electricity supply is also unstable. Some parts of town have experienced outages for weeks, and the municipality is not paying its Eskom bills.

Eskom said the Ditsobotla Local Municipality owes it R1.2 billion and is not fulfilling its financial obligations.

The situation dumped the town into darkness for weeks after Eskom demanded payment before it resumed its electricity supply.

It is clear that the problems that caused Clover to leave—water, electricity, and road infrastructure—persist.