Durban – Ethekwini Municipality's full council has approved a plan for the city to acquire two farms owned by Rainbow Chicken in the Hammarsdale area.
The approval, during a full council meeting on Wednesday came despite strong opposition from DA councillors.
Speaking during the meeting today, DA councillor Rory Macpherson said the plan was not thought out properly and was not a competency for the council.
Macpherson said: “The city’s job is to create a investment climate for people to invest, it could do this in a variety of ways including giving incentives for people to invest but not running farms."
However ANC councillors at full council fully supported the plan and it was approved.
The city said in a media statement later that the city intends to acquire portion 278 of farms Uitkomst and Doornrug farms from Rainbow Chicken's parent company RCL Foods Consumer PTY LTD and the cost would not exceed R15-million.
Rainbow Chicken recently retrenched thousands of workers under pressure from cheap chicken imports from other countries that have threatened the poultry industry in the country.
EThekwini said the farms would help save some of the jobs lost and would introduce the youth to agriculture.