Infrastructure failures blamed as Dickon Hall Foods exits Johannesburg

Johannesburg’s municipal service failures have been blamed for the closure of a food manufacturing plant and the relocation of its production to the Western Cape, prompting fresh concerns about investor confidence in the city.

Company cites unreliable water supply

Public information from Libstar Holdings shows that Dickon Hall Foods raised concerns about unreliable municipal water supply as early as the 2023/24 financial year. Reports say the Southdale facility experienced repeated and prolonged water outages in late 2024 and into early 2025.

Operational impact and costs

According to the reports, the company endured as many as 25 production shifts without municipal water and had to truck in water to maintain limited operations. Those measures reportedly contributed to operational losses averaging around R17 million.

Decision to relocate and human cost

By the end of 2025 and into 2026, the Johannesburg operation was closed and production was shifted to the Western Cape. The closure left employees facing retrenchment or relocation.

Infrastructure as an investment issue

The case was presented as more than an isolated service-delivery failure: it was framed as a loss of confidence that a municipality could guarantee a reliable water supplyan essential input for food manufacturing, sanitation and regulatory compliance.

“The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.”

This observation was used in the source material to underline how investors seek certainty, stability and functioning infrastructure when making location decisions.

Calls for municipal competence

The reporting urged prioritising preventative maintenance, strengthening water and electricity reliability, improving project management and enforcing accountability across municipal administration as steps to restore investor confidence.

What happened to Dickon Hall Foodsfrom repeated outages and costly emergency measures to closure and relocationwas presented as a warning about the broader economic consequences of failing municipal infrastructure.