The Superintendent General for Agriculture and Rural Development (formerly known as agriculture) Advocate Amon Nyondo yesterday, Thursday said the departmental staff was very excited and looking forward with the inclusion of the rural development component.
The rural development component was added when the new executive council was announced by Premier Noxolo Kiviet last week. Speaking from his office in Bhisho following the first formal meeting between MEC Mbulelo Sogoni and senior management, Nyondo said “rural development was very essential because it would put more emphasis on not only declaring war on poverty but also improving the lives of the people. With the rural development component, the department would be able to change the face of previously disadvantaged and underdeveloped areas, especially in the former Ciskei and Transkei, which Nyondo said they were “notoriously underdeveloped.”
He said, “He was convinced that the department will be able to develop the infrastructure in the rural areas by providing roads, fences, sheds as well as dams while it will also scale-up the provision of tractors and implements to enable people to till their lands.
Nyondo said the current provincial draft White Paper on Agrarian Transformation put emphasis on access to markets and agro-processing plants. He highlighted the ethanol processing factory which will be launched in Cradock soon, the development of Umzimvubu Basin, the Ugi/Maclear forestry programme and the provision of water to the mid-karoo as milestones to develop people.
The department was currently busy seeking ways of ensuring that there were warm bodies (staff) that will ensure that rural development becomes a reality.
Nyondo added that people will be trained, through the department’s human resource development component to ensure there were necessary skills to deal with challenges of rural development.
He also said he was happy that former Agriculture MEC Gugile Nkwinti, who was spearheading rural development in the province while still the MEC was appointed as the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform.
Enquiries:
Thozi Manyisana
Tel: 040 609 3486
Cell: 073 263 3754
Issued by: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
14 May 2009
