Xingwana, Budget Vote Speech at the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Cape
Town
6 June 2007
Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces
Honourable Members of the National Council of Provinces
Members of the Executive Councils in the various provinces
Mayors and councillors
Honourable guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Over a century ago, Charlotte Makgomo Mannya Maxeke boldly embarked on a
campaign to mobilise Africans, especially African women in rural areas to fight
for freedom and women's emancipation. She attained academic advancement when
such opportunities were prohibited for Africans, when she became the first
African to qualify with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree.
With education, she introduced new advanced strategies and programmes to
fight poverty, hunger and deprivation. She lead the way for African women to
organise themselves in progressive structures so that they can manage their own
lives and those of their communities. She pioneered and led the Bantu Women's
League which was the forerunner of the African National Congress Women's League
to fight against colonialism and oppression in our country. She organised
training and community development programmes, for church and rural women under
Zenzele Women's Groups.
Today, we are honoured to have her great-granddaughter Makgoro Mannya
amongst us. She has taken the baton leading other women in primary agriculture
production and agro-processing, making it possible for other women to follow on
with ease. She is a farmer in Tzaneen, Limpopo producing avocado, guava,
litchi, mango and fresh vegetables. Her company exports avocadoes to the
European Union (EU), guava and atchaar to Japan, sells vegetables to the fresh
markets in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Furthermore, the company exports
vegetables to Botswana.
Her company also runs Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) and HIV and
AIDS programmes on the farm to improve literacy skills and health awareness
among farm workers. The company is 100% black female owned. In renewing our
pledge to build a better life for our people, I am also carrying on and
continuing from where my predecessor, Minister Thoko Didiza, left off. In the
years 2004/05, 2005/06 Comrade Thoko started the roll-out of Comprehensive
Agriculture Support Programme (CASP), initiated LandCare, implemented Land
Reform for Agricultural Development Sub-programme (LRAD), AgriBEE and Micro
Agricultural Financial Scheme of South Africa (Mafisa), aligning the national
programmes with provincial programmes and budgets.
Our government dealt with many teething problems ranging from administration
of CASP funds; lack of harmony between LRAD and CASP mechanisms; inadequate
progress reporting by provinces; lack of capacity to social group dynamics
faced by some projects.
Determined to overcome these challenges and deliver on our mandate, between
2004/05 and 2006/07 the government successfully rolled-out almost 2 500
projects supporting over 167 000 beneficiaries.
From this foundation, we have declared that "Umhlaba awungalali." Through
Ilima or Letsema and in the spirit of vukuzenzele we have commenced to
intensify our support through irrigation systems, canals, dams, construction of
dairy structures, stock handling watering facilities as well as dipping tanks
so that family farmers should succeed in their farming activities. This year,
we will roll out 786 projects to benefit an additional 60 000 family
farmers.
We are trying to ensure that the dead assets in the hands of our people such
as land and livestock generate income and jobs, through animal massification by
means of improved and increased production, nutrition and genetic improvement.
To further maximise the use of land while also responding to the global need
for renewable energy, we have completed a draft strategy for crop production to
feed into the national bio-fuel strategy. The strategy estimates a 10 million
ton crop production from three million cultivated hectares per growing season,
of which two million hectares will be based in the former homelands.
We have identified suitable areas to pilot crop production for bio-fuel crop
feedstock in OR Tambo Municipality in the Eastern Cape, Mkhanyakude
Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, Gert Sibande municipality in Mpumalanga,
Bushbuckridge and the Qwaqwa Rural Development Node in the Free State. We will
ensure that bio-fuel crop production should not be at the expense of food
security, but seek to stimulate the creation of new jobs, new economic
opportunities and new entrepreneurs especially in the communal lands and rural
areas.
We have started to resuscitate ailing agriculture settlement projects and
have witnessed a positive turnaround. We have invested R64 million into the tea
estates in Tshivhase and Mukumbani in Limpopo. Our tea plantations produce the
finest quality tea worldwide. Investing in a refurbished processing factory,
settlement of out-grower farmers, tree planting and rejuvenation, packing and
distribution facilities will improve production. It has already created over 2
000 sustainable jobs. Let's drink this Proudly South African tea!
This is one of the many tea plantations that we are busy reviving. Other tea
plantations will follow in other provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and the
Eastern Cape. One of the 77 troubled land reform projects in Limpopo is the
Mamahlola Communal Property Association. This 3 500 hectares (ha) land produces
mango, banana, litchi, avocado, macadamia, citrus, guava and peach. More than
500 hectares of the land are leased to Mondi for the plantation of blue gum
trees. Over the past 18 months, the project was placed under efficient
management, the fruits are in production and are being exported once more, job
losses were avoided, 207 permanent jobs have been created with an additional
100 seasonal jobs.
With the support from CASP, the Mamahlola project has replanted 145 hectares
of bananas, placed 280 hectares under irrigation and piped 4 kilometres of
channels. Next in the line of this resuscitation of the ailing projects will be
the dairy farms in Alexandria and Ncera Farms. This is a critical industry of
our sector particularly in the rural areas where milk plays an important role
in health and nutrition. To correct the dairy issues, my Ministry has
undertaken to urgently seek an audience with the industry to address this
matter.
Chairperson, time is a resource we do not have. Towards the end of 2006 we
adopted Operation Gijima to fast-track delivery of services. By the end of
July, we believe that the AgriBEE Charter will be gazetted, thus paving the way
for a new era that will see the transformation and accelerated growth of our
sector. By the end of the past financial year, the Commission on Land
Restitution has settled 93% of the 79 696 claims lodged. We still have to
settle an outstanding 5 279 rural claims.
Chairperson, the country is waiting for this matter to be finalised. We are
putting together all our resources and energy to finalise the remaining
difficult case that made up seven percent all claims lodged in order to meet
this tight deadline March 2008. We have delivered on the biggest land claim
ever settled in South Africa to-date, the Tenbosch properties with a total
value of R1,1 billion involving 32 387 hectares of land. Most of the land is
currently used for commercial farming.
Another significant land claim is the St Lucia Wetland Park, a world
heritage site. The settlement comprises seven land restitution claims by the
local communities of 1 825 families on the 22 908 ha of land. The State has
committed R89 million towards the finalisation of this claim. Twenty-five
percent of this amount will be allocated to the claimants for development.
"Lixoshiwe'ke ikati eziko lapho!"
The Commission has always been committed to negotiated settlements. However,
in some instances where negotiations drag on indefinitely, then the strategy to
shorten the process is the implementation of expropriation after a period of
six months. To date one expropriation has been successfully implemented at
Pniel Community Land Claim. Let me congratulate the household members of the
Popela Community in whose favour the highest court of the land, the
Constitutional Court, has ruled that they are entitled to restitution. We have
always understood that the individual farmer acted as though they were
apartheid state that dispossessed people and turned them into labour
tenants.
These people lived as a community and the dispossession divided them and
reduced them to scattered individuals. This judgement confirms that all victims
of such removals are legally entitled to restitution.
We have revised the funding mechanisms for the Land Redistribution for
Agricultural Development to make sure that we are able to deliver at scale in
our efforts to meet the target of redistributing 30% of white agricultural land
by 2014. To accelerate delivery we will be applying new land acquisition models
such as the Pro-active land acquisition strategy and the development of new
land acquisition models tailor-made to respond to the needs of our clients.
We will also introduce the Area Based Land Reform Planning. This is a
fundamental tool for the integration and alignment of land reform to the
strategic priorities of the provinces, municipalities and other sectors. Over
the last eight months, I have reflected on the option of establishing a Special
Purpose Vehicle that could accelerate the pace of land redistribution.
Chairperson there is no time to lose. My ministry, in consultation with
other relevant ministries and stakeholders, is busy working on this vehicle
which will be a "one-stop-shop" for all land delivery and agricultural support
services. The implementation of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will
illustrate a success of the alignment of the two departments. Likewise, we do
not have time to be caught unawares by natural disasters.
We have refined an Early Warning Information system, conducted drought
assessments to feed into the National Disaster Management Advisory Forum,
continuously study climate change and its possible impacts on agriculture and
also developed appropriate interventions to mitigate the adverse impacts of
climate change. In partnership with the commercial farming sector, we will
review the sector plan, hold a one-day session with the presidency and chart
the way forward. Despite various measures put in place by government to improve
the working conditions and tenure security of farm dwellers, we are still
witnessing evictions in some parts of the country, whether they are legal or
illegal.
Surely, we have progressed far into our democracy and define ourselves as a
humane society to allow women and children to be thrown out in the open where
they sometimes have to spend the night, in the cold of winter. Equally, as a
nation we condemn all forms of violence including farm killings. At my recent
Lekgotla, we decided to implement radio awareness communication campaign,
especially directed at farm dwellers to inform them about their rights and what
to do when they are faced with evictions and any other unfair treatment.
This campaign would also seek to foster peace and stability within rural
communities. Chairperson, women have always played an important and leading
role in the sector. However, they have not yet had an organised voice to
represent and advance their interest in the sector. Through the formation of
Women in Agriculture and Rural Development (WARD), the rural women now have
that voice. In April this year, South Africa hosted the Fourth World Congress
of Rural Women where over 2 000 delegates from across the globe, they carved
their destiny in the agricultural sector and declared "Nothing about us without
us."
Similarly, the Ministry seeks to include the youth in our development
programme. To this end, we are planning a youth summit on land and agriculture
for later in the year. As part of the preparatory process, there will be winter
school session and a series of career-orientated seminars. The ultimate
objective is to hold sub-regional Youth Farmer and Female Farmer Awards.
Chairperson, I stated before you my vision, objectives and targets for the next
two years. I need your support to achieve this vision, to fight poverty, create
employment and move a step closer towards contributing to prosperity in the
agriculture sector and thus renew our pledge to build a better life for all our
people.
Without your support, I will not be able to accomplish the above vision. You
are the vital link between the national and provincial legislatures, connecting
with the constituencies as you take parliament to the people and monitor
programmes as implemented in the provinces.
Masibaleke ixesha lixhatshwe yinja!
Nako ga e emele motho!
Gare matheng!
Let me thank my Deputy Minister, Advocate Dirk du Toit for his unwavering
support, all the MECs for Agriculture for their co-operation, the leadership in
the entire value chain of the agricultural sector, for their contribution and
participation towards the success of this sector, Director Generals of both
departments and their dedicated staff, my Gijima team, staff in my office, the
Chief Land Claims Commissioner and his team, CEOs of the state entities as well
as the HODs of provincial departments of agriculture.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Agriculture
6 June 2007
Source: Department of Agriculture (http://www.nda.agric.za)
