L Xingwana: Vaal Region

26 November 2006

Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Agriculture, Conservation and
Environment, Ms Nomantu Nkomo Ralehoko,
President of National Education and Health Workers Union (Nehawu), Noluthando
Mayende Sibiya,
Members of Parliament present,
Members of the Legislature present,
Councillors,
Bomme le bontate dumelang:

Ke ka thabo e kgolo hoba le lona kajeno. Ke ikutlwa ke hlomphehile ho fumana
memo ho tswa holona badudi ba Groendenne, Driefontein le Mooi Water.

It is with sadness that I learned of your horrendous plight. What saddens me
most is that the problems that you have are not peculiar to this area alone,
but are somewhat common in most rural areas of our country. It is all the more
irritating that in this case it is happening in Gauteng which is the richest
province in the country. In my view it is obscene that while there is so much
wealth, some people are drowning in a sea of poverty, hunger, malnutrition,
lack of proper housing and sanitation. What makes it more obscene is that these
are basic human rights enshrined in our Constitution.

To you the communities of Groendenne, Driefontein and Mooi Water I would
like to say much as I understand your predicament it is not all doom and gloom.
As you all know the Department of Land Affairs is currently in the process of
acquiring land for you. The land will be earmarked for settlement and
agriculture. As we speak, four farms have been identified and the Department is
in the process of procuring the services of a professional evaluator to
determine the market value of the land. I have been told that progress meetings
involving you, the communities, the Department, members of Parliament and the
parliamentary constituency office in Midvaal have been held. So my
understanding is that you are being apprised of all the developments in this
regard.

Secondly, the community of Groendenne has already identified an area of land
that also still has to be evaluated. Rest assured I am going to follow this up
with my officials so that this process is not delayed unnecessarily. I want all
your families to sleep peacefully without the threat of evictions hanging over
your heads.

Bommme, the battle does not end with the provision of land. It has actually
just begun. It will mean toil and sweat. You will have to work the land for it
to provide you and your families with food and in so doing you will create jobs
for yourselves. This might sound frighteningly impossible, however, if you work
as a collective I am sure you can move the proverbial mountains.

That is why through the Letsema Campaign we are promoting the productive use
of available land that is lying fallow and I do not for once expect the land
that the Department is acquiring for you to lie fallow. We also want to ensure
effective participation of women and the youth in land and agrarian reform so
that they can reap maximum benefits for their hard work.

Note also that as soon as the land is in your hands, government is not going
to abandon you. Through programmes such as the Comprehensive Agricultural
Support Programme (CASP), Micro-Agricultural Financial Scheme of South Africa
(Mafisa), Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA)
and the Agriculture Black Economic Empowerment (AgriBEE) we will ensure that
you access all the assistance you can get. I am meeting with the Portfolio
Committee for Agriculture on Tuesday to finalise the AgriBEE Charter after
which I shall hand it over to the Minister of Trade and Industry for
Gazetting.

As soon as this process is finalised you will know how it will be of any
benefit to you. We will further ask Land Bank to come to the party in so far as
funding is concerned.

You should also note that I have not at any stage so far spoken of policy
development or formulation. I am not interested in many policy documents that
people write that end up gathering dust in their filing cabinets while our
people are crying out for help.

I am not interested in meetings, workshops and strategies. I say we walk the
walk before we talk the talk! The time for paper pushing is long over. The time
for service delivery is long overdue.

We have also launched a mass movement of rural women called Women in
Agriculture and Rural Development (WARD). Gauteng province was represented when
we launched this movement in East London in October. I would like all the women
in these communities to become part of this movement so that we can promote
meaningful participation of women, youth and people with disabilities.

The purpose of WARD is to see quick access by women to support programmes
such as CASP, Mafisa, Land Bank products and other capacity building
programmes. With the wealth of experience that we gathered as we toiled on
other people's lands, I am sure nothing can stop us. It is indeed possible to
start practically focused sustainable projects that improve our quality of
life. This will in turn lead to job creation and poverty alleviation.

You must organise to work in groups or co-operatives so that you can enjoy
the associated benefits such as bulk buying discounts, co-ordinated marketing
and so on.

On a graver note, we are three days into the 16 Days of Activism for no
Violence Against Women and Children Campaign. However, already on Friday some
evil people robbed and killed a 92-year-old woman around Johannesburg. As if
that was not enough they had also raped her! I asked myself, "What kind of
people are these who would rape their own grandmother?" On 15 November, a
couple killed a 70-year-old woman then put the body in the victim's boot and
drove to Mpumalanga where they doused her corpse with petrol and set it alight.
Last week a father was granted bail after being arrested for molesting his own
few months-old baby boy. The list continues.

According to the Star newspaper this last Friday, 24 November 2006, in one
month the Stop Gender Violence Helpline receives 36 000 calls from victims of
abuse and the number keeps increasing.

Charlene Smith, a journalist, novelist and rape survivor, says that
according to statistics there were 1 200 child murders in South Africa last
year, 1 500 child victims of attempted murder, 24 000 children assaulted and 22
000 child rape victims. What is more concerning is that in many instances the
children were abused by people they know and trust!

According to Health24, South Africa is one of the countries with the highest
incidence of sexual abuse in the world. However, the exact number of cases is
difficult to establish as sexual abuse goes largely unreported. Any mother
worth her salt who finds herself in an abusive relationship will leave before
things get worse. Abusers never stop. If one sees there's a need to go to the
magistrate and apply for an interdict to protect yourself and your children,
then let it be.

Let us not wait until we become survivors of abuse. Let us say no to abuse.
Let us pledge our support for this campaign and help stamp out the rampant
scourge of rape, murder and abuse of women and our children.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Agriculture
26 November 2006
Source: Department of Agriculture, (http://www.nda.agric.za/)