Khabisi Mosunkutu on Premier Mashatile's State of the Province Address
17 February 2009
Programme director:
Fellow MECs
Journalists present
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to briefly expand on Premier
Mashatile's State of the Province address and to reflect on some of the
milestones that we have planned for the 2009/10 financial year.
Reporting on the Gauteng economy during his State of the Province address,
Premier Mashatile said that we have joined hands with different role players to
promote job creating economic growth in key economic sectors, including in the
agricultural sector.
Using this as a departure point and briefly elaborating on the Premier's
assertion, I am proud to state Gauteng now boasts 135 land reform projects
involving over 850 beneficiaries. In this regard, it should be noted that in
1994 there was not a single black person in Gauteng who owned agricultural land
of any significance.
In addition to the 135 land reform projects, a total of 259 individual
farmers, primarily women, are currently leasing land with an option to
purchase.
We have also established three agro-processing facilities in the province.
We shall, in the coming financial year, establish five more agro-processing
facilities. These will include pack-houses where vegetables are processed and
packaged.
We shall also establish milk parlours and feed mills especially for piggery.
Through these initiatives, we shall be further enhancing the inclusive job
creating provincial economy. In all of these projects, the Letsema/Ilima
approach will be adopted to ensure that a large number of communities work the
land to produce food and contribute to food security for more people.
In relation to building sustainable communities, Premier Mashatile reported
that over 210 000 people have benefited from the department's food garden
projects. Aware of the ongoing international food crisis, especially the high
costs of food, we shall continue increasing the country's food production
capacity and helping fight poverty especially amongst the poorest sections of
our communities.
In this regard, we shall establish 9 000 household food gardens and 70
community food gardens. At the close of 2008, 20 farmers in the maize triangle
were given seeds, fertilisers and tractors to work the land and produce food.
We shall, during the coming financial year, continue to assist more farmers in
the maize triangle. 117 farmers, who are beneficiaries of the provincial land
reform programme, will also benefit from the Gauteng Farmer Settlement
Programme (GFSP).
In his State of the Province address, Premier Mashatile committed government
to continue improving the health of our communities. In relation to this task
and within the mandate of my department, I should state that our veterinary
services have managed to keep the province free from major animal diseases like
rabies and new castle disease.
As part of contributing towards developing healthy communities, we are
planning to vaccinate over 77 000 animals against rabies, anthrax, brucellosis
and Newcastle disease during the coming financial year.
During the coming financial year, we shall embark upon more programmes aimed
at educating our communities about animal diseases and how to curb these. In
addition to these animal and pet care programmes, we also plan collect 104
samples for residue testing to ensure that the meat consumed is safe and
wholesome.
You would probably recall that the Veterinary Public Health directorate of
the department was awarded the International Standards Organisation (ISO17020)
for the high standards of the work it does in the meat industry.
To retain the high standards that made it possible to win this award, we are
planning on increasing the number of abattoirs that participate in our Abattoir
Hygiene Rating Scheme from the current 53% to 60%. We also plan to conduct 1
692 abattoir inspections during the next financial year.
In his State of the Province address, Premier Mashatile urges all government
departments to favourably respond to the climate changes that are a global
threat.
Over the past five years, we have vigilantly promoted the rights of all
Gauteng communities to an environment that is not harmful to their health and
wellbeing. We have also ensured a healthy balance between environmental
considerations and current developmental imperatives.
During the past financial year alone, 31% of applications that we processed
were for infrastructural projects, including roads and telecommunication
infrastructure. 49% of the applications processed were for development of
houses, 10% of which was for affordable housing. More than 12% of applications
finalised were for industrial / economic development.
Having processed between 60 000 to 70 000 environmental impact assessment
(EIA) applications over the past five years, we shall improve our EIA process
sing turn-around time.
We intend processing more than 1 500 EIA applications during the year. 40%
of these are estimated to be for economic development and 30% for housing
infrastructure. We also plan to finalise the Gauteng Hazardous Waste Management
Plan during the forth coming financial year.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have set for ourselves more goals than those
mentioned here. In view of the limited time available to us, I shall stop here
and await questions at the appropriate time.
I thank you all.
Issued by: Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Gauteng
Provincial Government
17 February 2009
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government (http://www.gautengonline.gov.za)
