L Xingwana: Agriculture and Land Affairs Dept Budget Vote
2007/08

18 May 2007

Madam Speaker
Members of Parliament
Members of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs
MECs for Agriculture and Land
Members of the diplomatic corps
Government officials
Invited guests from Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal provinces
Learners from Limpopo and Gauteng provinces
Ladies and gentlemen

I extend to you my warm greetings in this house today. Clearly without your
support and commitment the implementation of the agrarian revolution is not
possible.

To the Presidents of the farmers' unions, farmers and farmer organisations,
leaders of the agricultural business, members of the agricultural chief
executive officers' (CEOs) forum from the various industries and agricultural
business, our local government representatives with you we share this exciting
and joint responsibility to ensure a united and prosperous rural and
agricultural economy.

To Women in Agriculture and Rural Development and many other women in South
Africa you are the spearhead at the forefront of our struggle to combat
poverty, hunger and the elimination of racial and social discrimination.

To young farmers, you are the bedrock upon which the food needs of our
people and country in future is firmly secured.

To traditional leaders who oversee land user rights for many people in
communal areas to get sustenance in the face of challenges of life.

To the poor rural communities, landless communities whose life in land is
insecure, the farm workers and workers in the food and agricultural industry,
the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in the land and agrarian
sector.

To you all I want to say that our objective to grow the agricultural sector
and transform its skewed ownership patterns of land and enterprises in our
country is surely being realised each day through your efforts and government
programmes that have been put in place.

Madame Speaker, in order to take our people out of the poverty trap we must
accelerate the pace of our land and agricultural reform.

A great daughter of the soil, born in the rural village of Ga-Ramokgopa near
Polokwane defied the then colonial authorities who did not allow Africans to
study science by going to the United States (US) and returning as the first
African in South Africa to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree.

This is Charlotte Makgomo Maxeke, a pioneer who opened the way for African
people especially rural women that they can overcame all odds that stand in the
way for social and economic emancipation. She also laid the foundations for the
formation of the African National Congress (ANC) Women's League when she
founded the Bantu Women's League.

In the true tradition of Charlotte Maxeke, last month South African rural
women hosted 2 000 rural women of Africa and from the rest of the world, in
Durban, under the auspices of the Fourth World Congress of Rural Women.

They called upon their governments and private sector to put the
emancipation and the role of rural women at the centre of the development
agenda.

They adopted the slogan of their physically challenged rural women
counterparts that, "Nothing about us without us."

They demanded access to skills, technology, finance, peace, strengthening of
good governance, increased use of local indigenous languages, access to land,
mineral resources, energy, markets, health, transport, water and
sanitation.

On behalf of those rural women I would like to thank the Cabinet, the
President and Deputy President for their support in making this event a
resounding success.

Madame Speaker, in this gallery sits a group of learners who have made a
substantial contribution to this budget vote. These learners have demonstrated
their understanding of the dynamics and importance of the agriculture sector.
Wilhemina Mabasa of Mamelodi High states that the weapon to fight unemployment
and hunger lies right under our feet.

Ke nnete, lehumo letswa tshemong.

This statement is applicable to the rest of the African continent which is
well endowed with natural resources and biodiversity and should not suffer from
hunger and poverty.

Madam Speaker, I am encouraged by recent the development within the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD's) comprehensive African
agriculture development programme and the commitment made by Heads of State to
increase investment to the agriculture sector to 10% of national budgets. To
support this programme, next month South Africa will host the General Assembly
of the Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa.

The review of National Agricultural Marketing Act and our proposed
development of the agricultural intelligence centre will enhance our ability to
conquer the markets and the recently developed agricultural marketing
information system gives our sector a competitive advantage.

The National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) in collaboration with the
Maize Trust, the Oilseed Trust and the Winter Cereals Trust developed the
summer grains marketing scheme to support the creation of 5 000 growers from
the black farming communities over five years.

Kholofelo Maahlo of Capricorn High School says that with Agri-Black Economic
Empowerment (BEE) agriculture will be taken to new heights. The sky is the
limit. Sky, here we come with Kholofelo!

Madame Speaker, Agri-BEE is a primary instrument to transform the sector,
increase access and participation of black people and to generate economic
growth.

To take Agri-BEE further this year we will focus on strengthening
stakeholder relations, ensuring that plans are in harmony and aligned with
scorecard targets. In using various mechanisms such as industry trusts where an
increased spending is advocated, we will push Agri-BEE projects.

Johannes Malapela of Kgalatlou High School in Sekhukhune states that
Agri-BEE will help many farmers buy modern farming implements. He adds that he
would like to see the youth also being empowered through Agri-BEE.

To strengthen our support to family farmers, we have embarked in a process
of aligning Micro Agricultural Financial Scheme of South Africa (MAFISA) with
other support programmes such as landcare, Comprehensive Agriculture Support
Programme (CASP) and Land Redistribution Programme (LRAD) through a
comprehensive one stop service vehicle. This one stop vehicle will ensure
progression from family farming to commercial farming.

Under the slogan of "Awungalali umhlaba!" I have introduced Ilima-Letsema
campaign to encourage the productive use of agricultural resources especially
in the communal areas as a collective effort to fight poverty and hunger.

The implementation of landcare has also been revised to focus on area wide
planning instead of many small projects. This approach will enable us to
address resource solutions within a sub-catchment area, accommodate a wide
range of beneficiaries and open good links for community capacity building.

We will expand CASP through the rollout of farmer support projects
implementing boreholes, animal handling facilities, irrigation equipment,
training and technical advice as well as removal of alien invasive plants, were
carried out.

Massification of livestock through improved reproductive efficiencies,
growth and development, nutrition, genetic improvement and maintenance of
genetic diversity has been made possible by implementation of the Animal
Improvement Schemes (AIS), currently managed by the Agricultural Research
Council (ARC). This will include projects on Nguni cattle, goats, sheep and
other small stock in all provinces. This is part of the Accelerated and Shared
Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) to transform the dead assets in the
hands of the poor into valuable commercial assets.

In addition, we have started addressing the turnaround strategy for projects
in which emerging black farming communities were resettled. I am pleased to
report that one of the projects, the Tshivhase Tea Estate in Limpopo will have
its first harvest in September. The product from this estate, Tshivhase Tea is
not only one of the world's finest premium tea but 100% organically grown. Now
that is my cup of tea!

Also key to new entrants in farming is access to finance and advisory
support. We are stepping up our efforts to turn around the Land Bank, to ensure
it delivers on its mandate and remains sustainable. Government has already
injected R700 million and extended a R1,5 billion guarantee. We are further
engaged with the National Treasury to find an optimum funding model for the
bank.

Furthermore, the new board and management of the ARC, is making strides in
improving and strengthening the relations with clients and key stakeholders in
the sector. The council is investigating ways of improving the nutritional
quality of staple food with particular reference to sorghum maize, available to
our people.

It has also adopted the route of bio-fortification of staple foods to
improve their nutritional balance and quality as well as pioneering the
development of indigenous drought resistant legumes and cereals for food and as
industrial crops.

Animal health is an important aspect of the livestock sector. The ARC and
the Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) have signed a co-operation
agreement for the diagnosis of diseases and the development and manufacturing
of vaccines. This will improve the effective management of animal diseases such
as avian flu and foot and mouth disease.

Skills development and empowerment especially among the youth is our
priority competitive tool.

Based on the great need for skills in this sector, we are working towards
reaching a target of 1 000 bursary holders per annum by 2014. Our recruitment
strategy is focusing on learners with maths and science.

In collaboration with the Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF), three farms producing
grapes, cash crops and lucerne have been made available to youth development in
the Northern Cape, the Free State and North West provinces.

Madame Speaker, the world is moving towards renewable energy. Our country
has completed a draft strategy for bio-fuels. 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 will ensure that bio-fuel crop production will not be at the expense of
food security but seeks to stimulate the creation of 50 000 new jobs, new
economic opportunities and new entrepreneurs especially in the communal areas.
This will stimulate rural development and increase the utilisation of
agricultural lands.

Thank you, Samuel Magapa of Mamelodi High School for stating that
agriculture is not only a career of your choice that feeds the nation but also
generates jobs and business opportunities.

Madame Speaker, I am concerned about the high level of food prices in recent
months as reported by the Food Pricing Monitoring Committee of the National
Agricultural Marketing Council. These high food prices affect the ability of
the majority of poor people to buy food. The Department is closely monitoring
the factors contributing to this situation.

I am equally concerned about the impact of the current drought on both the
consumer and the producer.

We have issued regular early warning information and conducted drought
assessments to feed into the national disaster management advisory forum.

In the long term, we continue to study climate change and its possible
impacts on agriculture. We are also developing interventions to mitigate the
adverse impacts of climate change.

Madam Speaker, the issue of land will continue to raise emotions because
people are inextricably linked to it they identify their origins, identity,
livelihoods and prosperity to it. Without land redistribution, the agrarian
revolution is impossible.

The challenge for government is to ensure that targets that we have set for
land reform particularly the redistribution of 30% of white owned agricultural
land by 2014, the provision of security of land tenure for those whose land
tenure is insecure are met including the land restitution by the end of
2008.

The number of claims settled by the commission on land restitution by the
end of the last financial year increased from 71 645 to 74 417. This brings us
to 93% of the total 79 696 claims lodged.

We still have to settle an outstanding 5 279 rural claims. The remainder of
the provinces has less than 200 each. Gauteng has only 10 claims outstanding as
most of their claims were urban claims, all of which have been settled.

Our strategies to implement the speeding of the settlement of outstanding
rural claims include shortening the project cycle, delegations to commissioners
for the finalisation of claims, eliminating protracted negotiations by
implementing expropriation, batching of claims with similar circumstances,
consulting with traditional authorities and Houses of traditional leaders,
working closely with other State departments and municipalities.

There are claims, however, that we will not be able to settle before 2008
because of the following reasons. The Land Claims Court adjudication process
takes a long time, there are conflicts among traditional leaders on issues such
as jurisdiction, land ownership and boundary disputes between communities,
there is disputes with current landowners on issues such as land prices or
validity of the claim and there are claimants that cannot be raced.

Madam Speaker, we estimate that these complex cases constitute about one
third of the outstanding rural land claims.

Last year has seen a number of outstanding progress highlights in terms of
settlement of claims which marked a significant milestone in the work of the
commission.

The biggest land claim settled in South Africa to date is 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 Simangaliso formerly known as St Lucia
Wetland Park, a world heritage site. The settlement comprises seven land
restitution claims by Maphelane, False Bay, Makhasa, Umnqobokazi, Jobe, Myeni
and Zikhali communities of 1 825 families on the 22 908 hectors of land. The
State has committed R89 million towards the finalisation of this claim.

These communities will now have an opportunity to utilise the land for
grazing, agriculture and participation in the economic activities like tourism
concessions development.

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 implementation of expropriation after a period of six
months.

To date one expropriation has been successfully implemented namely the Pniel
community land claim.

Madam Speaker, the Land Summit expressed its concern about the pace of land
delivery in July 2005. During the cause of this financial year, we will put in
place various measures to accelerate land delivery.

These will include the introduction of 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 our clients.

We have also revised the funding mechanisms for the Land Redistribution for
Agricultural Development (LRAD) 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.

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.

These plans will be an integral part of municipal integrated development
plans and will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that our interventions
are responding to the needs of our people, especially farm dwellers, women,
youth and the disabled.

My Ministry has over the last eight months reflected on the option of
establishing a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that could accelerate the pace of
land redistribution. The SPV will be a "one stop shop" for all land and
agricultural support services for land reform beneficiaries. It will
co-ordinate settlement support throughout the value chain, in partnership with
the private sector and civil society organisations. It will also decentralise
support services to the lowest level of delivery.

Despite various measures put in place by the government to improve the
working conditions and tenure security of farm dwellers, we are still
witnessing an increasing number of reported land rights infringements and legal
evictions in some parts of the country.

We have also witnessed some violence, including the murder of farm
owners.

It is quite apparent to us that a lot still needs to be done to improve law
enforcement and the closing of loopholes in our legislation. In this regard, a
comprehensive report is being compiled which will reflect and provide an
objective perspective on the living conditions of farm dwellers in South
Africa.

In the short term to medium term, the Department will establish a land
rights management facility that will serve as a "one stop shop" for all land
rights related support services for farm dwellers. These services will include
law enforcement and compliance, mediation and facilitation services, evictions
monitoring including a toll free number, on going awareness campaign.

In order to provide long term security, we will also acquire land for the
settlement of farm dwellers to provide long term tenure security.

Madam Speaker, time is the resource that we do not have. Towards the end of
2006 we adopted Operation Gijima to fast track the delivery of the land and
agricultural reform in this country. This is a two-year plan aimed at
accelerating service delivery in the following areas: restitution,
redistribution of agricultural land, security of tenure, Agri-BEE and family
farming.

Madam Speaker, we present today in this house a budget that aims to take us
a step closer to contributing to prosperity in the agricultural and assist us
in our land reform efforts.

I will like to thank my Deputy Minister, advocate Dirk du Toit for his
unwavering support. I also want to thank the MECs for Agriculture for their
co-operation and the President of Women in Agricultural and Rural Development,
Ms Thami Zimu for her dedication towards rural women empowerment.

I will also like to thank the leadership in the entire value chain of the
agricultural sector, for their contribution and participation towards the
success of this sector.

I particularly want to thank the future generation of our country, the
learners in the gallery.

I would like to thank my dedicated running teams led by the
Directors-General (DGs) of both departments and their dedicated staff, staff in
my office, the Chief Land Claims Commissioner, CEOs of the State entities as
well as the heads of departments (HODs).

Thank you!

Issued by: Ministry of Agriculture and Land Affairs
18 May 2007