Honourable Speaker and Madame Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier, Mme Hazel Jenkins
Honourable Members in the Executive Council
Honourable Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land
Reform and Rural Development, Mme Chotelo
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Leaders of local government
Traditional leaders
Heads of departments, senior managers and staff of the provincial administration representatives of Women in Agriculture and Rural Development
(WARD)
Representatives of Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development (YARD)
Veterans of our struggle organised under the ANC Veterans League
Members of our Glorious Army Umkhonto we Sizwe (MKMVA)
Distinguished guests and people of the Northern Cape
Comrades
We present to you today a budget that is a building block to what we believe is an essential part of our democracy. A budget which is informed by our dynamic interface with our communities, in particular, those who define who we are, those who define our daily struggles and those who should constantly remind all of us as to why we are here.
We believe that we should not treat our people as passive recipients of a top down bureaucratic services from their government. This is what has characterised our work over the last year and this will indeed be the defining feature of our work.
This is because we believe in the age old Cuban slogan that says, “A profound and irrevocable link with the masses was yesterday, is today and must always be, our compass”. We carry out our duties with the full knowledge that we are privileged to lead and we should never take our people for granted thus emphasising our theme “Working together we can do more”.
Honourable Speaker, we present this budget vote mindful of the events of 50 years ago when the apartheid regime maimed and killed innocent people who were protesting against unjust laws in the country of their birth, a system that was declared a crime against humanity by the international community.
We are reminded of the efforts of people like Bram Fischer, who, despite being Afrikaner by birth, refused public office and possibly the highest office in the land, given his intellectual ability and political integrity.
It was his ability to make a connection between what he called the Russian “kleinboer” and the struggles of the black working class in South Africa. In his letter to the court as to why he would not stand trial Bram Fischer said, “I wish to inform the court that my absence, though deliberate, is not in any way intended in any way to be disrespectful.
Nor is it prompted by any fear of the punishment which might be inflicted on me. Indeed I realise fully that my eventual punishment may be increased by my present conduct. My decision was made only because I believe that it is the duty of every true opponent of this government to remain in this country and to oppose its monstrous policy of apartheid.” This was a true demonstration of selflessness and dedication to the South African liberation.
When our Isithwalandwe President Nelson Mandela delivered the first
Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture in June 1995 he said, “Bram Fischer could have become Prime Minister or the Chief Justice of South Africa if he had chosen to follow the narrow path of Afrikaner nationalism.”
It is through the efforts of people who perished at the barrel of apartheid guns and Bram Fischer that today we can enjoy the liberties that many before us fought so selflessly for.
That is why at this memorial lecture, President Mandela said of his first vote in a democratic South Africa, “I felt that with me when I voted were Oliver Tambo, Chris Hani, Chief Albert Luthuli and Bram Fischer. I felt that Josiah Gumede, GM Naicker, Dr Abdullah Abdurahman, Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Yusuf Dadoo, Moses Kotane, Steve Biko and many others were there.”
This clearly demonstrates to us that the freedom we enjoy today did not come on a silver platter. Many lives were lost, many families were shattered and many hearts were broken. Today our struggle is against conditions of abject poverty and squalor, to which the majority of the people of our province, in particular the rural communities, are subjected to despite the strides we have made in other areas of their lives.
When we went to the polls last year the electorate made their choice very clear and expressed their wishes in as far as health care, education, crime, decent work, fighting crime and corruption and rural development is concerned. To us rural development is a key component to unlocking a number of opportunities in respect of sustainable livelihoods and food security.
We must transform the rural economy to play a meaningful role in the lives of our people and deal with the current reality where the interaction with agriculture and the rural economy, in the perspective of farm dwellers and workers, is not only one where they feel they are subjects of oppression and providers of labour.
The recent global capitalist crises reminded all of us about the vulnerability of our food security net and the importance of agricultural food production as a pillar to political stability. While agriculture contributes about three percent to the national economy, it contributes six percent directly into the labour market.
This excludes employment through the beneficiation of some products in the country. In our province, the picture is accentuated where agriculture contributes up to 11 percent to the provincial economy and as such makes agriculture a significant player in the provincial economy. The sector also contributes about 20 percent to formal employment in the province.
Honourable Speaker, the arid nature of our climate results in relatively low carrying capacity for livestock production. However, the province is known for its high quality meat and meat products.
The recent good rains have ensured that an estimated 300 000 herd of cattle, about 4,4 million sheep and 350 000 goats will be marketed in this financial year. Crop estimates also predict a good year for irrigation farmers with an expected maize crop of 635 000 tons and a predicted wheat crop of 280 000 tons.
The grape industry in the lower orange region experienced a good season and the table grape intake is expected to be 10 percent higher than the 2008/09 season. Our province specialises in early, seedless table grapes and an export crop of approximately 16 million cartons is expected. The grape industry in our province has established itself as the premium supplier of fresh table grapes to the European market in the pre-Christmas period.
The wine grape intake is expected to have recovered to 170 000 tons, which is 30 percent higher than the previous season. Dry grapes or raisin deliveries are also expected to be significantly higher than the 2008/09 season where approximately 28 000 tonnes were produced.
Our wine industry is a living example of how agro-processing can increase the viability, profitability and sustainability of our production systems. It will contribute to addressing the risks associated with the primary agricultural production phase and has the potential to increase our revenue base and create employment.
Honourable Speaker, the Tshwaraganang Hydroponics project, which is situated in Windsorton, with a total of 18 beneficiaries, is a shining example of the partnership between government, private sector and our communities. This project is a success story of unheralded proportions as they are now supplying the Shoprite Checkers chain stores with English Cucumbers.
This project is making a profit of about R70 000 a month. We also have the Nomalanga Trust in the Siyanda District; this is a group of eight farm workers and farm dwellers who acquired 156 ha of land through governments Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAAS). The farm currently has 26.63 ha of export table grape cultivar, 23,3 ha of sultana cultivar, 3,56 ha of wine grapes and 5 ha of lucerne.
We were able to assist this project with R280 000 to buy implements and they have not looked back since. The project is exporting to the European market and they are currently running a debt free operation and they provide employment to the nearby communities of Kakamas and Keimoes.
Honourable Speaker, public infrastructure investment has become a necessity in creating a competitive environment and ensuring that we are able to jump start rural economic development. We also need to preserve the productive value of grazing land, optimise our gross margins per unit of water and land and manage the impact of high input costs and stagnating producer prices as well as improve our risk management capacities.
We also need to integrate our small holder farmers and provide increased support to them, develop and retain the requisite skills in agriculture, rural development and increase access to land through progressive land reform and to offer sufficient support in order to ensure that we turn this into productive land acquisition.
Honourable Speaker, we believe that all of these features must contribute to vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities that contribute to food security for all.
1. Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP)
Honourable Speaker, rural development is about the human development of the rural poor, which includes, but is not reducible to agriculture and land redistribution. In the same vein, land and agrarian transformation should be the linchpins for our rural development programme.
Riemvasmaak was chosen as a pilot site for our CRDP programme in the province last year when the last portion of their claim was finalised and to date we have achieved the following:
- We have constructed a handling facility and livestock water point at Sending (Mission)
- Fruit trees and seedlings were distributed at Vredesvallei
- Construction of the health care facility has commenced
- We have obtained an office in Kakamas which is in the process of becoming operational
- We have embarked on veterinary campaigns to ensure livestock health in the area
- We will be testing all bore holes on the new farms as well as constructing handling facilities for the new farms
- The upgrading of border fences and we will be commencing with the establishment of a nursery at Vredesvallei
- We are also in the process of developing a master plan for irrigation development in Riemvasmaak and Vaaldrift as well as infrastructure development on the original communal land
- We have approached the Department of Roads and Public Works to look into the tarring of the road between Kakamas and Sending
- We are working on the establishment of a bulk water pipeline between the Orange River and Sending
- We have also developed an infrastructure plan for the 46 000 ha that were handed over last year and
- We are in the process of allocating grazing land to the community.
Honourable Speaker, we have also started the process of developing a costed social plan for rural areas in our province. We have started with the Pixley Ka Seme and John Taolo Gaetsewe Districts. This social plan is intended to clearly identify developmental needs and the profiles of our families such that our intervention as government is guided by what the people need and not what we think they need. This analysis will look at the following issues:
- household demographics
- economic activities
- livelihood strategies
- health status
- education levels and
- access to social infrastructure amenities.
2. Cooperatives development and support
We are continuing with our work to train, mobilise our communities and create awareness on cooperatives throughout the province. We have over the last year been able to register 14 cooperatives with the relevant statutory authorities.
Creation of a conducive environment for agricultural production to ensure food security and sustainable livelihood
Honourable Speaker, through the comprehensive agricultural support programme we were able to assist 2079 small holder farmers with various production practices which they would otherwise have not been able to afford.
R57 389 million was spent on 21 projects whereby 662 actual jobs were created. R5,56 million was used for land care programmes whereby 18 projects were funded with 1 833 farmers benefitting and 123 jobs created. These activities included fencing, awareness campaigns, fire belts and the eradication of invader species. We were also able to distribute 310 Nguni Heifers and 50 Bulls to about 40 Projects in order to improve on the genetic pool of small holder farmers’ livestock.
3. Water shortage in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District
Honourable Speaker, we have instituted a study to investigate the possibility of water sources in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District. A preliminary report to this effect has been tabled and we are discussing its contents with the Department of Water Affairs together with the Moshaweng Local Municipality.
However, whilst we are working on these investigations, we have spent R10 million during the 2009/10 financial years through CASP and land care to upgrade and install new stock water systems in areas such as Pender R, Netherway, Herstersgeluk, Maphiniki, Nyra, Adderley, Dithakong and Loopeng.
3.1 Ilima/Letsema
Honourable Speaker, we have been able to construct four over-night dams to the tune of R1,6 million through the Ilima/Letsema programme in the Phokwane area. We have also received requests for technical engineering assistance and these requests are being attended to. We also spent R6 million for the sub-surface drainage system in the Vaalharts area of which R3,2 million was spent on small holder farmers.
Honourable Speaker and members, we continue to assist the Niewoudtville Rooibos Tea Farmers in order for them to be able to exploit niche markets in the industry. However, this project has not been without its challenges. We have commissioned a forensic investigation to determine the extent of the alleged graft that has taken place at this project and those that are involved.
We are of the firm view that any corruption or collusion that has been taking place at this project shall not be tolerated and all those involved will be brought to book.
However, our determination to see this project succeed shall not be deterred by this sideshow. We remain committed to the commercial viability of this project and as such, have set aside a further R20 million in order to conclude the pasteurisation phase of the project. We have also approached the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms T Joemat-Pettersson to assist in this regard.
3.2 Orange River emerging farmer settlement and development programme
Honourable Speaker, water rights have been allocated to small holder farmers within this programme as follows:
- 440 hectares of water rights are in the process of being awarded to the Women Workers Trust of Carstens Boerdery and an additional 600 ha of water rights are currently under consideration.
4. Wine development
We were able to establish the following projects under our wine development initiative with development costs funded by our department:
- Realeboga 11.0 hectares
- Middle-Eiland 8.5 hectares
- Blocuso 18.0 hectares
5. Commercialisation of goats
We are continuing with our efforts to commercialise this industry and to date 131 farmers were trained with 312 goats marketed.
6. Veterinary services
Our veterinary services had to during the course of last year and recently respond to an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in the Kakamas area in October 2009. Two persons tested positive for this viral infection. 500 doses of vaccine were used to contain the disease and by December 2009 no deaths or abortions were reported in the affected area.
The last time our province had an outbreak of this disease was in the summer of 1976. The summer heavy rainfalls throughout our country, particularly in January and February 2010 have also created the conditions for another outbreak of the disease. To date, we have reported cases in our neighbouring province of the Free State, Eastern Cape and North West province and we now have 615 confirmed cases in the Northern Cape with 594 animals having died mainly in the following areas Colesburg, Petrusville, Douglas, Carnavon, Brandvlei and Prieska.
The virus may be moving towards the Kenhardt area and we call on the farmers in the area and throughout the province to vaccinate. We are working together with the Eastern Cape, Free State and North West provincial departments on how best we can prevent the spread of the disease.
Honourable Speaker, a World Rabies Day was held in Upington on the
19 September 2009 with 186 learners in attendance and we also held the Rabies Scientific Day with 57 medical professional in attendance and with guest speakers from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture. We will continue with our testing campaign of the Brucellosis campaign in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District.
7. Micro Agricultural Finance Institutions of South Africa (MAFISA)
Our facilitation of the MAFISA scheme over the last year has seen 16 farmers in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District access loans for livestock production through the National Emergent Red Meat Producers Organisation (NERPO) to the value of R1 248 369.
Honourable Speaker, as we have highlighted earlier, our work is guided by our theme “Working together we can do more” and the old Cuban slogan that “a profound and irrevocable link with the masses was yesterday, is today and must always be, our compass,” we have worked with all role players in agriculture to ensure that there is work done on the Disaster Management Front.
We have been proactive in the assistance given to areas that have experienced distress and assisted the farming communities such as we did during the raging veld fires in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District.
Honourable members, a total of 16 extension officers were appointed during the period under review as part of the extension recovery programme which will allow us to better service the farming community.
Land Reform and land redistribution should be used as a catalyst for rural development and the upliftment of our communities. Experiences have shown that the market driven willing buyer-willing seller model in both the acquisition and distribution of land with the market being the only instrument used for obtaining and redistributing land to the dispossessed is unsustainable and has not delivered the expected results.
It is therefore important for all of us to engage in the debate as to how best do we take forward the question of land redistribution and restitution lest history will judge us cruelly. In his budget speech to the National Assembly on Wednesday 24 March 2010, the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform said, “The green paper will soon be presented to cabinet and, the plan is to submit it to Parliament by the end of April 2010”.
This Green Paper seeks to address the current challenges in the Land Tenure System. The Green Paper proposes a Three-Tier Land Tenure system namely:
- State land under leasehold
- Private land under freehold with limited extent and
- Foreign ownership with precarious tenure linked to productivity and partnership models with South African citizens.
Over the last year there has been land that has been obtained in an attempt to address the land question by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in the province. This office has obtained 9841 hectares of land through the Land Reform and Agricultural Development programme (LRAD), 19 031 hectares which are commonages and 17 432 hectares through the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAAS) to address issues of land redistribution.
Honourable Speaker, we also had to intervene in the case where certain farms were to be auctioned by the Land Bank for not honouring their credit agreements. These debts emanate from the loans that were given by the Land Bank. Based on the production potential of these farms we decided to intervene and bail out these farms.
Furthermore, we also assisted the farmers to develop implementable production, management and marketing plans for their farms. In real terms, we made a capital contribution of R1 237 701 to the Land Bank for the capital debt of four of the projects.
In as far as land restitution is concerned, the Richtersveld Community received a total of 16 204 ha as part of phase two of their restitution claim and the Stratford community was given 4 834 ha with a total of 35 beneficiaries.
The Koopmansfontein community claim with a total of about 3 538 ha benefitting 505 beneficiaries was also settled in the 2009/10 financial years. In as far as the Boven Campbell community claim is concerned; a total of about 1 931 ha was handed over to the community that benefitted 410 beneficiaries. Cumulatively, in the province we transferred about 73 103 ha during the financial year under review.
The Regional Land Claims Commission in the Free State and Northern Cape has been allocated an amount of R260 million for the 2010/11 financial year of which 25 percent of this will go towards post settlement support and recapitalisation. There are total of 124 claims outstanding from a total of 2 883 claims that were lodged.
The overall departmental allocation for 2010/11 year is R304 055 million. Of the R304 055 million allocated equitable share constitute 64 percent and 36 percent pertains to conditional grants.
- Programme 1: Administration
This programme will receive R61,630 million. We will also set aside resources for bursaries for both internal and external applicants in order to build capacity for the Department as well as for deserving working class and poor learners. Provision has also been made to cater for the ever increasing services which include among others, leases, audit fees, security services, telephone and data lines.
In this financial year more effort will be placed on the reduction of services previously outsourced. We will, during this financial year look at taking over the cleaning services and security. We will also reduce wastage through the introduction of the telephone management system which intends saving us 40 percent of current expenditure on telephones.
The department will be unveiling its new corporate logo in line with the guidelines of the Government Corporate Identity Guidelines. We will continue with our efforts to ensure that we achieve the 2 014 milestone of a clean audit.
- Programme 2: Sustainable resource management
Programme two will receive R33 737 million. Included in this budget is R5,995 million which will cater for Land Care programme. This programme will also work towards the finalisation of the risk management plan and also continue with the monitoring and assessment of disasters.
- Programme 3: Farmer support and development
This programme will receive R119 051 million which constitute 33 percent of the total allocated budget. Included in the allocation are conditional grants (CASP and Ilima/Letsema), which constitute 76 percent of the programme budget.
These funds will be used mainly for the development of agricultural practises that improve production and increases the participation of historically disadvantaged farmers in irrigated agriculture and agro-processing. This programme will also intensify training for small holder farmers and farm workers. R1,2 million will also be set aside for the development of an irrigation scheme around the Warrenton area including the Moleko farm.
- Programme 4: Veterinary services
Honourable Speaker, this programme will receive R31 230 million which will be used for:
- Animal disease control with Rift Valley Fever and Anthrax receiving priority including a review of the contingency plan on the diseases and discussion with the Academic world on research needs especially early warning systems to predict future outbreaks. Emerging farmers on the path of an outbreak will have to be catered for by government
- Primary animal health care with promotion of responsible animal ownership and awareness on animal welfare aspects
- Continuation of promoting food safety through awareness programme
- Expanding services provided by the veterinary laboratory
- Programme 5: Technology research and development
This programme will receive R 39.451 million of which R 9,793 million will be allocated to the commercialisation of goats programme and R 1,5 million to the livestock improvement programme and specifically the Nguni initiative:
- The programme will continue to support the agricultural sector in the province through research, technology transfer and development on the seven Research Stations of the department.
- The programme will also champion the development of a provincial master plan for agricultural development. This will be a Geographic Information System and will provide a decision making tool for further agricultural development and investment in the Northern Cape. A draft document is expected by the second quarter of this year.
- Programme 6: Agricultural economics
The programme will be allocated R 10.936 million, which will be used for the establishment and support to cooperatives, to conduct socioeconomic profiling of rural areas in order to provide the baseline information needed for targeted intervention.
This program will also work to ensure that there is constant support for the marketing and development of business plan for our small agricultural enterprises. The program will also continue to give economic support in viability studies and business plan development for projects within the department and for the farming community
- Programme 7: Rural development and farmer settlement
Honourable Speaker, the department will try and reprioritise within its baseline to ensure that the programme is established in the department. In addition the farmer settlement programme has been shifted from programme three to this programme. Our focus in as far as this programme is concerned will be on the following areas:
- Continuation of Riemvasmaak CRDP pilot
- Coordination of joint planning at strategic level to ensure that sector departments prioritise rural development in their respective plans
- Mobilising of resources for identified development needs
- Coordinate and monitor implementation of rural development strategy and plan
- Coordinate the expansion of CRDP to other sites.
Honourable Speaker, we shall not be deterred in the pursuance of our work and in trying to build a better life for all our people as we draw our inspiration from heroes and martyrs of our struggle like the late Alex La Guma, a dedicated communist and the Chief Representative of the African National Congress in the Carribean, based in Cuba at the time of his death, who in his book, Fog of the Season’s End, writes of the significance of collective action in solving problems of the South African system. We present this budget today, central to our theme “Working together we can do more”.
Honourable Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the:
- Madame Premier for her leadership and guidance
- Members of the Executive Council for their support
- Chairperson and members of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development for their oversight role
- The leadership of the Tri-partite Alliance in the province for their political guidance
- Women in Agriculture and Rural Development (WARD) for their commitment to rural development and women empowerment
- Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development (YARD), for championing the interests of youth in agriculture
- Members and the leadership of the National African Farmers Union (NAFU), the Griekwaland Wes Kooperasie (GWK), Agri-Noordkaap, the Northern Cape Economic Development Agency (NCEDA) and other stakeholders for their engagements
- Mr Obed Mvula from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform and staff for their support
- The Regional Land Claims Commissioner for the Northern Cape and Free State Region Mr. Sydney Hlongwane and staff for their unwavering support
- The Head of Department, Mr Viljoen Motshabi, senior managers and staff of the department for their dedication
- The staff in the ministry, under the leadership of the Head of Ministry Comrade Pele Modise for their dedication and support
I thank you
