Budget Vote Address: Deputy Minister Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development delivered by; Mrs Rosemary Nokuzola Capa
Honorable Chairperson
Honorable Members
Minister Didiza
Deputy Minister Skwatsha
Chairperson and Members of the Portfolio Committee
Members of our Statutory Boards and Councils
Farmers Organizations and CEOs of Commodity organisations
Farmers and Farm Workers
Senior Officials
Ladies and Gentlemen
Chairperson, it gives me great pleasure to address the house today on the occasion of Budget Vote 29 of Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD). The state of our rural communities is a stark reminder of the oppression visited upon our people by the apartheid era government, which is characterised by high levels of poverty, underdevelopment and unemployment.
Rural areas continue to bear the scars of a brutal system, which sought to strip black people of their dignity, though, among others, the theft of their land and livestock and to condemn them to be a constant supply of labour for the formal economy.
Approximately 33,7% of the South African population live in rural areas. These communities are among the poorest in our country, due to their limited access to social services, including education and healthcare. The legacy of the past system of oppression subjected our people, particularly in rural, to underdevelopment, unemployment and inter-generational poverty.
Our government has been working to address the historical challenges facing South Africans in rural areas, by engaging in socio-economic processes to uplift these communities through rural development initiatives. We will continue to bring transformation to rural areas, through policies and programmes which aim to ensure these communities begin to truly enjoy their liberation.
DALRRD is leading the charge of bringing much needed development and support to rural communities. That will then achieve sustainable economic growth.
Chairperson, the Covid-19 pandemic had a profoundly negative impact on these poor and marginalised communities. The pandemic, which remains a factor in the lives of our people even today, disrupted the economy, impacted the ability of many citizens to earn a living and caused a deepening of poverty in rural areas.
As part of government support initiatives to mitigate against the effects of the pandemic, the Presidential Economic Stimulus (PES), with the agricultural support administered by the department, brought much-needed relief to struggling smallholder and subsistence farmers.
Through this support initiative, subsistence farmers were able to obtain production inputs through a voucher system, which allowed them to continue to grow their crops, feed their livestock and, in turn, sustain their livelihoods.
More than 50 thousand subsistence farmers applied for the second phase of the PES, which will bring further relief and ensure that jobs are created and sustained.
Global warming and climate change are realities that we have to address as a collective. This means the government, traditional authorities, civil society, citizens and residents of this country need to come together. We must change our living patterns and do all we can to reduce emissions and improve human settlement planning, to avoid future catastrophic natural disasters.
As if the outbreak of the pandemic was not enough, another disaster occurred, which affected largely KwaZulu-Natal as well as Eastern Cape and North West. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the families who lost their loved ones during the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape in April 2022.
This disaster has cost lives, property, infrastructure and brought pain and sadness to families, communities and our nation. We extend our appreciation to every person and organisations who extended a helping hand to those affected by the floods.
We know that subsistence agriculture plays an important role in meeting the needs of residents in rural areas. The department plans to implement a number of projects that are aimed at increasing jobs, developing skills and the provision of the infrastructure development, to support rural economic transformation.
The creation of jobs is critical to alleviating poverty and improving the lives of the rural communities.
The department plays a critical role in contributing to the creation of an environment conducive for the growth of the rural economy. In the 2021/22 financial year, the department completed a total of 30 infrastructure projects that support the Farmer Production Support Units (FPSUs). Sixty-four infrastructure projects were completed to support the Animal Veld Management Programme (AVMP).
This number will increase in the 2022/23 financial year, as we roll out projects to further support growth and development in rural areas.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development supports the proposed Eastern Seaboard Development, a multi-nodal smart city development initiative launched in November 2021 by the president of the Republic of South Africa. This important development covers the jurisdictions of 4 district municipalities: OR Tambo, Ugu, Harry Gwala, and Alfred Nzo in Eastern Cape.
Successful consultative engagements were held during May 2022 between traditional leadership, DALRRD, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) and affected district municipalities and traditional leaders.
Chairperson, in the current financial year, more than R600 million has been allocated rural infrastructure development. This allocation will be directed to infrastructure projects, including those related to the Animal Veld Management Programme, River Valley Catalytic Programme (RVCP), Farmer Producer Support Unit (FPSU) and the Revitalisation of Rural Towns.
As our country battles the scourge of Gender-based violence (GBV), women and girls in rural areas have not been spared from this despicable social ill.
One could even argue that they are even more vulnerable than their counterparts who live in urban areas. This is due to the underdevelopment in their communities, which often means accessing services such as law enforcement and medical facilities is even more challenging.
GBV is a blight on the freedom for which so many of our comrades paid the ultimate price. Women and girls are not safe in their own homes, they are not safe in their own communities, among men. This situation must change.
DALRRD, as a member of the National Rural Safety Forum, has contributed to the development of the Rural Safety Strategy, which aligns to the National Development Plan: Vison 2030’s call to build safer communities, with particular emphasis on the protection of vulnerable groups such as women, children and rural communities.
We call on all of society, traditional leaders, religious leaders, political parties, law enforcement agencies and men in our communities, to defend and protect the rights of women to live in freedom and safety.
In his State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the plan to upgrade 685 kilometres of rural road over the next three years. These, he said, include access roads in Limpopo and Eastern Cape, surface upgrades to gravel roads in the Free State and the North West.
We welcome this initiative as it will go a long way toward improving the lives of our people, by allowing for cheaper and the easier flow of goods and services, access to economic opportunities and safer movement of communities from one place to the next by road.
In addition, the department will work with farmer organisations and its counterparts in all spheres of government, to implement a programme of repairing and rehabilitation of rural and farm access roads to facilitate transport logistics for the agricultural economy.
Chairperson, our country is experiencing record levels of unemployment among youth, women and persons with disabilities. Through the NARYSEC programme, we have recruited and skilled youth in various TVET colleges across the country and created nearly 500 jobs for the rural communities in the 2021/22 financial year. In this group, the department included a significant number of women and persons with disabilities.
The department also employed former NARYSEC youth and agricultural graduates on short-term contracts, to assist farmers with applications during the implementation of the Presidential Economic Stimulus Initiative (PESI).
Through the District Development Model, more than 600 youth were trained through the Agricultural Research Council and have been supported with agricultural inputs.
It is encouraging that 610 NARYSEC participants, who established enterprises in all nine provinces, received support and were afforded economic opportunities.
In conclusion, we will continue to collaborate with all social partners while we implement targeted programmes and projects which will bring development and create jobs and job opportunities for rural communities. We will not rest until poverty is eradicated and there is prosperity and continued growth!
I thank you.
