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Date : 07/04/2005
Source: Ministry for Agricultura and Land Affairs
Title: Didiza: Agriculture and Land Affairs Dept Budget Vote 2005/2006


Budget Vote address by Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs, Ms Thoko Didiza, National Assembly

Madam Speaker
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs
Members of the Portfolio Committee
MECs for Agriculture
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen

In celebrating 50 years of the Freedom Charter, ten years into our democracy, probing questions about the effectiveness in realising the Charter’s declarations of an equal South Africa that belongs to all who live in it, black and white, still persist.

There is today no doubt that, on the political face of our lives, South Africa has truly become a rainbow nation that boasts of a progressive and democratic Constitution that reflects the vision of a state that is based on the will of all the people – black and white. Indeed, in all our policies, in all our affirmations as South Africans, we are truly a democratic nation.

However, when we probe further into the political fabric of our rainbow nation, a different social and economic picture emerges that speaks contrary to who we are as a nation. This picture reveals a society that is still grappling with the effects of racism, poverty and underdevelopment. An example of this reality within our own agricultural sector is expressed in some farm areas through conditions around which the workers live, as well as the treatment that some of them receive. To this end I want to recall the death of Ntombi Mazibuko, 12-year old child, a daughter of a farm worker in Bergville eMangwaneni who fell in a trench that was dug by a farmer in order to prevent livestock of farm workers to come to his farm. Again in some parts of the country illegal evictions still persist.

Madam Speaker, honourable members it is also true that even with some of these challenging realities you have positive stories that emerge. Yesterday, we visited the Bouwland Share Equity Scheme, where 60 farm workers are now owners of a wine farm through the Land Reform for Agricultural Development. This partnership is a reflection that there are amongst us, South Africans who are willing to work together with others in order to share in the country’s wealth.

Madam Speaker in realising these challenges, we must therefore tackle the issue of land ownership, equal participation in agriculture and its entire value chain as well as vigorously strive towards true empowerment of all South Africans. We must acknowledge that true democracy comes from the economic possibilities that land reform and agricultural participation have in improving the lives of ordinary South Africans. We must, as stated in our Constitution, acknowledge the wrongs of the past and work diligently towards addressing them, together, as South Africans, black and white. Madam Speaker, our Freedom Charter declares that the people shall share in the wealth of our country! In pursuit of this vision, government would like to deliver achievements and policy priorities in economic and social development within land and agriculture.

Madam Speaker, the following political imperatives have been highlighted by government as a vehicle towards achieving social and economic balance as well as to reaffirm that the people shall share in the wealth of our nation.

We shall, therefore, over the next three months embark the on the following government programme of action:

Government will mobilise farmers and land users to commit to land use and resource management. In Mpumalanga, this has culminated in the “Masibuyele emasimini” campaign calling on farmers to till fallow land to increasing food production.

Community mobilisation around AgriBEE and Land Reform in the Gauteng Province.

In commemorating worker’s day in May, government will focus on the plight of the farm workers, with various problems such as evictions, minimum wage and safety and security issues being addressed.

We will continue to engage our social partners, AgriSA, NAFU TAU, FAWU and work towards adopting a protocol that will guide our collective actions in ensuring that the farm workers are treated with dignity. We shall also work closely with the Departments of Home Affairs and Social Development to ensure that all births on farms are registered.

During the month of June, government will focus the development of the youth and women agriculture.

We are mindful of the critical skills shortage that continues to threaten our sector. We shall continue to promote the voluntary mentorship programmes that exist between established farmers and the new entrants. The spirit of Vuk’uzenzele should be alive within our farms.

We will continue to issue title deeds to land users who qualify for ownership where such title deeds have not been transferred.

We will work with municipalities and other government departments such as Defence in auditing the status and use of our land resources in order to ensure that where such land is no more required for use, it is earmarked for land reform. This audit has a possibility to help us in addressing the land need for housing development.

We will also create general awareness on the existing programmes of government such as CASP and LRAD to ensure that there is access to land and agricultural resources.

At the international level, we shall participate at the OIE meeting in May to strengthen our relationship with our trading partners in the EU. These actions will enhance our global competitiveness.

The implementation of this programme will enable us to engage society in a dialogue about what we need to do collectively to advance our transformation agenda in the land and agrarian sector.

Our conviction about the necessity that all our people should share in the country’s wealth, has led us to enshrine in the broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) of our agriculture sector the following principles:

* avail access and participation in the productive agricultural land for those previously disadvantaged;
* undertake comprehensive human capital development to increase the capacity and capability of all people involved in agriculture;
* promote employment creation and equity in the sector; and
* implement procurement procedures of empowerment.

All of these activities will culminate in an agricultural and land access and use summit in June where we shall engage all the various land-based NGOs and civil society on the various issues that they have raised with regard to land reform program as well as issues of agricultural development.

Madam Speaker, we have embarked upon the programmes of land redistribution for agricultural development, integrated food security and nutrition as well as the comprehensive agricultural support – to ensure that the land is shared by all those who work it.

As a result of successes by our government and its social partners in making inroads in these policy imperatives, we have now created an enabling environment for the agricultural sector to be increasingly globally competitive, to surely reduce skewed participation and inequity while increasing access for our people to safe and nutritious food.

Madam Speaker, government would not be doing justice to our people if we did not mention key agricultural achievements in the recent years of our democracy. We have engaged within the World Trade Organisation negotiations to increase market access and economic opportunities for our farmers and our economy in general.

We have started to improve some critical areas of our human resource capacity and capability by introducing bursary schemes that are aimed at assisting previously disadvantaged students to acquire skills in veterinary science agricultural engineering, viticulture, agricultural economics, food science to food technology and business management.

Of the 74 students who were awarded bursaries in 2004, 64 passed their examinations with an overall pass rate of 86.5% pass rate and three students have completed their degrees. In this regard, Madam Speaker, it gives me immense pleasure and pride today to make special mention of Philisiwe Shange, who has completed her BSc in viticulture at the University of Stellenbosch and is presently pursuing an honours degree at the same institution. Special mention also goes to Lunga Nxumalo, who has completed his BSc degree in agricultural engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

In the cutting edge area of biotechnology, we have successfully created new and innovative vaccines through the outstanding research and development work done by our Onderstepoort Biological Products Company. This innovation has resulted in the successful manufacturing of the Doublesure vaccine, which is a combination treatment of the Anthrax and Blackwater diseases. With a single vaccination, our farmers and those of other countries will be able now to protect their cattle against both Anthrax and Blackwater diseases.

Within the area of broad-based BEE, the Land Bank has been instrumental in creating the first black-owned sugar producing company by providing R335m.

In 2004, South Africa became a member of OVI, which will enable us to influence important decisions on norms and standards for member countries regarding wine making and grape production. On 1 September, government and its partners launched joint initiative commerce in e-commerce named "Wine Online" with approximately 98% exporters applying online for export certificates and other certification required certification documents.

Bilateral agreements were entered into with China to export our citrus into that market. I am most honoured to acknowledge the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture delegation led by Deputy Director-General Jin. On behalf of the people of South Africa, you are most welcome.

I am pleased to announce that government with the collaboration of the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations has taken the initiative to develop a comprehensive Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems that will collect timely and accurate information to enable effective intervention on the status of food insecurity and vulnerability in our country and Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The Department of Agriculture introduced Sedupe – the sniffer dogs – to detect illegal food items among airport luggage. These illegal food canine inspectors have been responsible for detecting a total of 307 positive seizures of illegal smaller food consignments in the baggage carousel areas.

Last year government spent R100 million on fodder and water to drought-affected farmers.

National and Provincial Governments spent more than R38m in the 2004/05 to successfully contain the outbreak of the Avian Flu in the Eastern Cape as well as the Foot and Mouth disease in Limpopo.

Government released the first set of comprehensive statistics on agriculture to be compiled since 1993 to give an indication of the current agricultural environment.

Madam Speaker, the above successes of the Department are based on budget allocations that has increased over the last four years, rising from R871,1 million in 2001/02 to R1,4 billion in 2004/05. This constitutes an annual average increase of 18,5 percent. Comparisons between the voted funds and actual expenditure for 2004 indicate an under expenditure. We have conducted a performance appraisal and identified some of the constraints within the national and provincial departments of agriculture that impacted negatively on performance and limited service delivery in some programmes.

With the respect to the department, under expenditure was due to vacancies and the scarce skills human resources especially in the fields of veterinary services, economists, soil scientists and engineering. Underspending in the provinces that impacted negatively on the Department of Agriculture, on the other hand, was poor planning, lack of skilled human resources and delays in filling vacant posts. As a result there were delays in filling some of the critical posts resulting in underspending of personnel funds and programme funds transferred to the Provinces.

In addressing these challenges, our MinMec held a Lekgotla we have with the MECs to streamline, plan and integrate.

For this financial year, expenditure is expected to continue to grow rapidly, rising to R1 194 701 billion in 2007/08. These increases have gone towards the new comprehensive agricultural support programme, agricultural disaster relief programmes following the floods of 1999/2000 and the current drought, the LandCare programme, and regulatory services to contain animal and plant disease outbreaks. Transfers are a significant part of total expenditure, with a significant portion of these going to the Agricultural Research Council. The 2005 Budget sets out additional allocations of R200 million for 2005/06, R300 million for 2006/07 and R350 million for 2007/08, for the implementation of the Agricultural Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) programme and the agricultural credit scheme, MAFISA. R100 million in 2007/08 is added to the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme conditional grant.

GOVERNMENT COMMITMENT FOR THE YEAR

MAFISA

A total of R1 billion has been allocated to initiate the scheme in terms of Section 5 of the Debt Management Act of 2001, to support its administration and delivery. MAFISA has the potential to benefit approximately 10 million farm and non-farm beneficiaries such as farm workers, household producers, small-scale land owners, food garden producers, rural and micro-entrepreneurs to name a few.

Madam Speaker, MAFISA will not merely dish out money to poor farmers, but will again contribute to government’s overall commitment towards the social upliftment of our people in their communities.

These beneficiaries, as well as other land and agrarian beneficiaries, small, micro and household producers, will also receive additional assistance from government through the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP). Through CASP, the beneficiaries can look forward to government assistance in six priority areas, namely: Information and knowledge Management; Advisory and regulatory services; Training and capacity building; Finance; On-farm and off-farm infrastructure and Marketing.

COMPREHENSIVE AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME

The R1 billion allocated towards this programme, Madam Speaker, will enable those beneficiaries to experience the new possibilities for growth and economic development in their lives and within their communities.

During the 2005/2006 financial year, government will be spending a total of R250 million on CASP. On entering its second year, CASP aims to continue to provide effective farmer support and streamlining the provision of services to its beneficiaries.

This year alone, Madam Speaker, CASP support will reach at least 50 000 beneficiaries in the rural areas, particularly in the Rural Development Nodes serviced by the Department of Agriculture.

LAND CARE

Madam Speaker, without effective resource management, all our well-meaning policies on economic development cannot prosper if we continue to abuse our water and land. It is precisely for this reason why government has set aside approximately R64 million towards the Land Care Programme.

Government envisages that 6000 ha will be cultivated over next year whilst benefiting approximately 3000 households. The implementation of this project will be jointly conducted by the provincial Departments of Agriculture, district and local municipalities as well as the Department of Provincial and Local Government and has a great potential to create job opportunities within the communities.

Government will drill more than 500 boreholes during in the coming financial year as part of sustainable water management. Out of these, 80 will be in support of School Garden Projects which are being jointly implemented with the Departments of Education and Water Affairs and Forestry including other stakeholders. Again, all the schools involved in this initiative are located within the Rural Development Nodes.

The Agricultural Research Council’s water harvesting research team has implemented the water-harvesting project in the Free State and is currently promoting the in-field rainwater harvesting technique at two new projects in the Eastern Cape, focusing on five villages in the vicinity of Alice.

NORMS AND STANDARDS FOR ADVISORY /EXTENSION SERVICES

The draft Norms and Standards on Advisory/Extension Services have been developed to provide uniform standards for the provision of extension and advisory services to farmers.

A range of stakeholders and institutions/organisations involved in extension and/or advisory services and dissemination of information to farmers have been identified and their roles and responsibilities re-defined with the aim of revamping the extension services.

Government will institute a transparent reporting and feed back mechanisms to respond to farmer’s needs, the report sub-standard services and the prompt administration of remedial action. Beginning this financial year, the Provincial Departments of Agriculture will be responsible for the implementation, and the assurance of adequate resource mobilisation for every district municipalities and the local extension offices. As CASP is being phased in, the provision of technical services and the transfer of technologies become very urgent, and these norms and standards provide the benchmark in service provision to all CASP beneficiaries.

MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME

Government’s mentorship programme in agriculture has a particular significance in realising the vision of various growth and development policies within agriculture. The mentorship programme will therefore assist all land and agrarian agriculture as a consequence of the implementation of those policies. This will assist in skills transfer with the industry particularly with the assistance of organised agribusiness, commodity groups, donors and other bodies. Government would therefore like to call upon those partners to actively engage in the mentorship programme and come up with specific frameworks on mentorship programmes within their sector as part of the AgriBEE consultation processes. The agricultural SETAs will be responsible for the registration and accreditation of mentors. In addition, agriculture-aligned SETAs will be expected to submit reports on mentorships undertaken and results achieved to the department.

Once the mentorship framework has been approved by the departmental executive committee and negotiated within the sector, it will be officially launched.

Universities, colleges of agriculture and private service providers will be contracted by the SETA to conduct training in accordance with the objectives as set in the National Skills Development Strategy 2005 – 2010 and AgriBEE framework. Some, depending on their areas of accreditation, will focus on ABET, learnership and skills programmes.

The Department of Education also will establish an ABET centre where 60 or more learners can be trained. In cases where the numbers are low and farmers cannot afford to avail some of their staff as ABET facilitators, the DoA will pay the allowances of ABET facilitators.

By the end of April 2005, the SETA should have placed the first 5 000 workers on ABET training with approximately 16 000 workers receiving ABET training on the farm by March 2006.

In anticipation of a predicted continued drought, government has further requested an addition R120 million requested for the 2005/2006 year end to buy fodder as well as the preparing and drilling of boreholes.

CONCLUSION:

Madam Speaker, there have been many voices against government policies on empowerment and redress. Many of those voices have themselves never experienced exclusion from education, wealth or opportunity. These voices have feigned ignorance at either the plight or existence of the poor and the unemployed and yet they have enjoyed every benefit that democracy has brought about.

Madam Speaker, the plight of the poor and downtrodden cannot be ignored. It is an everyday reality that our rural communities have to contend with on a daily basis and it is a reality when one drives past weather beaten black men and women in the streets looking for work in the urban areas.

The transformation of South Africa towards the vision of the Freedom Charter must therefore happen now! The responsibility in realising its vision does not lie with government but with the people of South Africa who are the bricks and mortar of our country. The process of social and economic change through AgriBEE, through the land reform process as well as through land and agrarian policies a whole will continue.

Failure to do so will take our country fifty years backwards, it will widen the very division we aim to address as government and it will have failed the principles of the Freedom Charter that says: “The people shall share in the wealth of the country”.

I thank you.

Issued by: Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs
7 April 2005
Source: Department of Agriculture (http://www.nda.agric.za)

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