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KwaZulu-Natal Premier Senzo Mchunu has revealed that Operation Phakisa which has just been launched by the President of the Republic Mr J.G Zuma will be adopted as part of the rejuvenation of Makhathini Flats projects.

He was speaking after the sitting of the provincial executive council today which was preceded by a visit to projects under Makhathini Flats in Jozini and Muhlabuyalingana municipalities.

“Using Operation Phakisa Big Fast Results Initiative will assist us to ensure immediate positive results especially in terms of unlock job opportunities in different sectors of our economy that are linked to Makhathini Flats Projects. These include agriculture, tourism, freight and logistics, maritime, automotive, rail and manufacturing.”

“Operation Phakisa puts more emphasis on an integrated approach wherein government departments collaborate to contribute in the achievement of a common objective instead of competing and being obstructive to one another. We are confident that Operation Phakisa is a last long-lasting solution that will ensure that Umkhanyakude District Municipality becomes a catalyst for agrarian revolution.

“Using Operation Phakisa approach, we will integrate all government activities and strengthen the main economic driving sectors in the area such as agriculture and tourism. We will focus on environmental issues, land related matters, agricultural development, support infrastructure development such as roads, telecommunications and ensure electricity provision.”

“We have agreed to establish a Steering Committee which will report to cabinet every three months and when it is necessary.”

“We want to ensure the repair and maintenance of the irrigation infrastructure in order to stimulate agriculture. We will be putting more emphasis on the rehabilitation of the 3950ha of irrigation land and infrastructure.

“The major repairs of infrastructure are totalling R270million. The farmers involved in Makhathini Flats are involved in producing cotton, sugar cane and vegetables.

“As government we have realised that farmers would not be able to carry the cost of repairs and upgrading due to the small size of their individual plots and the fact that the infrastructure was initially planned to serve larger areas.”

“We will move with speed to implement the provincial livestock strategy within the Makhathini Flats. Subsistence farmers in this Province possess 55% of the total beef stock and 74% of goats. Our Livestock Strategy envisages an increase in production from the current 18 000 tons of red meat per annum to as much as 75 000 tons per annum by 2017/18 by communal farmers. That is an additional +-R2.5 billion income per annum. The commercial farmers will also increase their production from 45 000 tons to 60 000 tons/annum over the same period.”

“The livestock commodity covers the largest part the Makhathini area of the approximately 407 000ha. The plan for the livestock is based on a natural resource survey and a livestock survey done among the members of the dip tank committees of the existing livestock associations.”

“Aquaculture is not a well-established commodity in the area and we are focusing on an evaluation of fish production in the Phongolapoort dam and the development of infrastructure on the Makhathini Research Station, which will supply fingerlings to the project and release below the dam to ensure a sustainable population of fish for the communities. The evaluation is part of a national project. The development cost on the research station comes to R1,47million.”