Budget Vote speech 24 and 28 for Ministry of Agriculture and Land Affairs, by Ms Lulu Xingwana, (MP), Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs at National Assembly in Cape Town

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