Date: 26/11/2006
Source: Department of Agriculture
Title: Xingwana: Vaal Region
Speech delivered by honourable Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs, Ms Lulu Xingwana, in the Vaal Region
Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Ms Nomantu Nkomo Ralehoko,
President of National Education and Health Workers Union (Nehawu), Noluthando Mayende Sibiya,
Members of Parliament present,
Members of the Legislature present,
Councillors,
Bomme le bontate dumelang:
Ke ka thabo e kgolo hoba le lona kajeno. Ke ikutlwa ke hlomphehile ho fumana memo ho tswa holona badudi ba Groendenne, Driefontein le Mooi Water.
It is with sadness that I learned of your horrendous plight. What saddens me most is that the problems that you have are not peculiar to this area alone, but are somewhat common in most rural areas of our country. It is all the more irritating that in this case it is happening in Gauteng which is the richest province in the country. In my view it is obscene that while there is so much wealth, some people are drowning in a sea of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, lack of proper housing and sanitation. What makes it more obscene is that these are basic human rights enshrined in our Constitution.
To you the communities of Groendenne, Driefontein and Mooi Water I would like to say much as I understand your predicament it is not all doom and gloom. As you all know the Department of Land Affairs is currently in the process of acquiring land for you. The land will be earmarked for settlement and agriculture. As we speak, four farms have been identified and the Department is in the process of procuring the services of a professional evaluator to determine the market value of the land. I have been told that progress meetings involving you, the communities, the Department, members of Parliament and the parliamentary constituency office in Midvaal have been held. So my understanding is that you are being apprised of all the developments in this regard.
Secondly, the community of Groendenne has already identified an area of land that also still has to be evaluated. Rest assured I am going to follow this up with my officials so that this process is not delayed unnecessarily. I want all your families to sleep peacefully without the threat of evictions hanging over your heads.
Bommme, the battle does not end with the provision of land. It has actually just begun. It will mean toil and sweat. You will have to work the land for it to provide you and your families with food and in so doing you will create jobs for yourselves. This might sound frighteningly impossible, however, if you work as a collective I am sure you can move the proverbial mountains.
That is why through the Letsema Campaign we are promoting the productive use of available land that is lying fallow and I do not for once expect the land that the Department is acquiring for you to lie fallow. We also want to ensure effective participation of women and the youth in land and agrarian reform so that they can reap maximum benefits for their hard work.
Note also that as soon as the land is in your hands, government is not going to abandon you. Through programmes such as the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP), Micro-Agricultural Financial Scheme of South Africa (Mafisa), Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) and the Agriculture Black Economic Empowerment (AgriBEE) we will ensure that you access all the assistance you can get. I am meeting with the Portfolio Committee for Agriculture on Tuesday to finalise the AgriBEE Charter after which I shall hand it over to the Minister of Trade and Industry for Gazetting.
As soon as this process is finalised you will know how it will be of any benefit to you. We will further ask Land Bank to come to the party in so far as funding is concerned.
You should also note that I have not at any stage so far spoken of policy development or formulation. I am not interested in many policy documents that people write that end up gathering dust in their filing cabinets while our people are crying out for help.
I am not interested in meetings, workshops and strategies. I say we walk the walk before we talk the talk! The time for paper pushing is long over. The time for service delivery is long overdue.
We have also launched a mass movement of rural women called Women in Agriculture and Rural Development (WARD). Gauteng province was represented when we launched this movement in East London in October. I would like all the women in these communities to become part of this movement so that we can promote meaningful participation of women, youth and people with disabilities.
The purpose of WARD is to see quick access by women to support programmes such as CASP, Mafisa, Land Bank products and other capacity building programmes. With the wealth of experience that we gathered as we toiled on other people's lands, I am sure nothing can stop us. It is indeed possible to start practically focused sustainable projects that improve our quality of life. This will in turn lead to job creation and poverty alleviation.
You must organise to work in groups or co-operatives so that you can enjoy the associated benefits such as bulk buying discounts, co-ordinated marketing and so on.
On a graver note, we are three days into the 16 Days of Activism for no Violence Against Women and Children Campaign. However, already on Friday some evil people robbed and killed a 92-year-old woman around Johannesburg. As if that was not enough they had also raped her! I asked myself, "What kind of people are these who would rape their own grandmother?" On 15 November, a couple killed a 70-year-old woman then put the body in the victim's boot and drove to Mpumalanga where they doused her corpse with petrol and set it alight. Last week a father was granted bail after being arrested for molesting his own few months-old baby boy. The list continues.
According to the Star newspaper this last Friday, 24 November 2006, in one month the Stop Gender Violence Helpline receives 36 000 calls from victims of abuse and the number keeps increasing.
Charlene Smith, a journalist, novelist and rape survivor, says that according to statistics there were 1 200 child murders in South Africa last year, 1 500 child victims of attempted murder, 24 000 children assaulted and 22 000 child rape victims. What is more concerning is that in many instances the children were abused by people they know and trust!
According to Health24, South Africa is one of the countries with the highest incidence of sexual abuse in the world. However, the exact number of cases is difficult to establish as sexual abuse goes largely unreported. Any mother worth her salt who finds herself in an abusive relationship will leave before things get worse. Abusers never stop. If one sees there's a need to go to the magistrate and apply for an interdict to protect yourself and your children, then let it be. Let us not wait until we become survivors of abuse. Let us say no to abuse. Let us pledge our support for this campaign and help stamp out the rampant scourge of rape, murder and abuse of women and our children.
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Agriculture
26 November 2006
Source: Department of Agriculture
Title: Xingwana: Vaal Region
Speech delivered by honourable Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs, Ms Lulu Xingwana, in the Vaal Region
Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Ms Nomantu Nkomo Ralehoko,
President of National Education and Health Workers Union (Nehawu), Noluthando Mayende Sibiya,
Members of Parliament present,
Members of the Legislature present,
Councillors,
Bomme le bontate dumelang:
Ke ka thabo e kgolo hoba le lona kajeno. Ke ikutlwa ke hlomphehile ho fumana memo ho tswa holona badudi ba Groendenne, Driefontein le Mooi Water.
It is with sadness that I learned of your horrendous plight. What saddens me most is that the problems that you have are not peculiar to this area alone, but are somewhat common in most rural areas of our country. It is all the more irritating that in this case it is happening in Gauteng which is the richest province in the country. In my view it is obscene that while there is so much wealth, some people are drowning in a sea of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, lack of proper housing and sanitation. What makes it more obscene is that these are basic human rights enshrined in our Constitution.
To you the communities of Groendenne, Driefontein and Mooi Water I would like to say much as I understand your predicament it is not all doom and gloom. As you all know the Department of Land Affairs is currently in the process of acquiring land for you. The land will be earmarked for settlement and agriculture. As we speak, four farms have been identified and the Department is in the process of procuring the services of a professional evaluator to determine the market value of the land. I have been told that progress meetings involving you, the communities, the Department, members of Parliament and the parliamentary constituency office in Midvaal have been held. So my understanding is that you are being apprised of all the developments in this regard.
Secondly, the community of Groendenne has already identified an area of land that also still has to be evaluated. Rest assured I am going to follow this up with my officials so that this process is not delayed unnecessarily. I want all your families to sleep peacefully without the threat of evictions hanging over your heads.
Bommme, the battle does not end with the provision of land. It has actually just begun. It will mean toil and sweat. You will have to work the land for it to provide you and your families with food and in so doing you will create jobs for yourselves. This might sound frighteningly impossible, however, if you work as a collective I am sure you can move the proverbial mountains.
That is why through the Letsema Campaign we are promoting the productive use of available land that is lying fallow and I do not for once expect the land that the Department is acquiring for you to lie fallow. We also want to ensure effective participation of women and the youth in land and agrarian reform so that they can reap maximum benefits for their hard work.
Note also that as soon as the land is in your hands, government is not going to abandon you. Through programmes such as the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP), Micro-Agricultural Financial Scheme of South Africa (Mafisa), Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) and the Agriculture Black Economic Empowerment (AgriBEE) we will ensure that you access all the assistance you can get. I am meeting with the Portfolio Committee for Agriculture on Tuesday to finalise the AgriBEE Charter after which I shall hand it over to the Minister of Trade and Industry for Gazetting.
As soon as this process is finalised you will know how it will be of any benefit to you. We will further ask Land Bank to come to the party in so far as funding is concerned.
You should also note that I have not at any stage so far spoken of policy development or formulation. I am not interested in many policy documents that people write that end up gathering dust in their filing cabinets while our people are crying out for help.
I am not interested in meetings, workshops and strategies. I say we walk the walk before we talk the talk! The time for paper pushing is long over. The time for service delivery is long overdue.
We have also launched a mass movement of rural women called Women in Agriculture and Rural Development (WARD). Gauteng province was represented when we launched this movement in East London in October. I would like all the women in these communities to become part of this movement so that we can promote meaningful participation of women, youth and people with disabilities.
The purpose of WARD is to see quick access by women to support programmes such as CASP, Mafisa, Land Bank products and other capacity building programmes. With the wealth of experience that we gathered as we toiled on other people's lands, I am sure nothing can stop us. It is indeed possible to start practically focused sustainable projects that improve our quality of life. This will in turn lead to job creation and poverty alleviation.
You must organise to work in groups or co-operatives so that you can enjoy the associated benefits such as bulk buying discounts, co-ordinated marketing and so on.
On a graver note, we are three days into the 16 Days of Activism for no Violence Against Women and Children Campaign. However, already on Friday some evil people robbed and killed a 92-year-old woman around Johannesburg. As if that was not enough they had also raped her! I asked myself, "What kind of people are these who would rape their own grandmother?" On 15 November, a couple killed a 70-year-old woman then put the body in the victim's boot and drove to Mpumalanga where they doused her corpse with petrol and set it alight. Last week a father was granted bail after being arrested for molesting his own few months-old baby boy. The list continues.
According to the Star newspaper this last Friday, 24 November 2006, in one month the Stop Gender Violence Helpline receives 36 000 calls from victims of abuse and the number keeps increasing.
Charlene Smith, a journalist, novelist and rape survivor, says that according to statistics there were 1 200 child murders in South Africa last year, 1 500 child victims of attempted murder, 24 000 children assaulted and 22 000 child rape victims. What is more concerning is that in many instances the children were abused by people they know and trust!
According to Health24, South Africa is one of the countries with the highest incidence of sexual abuse in the world. However, the exact number of cases is difficult to establish as sexual abuse goes largely unreported. Any mother worth her salt who finds herself in an abusive relationship will leave before things get worse. Abusers never stop. If one sees there's a need to go to the magistrate and apply for an interdict to protect yourself and your children, then let it be. Let us not wait until we become survivors of abuse. Let us say no to abuse. Let us pledge our support for this campaign and help stamp out the rampant scourge of rape, murder and abuse of women and our children.
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Agriculture
26 November 2006
Advertisement
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
