The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs, having considered the application by the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) for the implementation of statutory measures on potatoes, reports, in terms of section 15 of the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act, 1996, that it has not approved the recommendations of the Council.

The Committee further reports that, during the course of its deliberations on the application, it was noted that there was a lot of mismanagement of funds and that the Potato Trust lost about R22 million as a result thereof.

The Committee, in view of the above, is of the opinion that a full forensic audit of the financial books and assets of Potato SA, pertaining to the levies collected by Potato SA, should be conducted by the NAMC, and that a subsequent report should be presented to the Committee.

While the Committee in principle agrees on the importance of the research component raised in the application, the Ministry and the Department of Agriculture should in the meantime engage in negotiations with the industry to establish a new Deeds of Trust in line with other commodity groups