Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform 2013 Budget Speech & Responses by ANC, DA and IFP
Briefing
31 May 2013
Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Mr Gugile E Nkwinto, gave his Budget Vote Speech on the 31 May 2013
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'Building vibrant, equitable, and sustainable rural communities’
Honourable Speaker
Honourable Deputy-Speaker
His Excellency the President of the Republic
His Excellency the Deputy-President of the Republic
Honourable Ministers and Deputy-Ministers
Honourable Members Traditional Leaders
Ladies and gentlemen.
Mr Speaker,
I would also like to acknowledge, and welcome the special guests who honour us with their presence in the gallery today: emerging and commercial farmers; community representatives from our CRDP sites; NARYSEC youth; rural woman and youth crafters, and members of our Reference Groups.
1. Introduction / Background:
Mr. Speaker, inspired by the Freedom Charter and the Reconstruction and Development Programme, the 52nd National Conference of the ANC in 2007, decided that rural development and land reform should rank amongst the top 5 national priorities. It recognised that the 1913 Natives Land Act had left lasting scars on rural communities; a painful legacy that as part of addressing the national question – must be reversed.
Consequently, the post-2009 Election Administration, led by his Excellency, President Zuma, established the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. Weeks later, the new Department unveiled its agrarian transformation strategy, supported by the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme – the CRDP.
Mr Speaker, I am pleased to report that the CRDP is gaining momentum and effectiveness; it is becoming a way of life. The CRDP is working.
The CRDP rolls out in three phases, which run both sequentially and simultaneously: Phase 1 is “meeting basic human needs”, including food security; Phase 2 focuses on rural enterprise development; and, Phase 3 focuses on rural industries supported by localised markets, credit facilities and infrastructure. The question we ultimately had to answer, after several pilots across the country, was ‘what worked, and what didn’t?’ Put differently, what were the success factors where things worked out; and, what factors contributed to failure where things didn’t work out?
2. Reflection on the government's investment on the CRDP:
2.1 Rural Development
Honourable Members, after 4 years of hard work and an investment of almost R2.2 billion, all indications are that a winning formula is evolving; this in terms of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme.
Mr Speaker, in Limpopo we have invested in infrastructure, in the form of housing, pack sheds, boreholes, and support to cooperatives. In Masia we are investing in a multi-purpose facility, including ICT, an administration block, cultural and sports facilities, in terms of an amphitheatre and library this in conjunction with the Department of Arts and Culture. The upgrading of sports facilities, this in conjunction with the Department of Sport. In Muyexe, we have constructed housing, and other infrastructure; 50 youth have been trained in road construction and will soon undertake road paving projects in Go’no’no, Dingamanze and Tomo. Plans for an amphitheatre in Tomo are complete, and construction will be undertaken soon.
In the Eastern Cape, we will soon hand over a 141m long bridge over the Mbhashe river, which is dedicated to the world’s greatest bridge-builder, The Nkosi Dalibhunga Mandela Legacy Bridge. This bridge leads to Nelson Mandela’s birthplace, Mvezo. Construction has been completed, together with a 10 kilometre block-paved road which links it with the N2. I believe even our great former President himself would be pleased. As a direct result of this project, youth in the two villages of Mvezo and Ludondolo have been trained in manufacturing bricks, and paving. They will now pave the inter and intra-village roads, thereby improving roads and communities’ access to services such as economic hubs, clinics and schools.
ICT facilities are being rolled-out to schools; for example, the Cofimvaba e-Textbook programme which involves the rollout of the required IT backbone infrastructure to a 26 school education circuit, and the provision of a tablet device to every pupil and teacher involved. This is done in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology.
The department has novel systems to address the challenge of water in rural areas. One of these is the water purification plant at Empindweni Village in Mhlontlo Local Municipality in the OR Tambo District, which uses ‘Unfiltration’ technology to purify river water. This Plant purifies 50 000L of water per day. The Department has invested R347 million in acquiring 6 000 hectares of land in Cradock, for sugar beet production. This is part of the bio fuels plant National Demonstration Plant soon to be built in the town.
Mr Speaker, in the Western Cape we have invested in infrastructure in Witzenburg, with the building of a walkway that not only improved the aesthetics, but also safety in the area. This project was undertaken by youth from the town. In Dysseldorp, we have constructed a crèche and improved infrastructure, including ICT at schools, thereby making learning easier and fun; community members have been trained in road maintenance and school garden projects. The Old age home has been refurbished using local labour, emergency housing, using sandbag technology.
In Gauteng, we have constructed solar lighting and high mast lights for 200 households in Devon, one of the CRDP sites. This contributes to efficiency and community safety. Bulk infrastructure plans are being rolled out in Mamello in support of sustainable human settlements. Schools have been renovated, and roads paved in and around the community facilities.
Mr Speaker, in the Northern-Cape, we laid a 37km water pipeline, which feeds water from the Orange River to the community of Riemvasmaak. This is the first time that the entire community received piped water, making daily access to water
possible. Agricultural activities have increased, and production has led, not only to a boost in food security for the community, but more importantly, but to a much needed boost to the local economy. Schools have been renovated, and a clinic built, and access roads tarred, this in support of a community once cut-off from services. A stadium and sport facilities have been constructed, enabling youth to participate in a range of sporting activities.
Mr Speaker, in KwaZulu-Natal, conservation agriculture technology has been introduced in Msinga Top with the support of the Agricultural Research Council. Implements like the 4-row ripper planter, boom sprayers, and other devices have been supplied to 19 cooperatives in 44 villages. Infrastructure is being rolled out in other Msinga areas with the construction of water reservoirs and the roll-out of electricity to more than 700 households, as well as the upgrading of a water canal for the revival of the Tugela Ferry Irrigation Scheme. Msinga recently hosted the countries first indigenous goat auction, generating an income of more than R500 000 for the community, through the sale of 575 goats.
In Sikame, Ward 7 in Vryheid, 904 houses have been built, creating a new sustainable human settlement - a far cry from the mud houses they once occupied. This was a joint effort between the Province and ourselves. In Uthungulu 1 550 households are gaining access to sanitation. Wards 5, 6 and 7 in Vryheid have benefited in terms of the installation of VIP toilets, renovation of schools, and the construction of houses in the area. In Mansomini, working with SA Sugar Association, we have facilitated agricultural production of sugarcane and other crops, thus contributing to growth in the local economy. Mansomini has become one of our flagship CRDP projects. So successful is this enterprise it has influenced ENGEN to re-open a filling station, which had been closed for a long time. Small traders have re-opened shops.
Mr Speaker, in the Free State, the first semi-green village has been constructed, using modern technologies in the form of solar lighting and solar geysers. Sports facilities have been constructed to encourage youth to participate in sport. A dairy parlour, equipped with new milking machines, pasteurisers and milk handling facilities has been constructed; cattle have been purchased to supply the dairy with milk, and an off-take agreement concluded with Nestle. The community also planted and recently harvested their first crop of wheat, which generated substantial income at both community and household level. The community has now leased 400 of their 2000 hectares of land, at a rate of R400 per hectare per annum. This is a novel enterprise development initiative.
The Provincial government has also built boarding facilities for the local school. 68 farms in the Free State have been recapitalised and are flourishing, serving as flagship projects in this regard; some are already moving into the red-meat value-chain. The Mokhachane family is soon going to open its own butchery in Virginia.
Mr Speaker, in the North-West Province, schools have been upgraded, solar and high mast lighting erected; and bulk water infrastructure construction is being planned. The Dabulamanzi farm, on the boundary of the North-West and Free State provinces, is yet another successful recapitalized farm, employing 300 persons and is about to enter the agricultural value-chain.
Mr Speaker, in Mpumalanga, an Early Childhood Development Centre and housing were constructed, solar lighting, water and sanitation infrastructure installed. Low-water bridges and roads are being constructed in Mayflower and Donkerhoek, facilitating better access to facilities by communities. In Donkerhoek, a new school with boarding facilities has been built, and housing renovated, projects undertaken jointly with the Province. Further demonstrating that, working together everything is possible.
Youth Development:
The National Rural Youth Service Corps – NARYSEC - is our response to the Polokwane Conference’s directive on job and skills creation amongst the youth. There are currently some 13000 participants in the NARYSEC programme at various stages of their training as development agents. We have also partnered with the Agricultural Research Council to train 900 agri-paraprofessionals in smallholder livestock and dairy production, and 750 more in vegetable gardening and soil sampling. The Department has to date invested over R631 million in programmes to train and deploy rural youth. In all of this I must acknowledge our strong partnership with National Treasury, with the Department of Defence and Military Veterans, and over 40 FET Colleges under the Department of Higher Education and Training. A further 400 youth have received practical training in construction by Murray and Roberts. This is part of the collaboration with the private sector. Youth have also participated in construction projects in Worcester (housing construction), Beaufort-West (constructing a youth hub), and Limpopo (brick making and paving).
Rural Arts and Crafts
Mr Speaker, South Africa is blessed with a diversity of cultures, and is rich with artistic expression of these, which serve to express who we are. The Department, through its support and investment of R3.5 million in rural arts and craft for skills, jobs and cultural ware, has facilitated the training of 990 woman and youth across the country in various forms of arts, crafts, and curios, ranging from bead work to sewing, amongst others. Their wares have, with the support of the Department of Woman, Children and Persons with Disabilities, been displayed at the United Nations, and India; and, during September this year, a cultural, arts and crafts exchange will be facilitated with Venezuela.
This investment in arts, crafts, and culture, has provided our rural artists and crafters with both domestic and international markets, infrastructure and technical support.
Challenges for rural development:
- • The Construction SETA discredited a number of FET colleges, resulting in only 38 being accredited. This has created a challenge in that it frustrates efforts leading to youth receiving accredited training; and,
- • An integrated approach to service delivery, both at government and community level, is core to the success of the CRDP. Experience thus far indicates that this is not always possible. However, an improvement is being witnessed, this as the CRDP Management System is being institutionalised in both our Department and some Provinces.
2.2 Land Reform:
Mr Speaker, Land reform entails the following: redistribution, restitution, development and tenure reform.
The strategic objective of land reform is that:
- All land reform farms should be 100 % productive by the year 2015/16; and,
- To rekindle the class of black commercial farmers which was destroyed by the Natives Land Act of 1913.
Mr. Speaker, since the inception of the Restitution programme in 1995, 79 696 claims were lodged, 77 334 have been settled of which 59 758 were finalised. Land acquired by the state amounts to 4 000 land parcels, or 1, 443 million hectares. 137 000 beneficiaries are female headed households, and 672 are persons with disability. A total of R16 billion has been spent on the programme thus far, in settling 77 148 claims. R10 billion has been spent in land acquisition, and R6 billion for 71 292 financial compensation claims which would have acquired 1.9 million hectares, had we bought land.
This is a reflection of enduring poverty, unemployment, and income poverty in the historically disadvantage community.
Between 1994 and the end of March this year, 4860 farms have been transferred to black people and communities, through the Redistribution Programme - more than 4 million hectares. Almost a quarter of a million people have benefitted through land reform, of this over 50 000 women, 32000 youth, and 674 persons with disability benefitted.
Mr Speaker, in terms of the development aspect of land reform, 1269 farms were recapitalised between the third quarter of 2009 and March 2013. Over 7 400 jobs were created. The total investment by the State, since the inception of the RECAP program is R2.14 billion. The investment supported emerging farmers with infrastructure, and strategic technical support. Historically distressed farms became sustainable and productive. With the support of commercial and strategic partners, emerging farmers are achieving access to good markets, and integrating their produce in the value chain. As at December 2012 the nett income from these recapped farms was R126 million.
Challenges for land reform:
Mr Speaker,
On May 24th I met with emerging farmers and strategic partners, who are part of the Recapitalisation and Development Programme. A number of challenges were identified, including the difficulty posed by the requirement for farmers, even in remote areas, to submit 3 quotations for goods, services or repairs. In many cases this is impractical and we intend negotiating a more flexible regime with National Treasury. The meeting agreed that there are many positives emanating from the programme, and that it has made a positive change in peoples’ lives, with fledgling enterprises now becoming fully operational and contributing to the agricultural sector, and the economy. Some of those who have made a success of this programme, are seated in the gallery today.
The programme is a good one, but requires an improved management, to deepen its success.
3. Institutional reforms and transformation in advancing the CRDP:
Mr Speaker, the Department has, in terms of institutional reforms and transformation in advancing the CRDP, undertaken an exercise of institutional, policy and legislative reforms, and I am pleased to report on progress in this regard.
Important enabling legislation is being processed, some to establish new institutions in support of rural development and land reform - others to sharpen the mechanisms used to give effect to our mandate.
The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill; the Geomatics Profession Bill, the Deeds Registration Amendment Bill and the Sectional Titles Amendment Bill are currently before Parliament.
Cabinet recently approved the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill, and the Property Valuation Bill (which establishes the Office of the Valuer-General), for public comment.
The Land Management Commission Bill; the Communal Property Associations Bill, and the Extension of Security of Tenure Amendment Bill and the Communal Land Tenure Bill are being finalised and will enter the Cabinet and Parliamentary systems during June.
4. Investment during the current MTSF:
Rural development:
In order increase food production in the country, the Department will invest approximately R240 million to revitalise irrigation schemes on 5000 hectares of land in Valhaarts, Taung; and 5 schemes in uMkhanyakude, Uthungulu, Mzinyathi and Zululand districts in KwaZulu-natal; 3 schemes in the Eastern Cape including the Keiskama and Ncora irrigation schemes.
The Department will also be investing approximately R220m to improve Animal and Veldt Management across the country. This initiative will also contribute to improved environmental management.
Approximately R70 million will be invested in roads and bridges across the country, including bridges in Pniel, and in Wuperthal, Western Cape, as well as a bridge and road in Diyatalawa, Free State.
In the Agricultural value-chain, investments of R60 million in poultry, R32m in dairy, R100 million in the fruit and vegetable industry, and R300 million in grains, will be made.
Land reform:
R2.7 billion will be invested, this in recapitalising 552 farms, and acquiring 170 000 hectares.
The Commission will invest approximately R3bn, in settling 438 claims across the country.
Spatial Planning and Land Use Management:
R31 million will be invested in preparation for the implementation of the Spatial Planning and Use Management Bill, once enacted.
R68 million will be invested in the formulation of Spatial Plans in municipalities, which will focus on rural and poor municipalities, as well as the drafting of the National Spatial Framework which is a requirement of the NDP.
R25.2 illionm in formulating the Integrated Information Systems, which informs our planning decision making.
eCadastre:
An amount of R448 million will be invested in the development of the e-Cadastre system, which will enable a holistic view of land ownership, and to answer the question of who owns South Africa.
5. The struggle to reverse the legacy of colonialism and apartheid continues:
Mr. Speaker, much of the work of the Department aims to reverse the negative legacy of colonialism and apartheid. There is, I believe, national consensus that the country must move on in order to promote real growth and anchor that growth in sustainability, which is why I am confident that the next phases of our programme will receive widespread backing.
There were numerous disastrous socio-economic consequences of the 1913 Natives’ Land Act, not least the destruction of a fledging class of African farmers; the destruction of the environment; and the deliberate impoverishment of black people. This is the legacy we must reverse.
Mr. Speaker, the President, during his State of the Nation Address, announced the re-opening of the lodgement of land claims, for those who did not claim during the first window of opportunity. There are two aspects to this announcement, the first being the reopening of the lodgement process itself; and the second, the creation of exceptions to the cut-off date for claims relating to the 1913 Natives Land Act, specifically for heritage sites, historic landmarks and opportunities for the descendants of the Khoi and San to claim.
In terms of the 1998 cut-off date, I am pleased to announce that Cabinet has approved the Restitution Amendment Bill for public comment. The gazette is available at all our offices, and on the Web site. As for the 1913 cut-off date for the descendants of the Khoi and San; and the heritage sites and historic landmarks, we have instituted consultative workshops, and work is underway to codify these exceptions.
Ladies and gentlemen, during this latest lodgement opportunity, people will be assisted with a Citizens Manual for Land Claims. This will be available in all official languages. We are resolved to compiling an accurate oral history during this process. Too often in the past our histories have been recorded by the oppressor or uninvolved witnesses. Now we intend to collect information directly from those descended from people who experienced at first hand the effects of the 1913 Natives Land Act. NARYSEC youth will actively participate in this project.
Mr Speaker, there is a tendency amongst casual observers to express impatience at the rate of progress on rural development and land reform. Be patient. 360 years of injustice cannot be put completely to rights in a mere 19 years of democracy. The damage is too deep. But we are doing the right thing – it is a work in progress and it is working.
We witness daily the development of infrastructure to reach and help the people in need; we are working hand in hand with more and more communities to enable them to take maximum advantage of that infrastructure and use it as an agent for changing their own lives and futures. We have a plan in place and it is a plan that is working.
To achieve our goals we have the cooperation of other departments, business, and civil society at all levels. They are working with us. So too are the President and the Deputy President, and I thank them for their wisdom, their guidance and support.
Next month, on June 19th, Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, it will be precisely 100 years since the introduction of the act which, more than any other, undermined the progress of this nation – the 1913 Natives Land Act. We intend to call, that day, for a widening and determined national effort to put that act and its implications behind us – to spread out our hands and grasp one another in a common bond by which we promise to move forward in harmony and unity, and pledge that never again will this country’s good name be soiled by such ruinous legislation. On that day, on June 19th, I urge the members of this house, and the citizens of this country, to make that pledge also.
Mr Speaker, on the 20th of June we are exhibiting a ‘Walking Tour’ of a special reflective moment, which has been mounted with cooperation from several sister departments, non-governmental organisations and personalities, which traces the history of our country and its people, and pays homage to those who suffered in order to give us what we now enjoy. We humbly invite the Honourable Members of this House, including Ministers and Deputy-Ministers, as well as political parties represented in this House, to this exhibition, which will be held on the 20th and 12th at the International Convention. You may wish to sign the pledge on that occasion.
6. Conclusion:
Mr Speaker, Vision 2030 as set out in the National Development Plan, is the objective that will close the gap between the urban and rural segment of the economy; in pursuit of this vision, the following outputs were set:
- Improved land administration and spatial planning for integrated development,
- Improved and sustainable agrarian reform for security;
- Increased access to quality infrastructure and services;
- Sustainable rural enterprises and industries characterised by strong rural-urban linkages, access to local markets and financial services;
- Increase in employment opportunities (jobs) created in rural areas;
- Increase in employment rate in rural areas;
- Improved integration and coordination as a result of implementation of synchronised rural development strategies.
These are fully in line with the CRDP.
Mr Speaker, I hereby table this Budget Policy Speech for consideration by this House.
I thank you!
Speech by Pretty Xaba during the Budget Vote Debate on Rural Development and Land Reform
Somlomo/ Shlalo Ohloniphekile
Ngqongqoshe noSekela-Ngqongqoshe Abahloniphekile
Malunga Ahloniphekile
Zivakashi ezikhethekile
Manene Namanenekazi,
Ngiyanibingelela
We are here today to support the budget vote of Rural Development and Land Reform together with the Ingonyama Trust Board.
The South African countryside is made up of a very significant class stratum of the landless rural masses who are confronted by economic exclusion. This directly ensues from long period racial land divisions entrenched through the provisions of the Native Land Act of 1913. This class stratum they are a living testimony of people suffering from unemployment and poverty. Some of those people live on the land owned by the Ingonyama Trust.
Ingonyama Trust yakhiwa ngokwezimiso Zomthetho waKwazulu-Natal wango-1994. Izindaba zayo ziphethwe iBhodi leNgonyama Trust, eyakhethwa ngo-1997 ngokwezimiso zezichibiyelo Zomthetho weKwazulu-Natal. Umsebenzi weBhodi:
ukuba ngumnikazi osemthethweni woMhlaba weNgonyama Trust ongamahekhta angaba izigindi ezingu 2,8;
ukulawula umhlaba nomcebo wawo;
ukwenzancono izinga lezimpilo zabantu abahlala emhlabeni weNgonyama Trust;
ukuqinisekisa ukuthi ukusetshenziswa komhlaba kubazuzela okuthile futhi kuhambisana nemithetho yezwe;
ukuqinisekisa ukuthi nanoma yikuphi okwenzelwa inzuzo kulemihlaba yabantu, kuba ukuthuthukisa izinga lomnotho;
ukuqiniseksa ukuthi inzuzo isatshalaliswe kuyoyonke imiphakathi yasemakhaya ethintekayo;
nokuqinisekisa ukuthi umhlaba uyatholakala ukuze usetshenziselwe inzuzo ngaphandle kokulahlekelwa ubunikazi bawo.
Honourable Speaker,
The economic vision of the African National Congress is founded on the Freedom Charter’s call that the people shall share in South Africa’s wealth. The work of the Ingonyama Trust Board is precisely meant to ensure that the wealth of the land is shared. In addition to the legislative mandate of administering the land on behalf of the communities who live on it, the Board has assumed the role of a typical development agency. It has entered into business transactions with investors for the material benefit of communities. It has thus become a catalyst for development in the areas of its jurisdiction.
We would like to congratulate the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, together with the Ingonyama Trust Board for completion of the Trust’s new administration building in Pietermaritsburg, at the cost of R22, 3 million. The building was officially opened by His Majesty the King on the 9 November 2012.
Ngonyaka ka-2012, Ikomidi yeSigungu Sikazwelonke Lokuthuthukisa Kwezasemakhaya Nokubuyiswa Kwemihlaba lavakashela iBhodi ukuyokwenza umsebenzi walo wokuhlola. Izindawo ezavakashelwa:
1. umsebenzi wokuthuthukiswa kwelokishi laseMpumalanga kanye nesakhiwo se-Eris Shopping Complex. Uma lemiklamo yemisebenzi seyiqediwe, izovulwa ngokusemthethweni ngomhlaka 6 Juni 2013. Lomklamo uveze ukubambisana okukhulu phakathi
kweMikhandlu Yendabuko,
iBhodi yeNgonyama Trust,
koMaspala,
neMikhakha Yangasese;
2. ukuhlinzela umhlaba ukuze kubolekiswe ngawo;
3. ukuzuza komphakathi ngentela ekhokhwayo, ngamathuba emisebenzi avela ngokwakhiwa kwezitolo kanye nezindlu ezibiza kancane.
Ezinye zezibonelo zempumelelo zeBhodi ezingabalwa yilezi;
1. iBhodi ikwazile ukubamba izinkulumiswano zokusebenza ngokubambisana, eziqinisekisa ukuthi, imiphakathi yendabuko iyazuza ekusetshenzisweni komhlaba ngosomabhizinisi.
2. ukwakhiwa kwehhotela eJozini,
3. ukuhlanganisa uhulumeni nabangasese njengokusebenzisana kwenkampani yakwaTongaat-Hulett neNgonyama Trust, okwenze ukuvuselela amandla omnotho osimeme nokukhulisa izinga lempilo yasemakhaya.
4. ukuzibophezela kweNgonyama Trust nebhangi i-Ithala Limited ekwakheleni abantu abahlala ezindaweni zasemakhaya, ukuze bakwazi ukuthola imali yokuthenga izindlu kanye nolunye usizo lwezimali.
Sithanda ukubonga umbuso we-African National Congress oholwa ngubaba uNxamalala okwazile ukuvula loMnyango Wokuthuthukisa Ezasemaphandleni ezilandelela ukwenzancono izimpilo zalabobantu.
It is important to note that South Africa has to deal with reversal of the legacy of a Colonialism of a Special Type which is characterised by antagonistic contradictions of class, race and patriarchal relations of power. These are the major causes of social conflict. Apartheid colonialism had consequences on black communities because it ensured that the ownership and wealth of wealth in a manner that excluded and neglected these communities. Therefore, the Ingonyama Trust Board, as a land management agent, strives to ensure that the benefits from the land accrue to the beneficiary traditional communities. These are central issues facing economic transformation of our society. The depth of experience in communal land management by the Ingonyama Trust Board can provide very useful lessons for policy on communal tenure.
Somlomo/ Sihlalo Ohloniphekile,
Nokuba zikhona izindaba zezinto eziyimpulelelo umuntu angakhuluma ngazo, loku akusho ukuthi iBhodi yeNgonyama Trust ayinazo izingqinamba ebhekene nazo. Ngesikhathi Ikomidi ilivakashele, latshelwa;
1. ngendawo esetshenziswa uShell Garage. Ikomidi yatshelwa ukuthi iShell yathola Imvumo yeminyaka engu-50 Yokusebenzisa Indawo ngesivumelwano esaqala ngo 1998 esiphela ngo 2038, ngezindleko zentela ezibiza R48.00 ngonyaka. Umbuzo-ke uthi, ngabe lemali ekhokhwa yiShell iyisilinganiso semali yentela ekhokhwayo noma kudlalwa nje ngezinsiza zemiphakathi yasemakhaya? Ikomidi lajatshuliswa ukuthi iBhodi iyayilandelela lendaba ngokuthi lesivumelwano singebuyiselwe emuva na ngoba lemali incane kakhulu uma iqhathaniswa nemali eyenziwa uShell kulendawo.
2. Ibhodi yabuye yakhala ngemithetho ekhinyabeza ukusebenza kwayo. Imithetho izinkampani ezivika ngayo ngokuthi zikhokhele Umnyango Wezezimali hhayi ibhodi. Imithetho efana ne: * Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act wango 2002 * Mineral and Petroleum Resource Royality Act wango 2008 2002.
3. Ukungabibikho kwezivumelwano ezibhaliwe phansi ezichaza isikhathi sokuthi ukusetshenziswa kwemihlaba kuqala nini futhi kuphela nini, nokuthi intela ikhohkwa ngubani kubani?
Ngqongqoshe Ohloniphekile Siyakwamukela ukufakelwa kweBhodi imali engu- 7,5 million, oyinxenye yesabelomali seBhodi esingu- R60,2 million.
We believe that it would assist the Ingonyama Trust Board to conducts its administrative duties in a manner that advance the vision of vibrant and sustainable rural communities. We, as a Portfolio Committee, will pursue the matter of payment of funds to rural communities to ensure that they receive the intended benefits from the usage of the Ingonyama Trust Land.
The ANC supports Budget Vote 33 of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.
DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Japie van der Linde MP
The Minister has put the failure rate for projects and recapitalisation at 90% and the targets set for land reform are not achievable given the available funds;
New farmers, especially emerging ones with recently obtained land, need support which includes knowledge, skills and funds to run the farms in a sustainable way;
We reiterate our call for government to urgently ensure that people with claim to communally owned land are given the security of tenure; and
We need to stress the fact that the government has “dragged its feet” in land restitution.
Honourable Chairperson,
Honourable Minister and Deputy Minister,
Honourable Members,
Ladies and Gentleman,
Vandag verteenwoordig my tweede deelname aan die begrotingsdebat van die Departement van Landelike Ontwikkeling en Grondhervorming, met ‘n duidelike besef dat daar buitengewone geleenthede benodig word om die “lig helderder te laat skyn” met al die “donkerte” wat ons in landelike ontwikkeling en grondhervorming ervaar.
Land reform:
The Minister has put the failure rate for projects and recapitalisation at 90%.
The targets set for land reform are not achievable given the available funds.
Eise vir befondsing sal heel moontlik verhoog omdat die regering geforseer sal word om meer hulpbronne aan die herkapitalisasie van projekte toe te ken.
The department invested much more than R1.8 billion in the recapitalisation of 969 farms in 2010. This amount was for the recapitalisation of failing projects where close to a quarter of farms transferred through the land reform programme, had showed no production since the transfer to new owners. The number of farms in need of recapitalisation in 2012 was 1 807.
Dis verder kommerwekkend om landswyd te sien hoe min van hierdie plase wat deur grondhervorming of restitusie bekom is, volhoubaar is. Plase lê onbenut; bates is gesteel, farming infrastructure does not exist or it has fallen apart.
New farmers, especially emerging ones with recently obtained land, need support in the form of knowledge, skills and funds to run the farms in a sustainable way. The department has admitted that their current mentor or strategic partner programme is not working. A solution is needed if the situation is going to change. The implementation of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme has also been implemented to assist with sustainable land development as a lack of training lead to funds being mismanaged.
Security of Tenure:
In line with the Centenary of the 1913 Land Act, we reiterate our call for government to urgently ensure that people with claim to communally owned land are given the security of tenure by the transfer of deeds. This will assist small farmers who lack the funds to start production.
Tenure Reform:
There is not yet any other policy or legislative framework to deal with tenure reform since the Constitutional Court nullified the Communal Land Rights Act (CLARA). The 2011 Green Paper on Land Reform lacks detail even though the NDP has identified insufficient tenure security for black farmers in communal areas as a “major risk” to agricultural expansion and the objective of building inclusive rural economies.
Land restitution:
The Land Claims Commission received 79 696 claims by 1998 (which was the initial deadline for restitution), but by January 2013, 77 148 claims have been settled of which more than 92% of claimants preferred financial compensation over land restoration. The total cost of the restitution programme to date has been R16 billion, of which R10 billion was used for land acquisition and R6 billion was spent on financial compensation to claimants.
Die regering kan steeds nie aandui watter en hoeveel eise afgehandel is of nog afgehandel moet word nie, waar die eise geleë is nie, wat die totale koste sal wees en waar die proses op dié stadium is nie.
President Zuma announced in his 2013 State of the Nation address, that restitution claims would be re-opened and also that the government is looking at exceptions to this cut-off date to provide the Khoi and San communities an opportunity to claim land where it relates to heritage sites and historical land marks. The June 1913 cut-off date has constitutional implications.
Exemptions can be made by formal recognition of the Khoi and San status as “first peoples” of South Africa in terms of the United Nations guidelines on the rights of indigenous people.
Die DA is nie teen die oopstel van hierdie eise nie; die vraag is egter: “Het die regering die kapasiteit vir die verwerking van die baie eise wat kom in die lig dat die department nie die vorige eise kon afhandel nie!
Support and empowerment to youth:
The National Rural Youth Services Corps (Narysec) programme was launched by President Jacob Zuma in September 2010. The implementation of this programme is commendable as the ANC-led government have acknowledged that people lacks skills, need jobs and go hungry.
However, according to information from the majority of students in this programme, they feel that they have been left in limbo; that none or very little training has been done; that the programme is more window-dressing and that it does not meet the national priorities which include youth development, job creation, nation building and community service. Added to the above, there is no strategic college where they can be trained with a detailed programme of how training is to be done, given that students are taken in for a 4-years period.
‘n Verdere probleem is dat hierdie jeugdiges nie na afloop van die “opleiding” by gemeenskapsopheffings-programme betrek word of in diens geneem word nie. Hulle gaan landwyd elke maand vir die toelaag (stipend) van R1 320 teken. By implikasie kan dit ook beteken dat studente vir 4jaar in dié program en terselfdertyd ook in ander tipe programme betrokke kan wees omdat hulle in eersgenoemde program niks doen en net teken nie!
We share the views with the ANC led government that the 1913 Land Act deprived land of the black majority and displaced thousands of black South Africans. However, we need to stress the fact that the government has “dragged its feet” in land restitution.
Hundreds of delays in transfer of ownership and the poor manner, in which the government has handled the issue, have also added to the problem. More than 200 farmers in just one province (Gauteng) are still waiting for their title deeds after 10 years.
Redistribution:
Between 1994 and January 2013, 4 813 farms with a total size of 4.12 million hectares have been transferred to black South Africans through various redistribution programmes. The state spent R12.9 billion acquiring this land. Research by the Centre for Development Enterprise (CDE) has shown that in certain provinces, land transfers through private land transactions is up to five times higher than the transfers through government programmes.
State run farms / Fraud against intended beneficiaries:
State-owned farms are basically run by strategic partners on behalf of the beneficiaries who work on the farm. These partners are appointed by the state. The beneficiaries do not receive any of the profits/benefits/gains, as discovered at the Kangela Citrus Farm in the Eastern Cape.
Weaknesses in the Department (Leemtes):
It is clear that the Minister’s noble vision as outlined in his mandate, targets, strategies and national priorities for correcting land reform and development is however under serious threat of not being fully realised. He and his Department have failed to effectively:
· Provide successive qualified audit reports by the Auditor-General;
· Voltooi ‘n volledige oudit van privaat grond-eienaarskap en wat gevolglik ‘n gebrek aan inligting oor die werklike stand van grond-eienaarskap in die land kan aantoon;
· Reduce the constant high levels of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure (amounting to R83.4 million in the 2011/2012 financial year- the Department achieved only 55% of its targeted programme outputs);
· According to the 2011/2012 Annual Report the Department had 11.5% vacancy rate. 627 posts not filled; and
· Promote strategic partnerships, equity schemes and meaningful membership programmes to make land reform work more effectively.
The DA proposes the following initiatives for the light to burn brighter, whenever the Minister and his department see gloominess:
· Complete a valid, credible and comprehensive audit of all state-owned land, including land transferred through state intervention and land reform through the open market and;
· Employ a much more vigorous accountability model in land reform projects to ensure continued and improved productivity, especially from recapitalisation initiatives.
If Land Reform is to succeed in our country, it needs to become more than a pipeline dream and the Minister must show some political will and initiative to drive the issues of development in some of the most remote parts of our land.
I thank you.
DA Shadow Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Athol Trollip MP
• 2013 is the year that marks the centenary of the 1913 Native Land Act and one would have expected this most unfortunate and regrettable milestone would have been recognised by ensuring an unprecedented and long overdue flurry of sustainable rural developmental initiatives;
• What happened to the department appointed consultant that stole R1 million of a woman’s rural development projects money in Muyexe?
• The government must give private freehold title to all people living in former homeland areas and in Ingonyama trust areas;
Hon Speaker, Honourable members, my son and my daughter,
Not long ago I addressed this house on the occasion of my good friend and colleague, Honourable Mike Ellis’s farewell. I recall that the occasion was marked by mixed emotions on both sides of the house. His presence here today is indeed an honour.
I stand here today on the occasion of my last speech in the National Assembly of South Africa and I must confess that I am experiencing similar emotions right now not because of my length of service in this parliament but because today marks the end of a chapter in my political career.
Honourable members though I have spent only a short four years in this parliament, allow me to share some observations for whatever they are worth.
Having had the honour of being the Leader of the Opposition and of being a Shadow Minister for a single portfolio, I have learnt how enormous and important our parliamentary responsibility is to the voters and our nation. I have learnt that you can make a difference in parliament through the legislative process and by convincing opposing members to consider alternative ideas only if you yourself are fully familiar with the process and procedures that inform the formulation and passage of legislation.
We are all supposed to be leaders here and good leaders are readers. If you don’t read and research and compare you will become irrelevant and this will in turn undermine or erode the value of our parliament.
This parliament can have any number of slogans and projects aimed at promoting the relevance of parliament, but unless we as members honour our code of conduct, our constitutional responsibilities and our constituency obligations we will never be an “activist parliament” nor will we be able to adequately defend our constitutional democracy.
UHayi wam ngu Hayi, uEwe wam ngu Ewe!
We should say, not in my name or in our name when we are faced with unacceptable legislative proposals, patently choreographed investigation reports and a plethora of other frankly substandard practises and reports in our portfolio committees and other parliamentary committees. If we fail to do this we will all have to accept a collective verdict of guilty of not defending our constitutional democracy.
I am leaving parliament the better for having made some impressive acquaintances and very fortunately, for me, having made some really good friendships too and they are on both sides of the house and behind me too. Thank you, Mr Speaker, for hosting a special farewell luncheon for me.
Undenzele imbiko enkhulu ndiyabulele ngezibini.
Though I was honoured with a most generous farewell function on Wednesday evening by my caucus colleagues where all the necessary thanks were said, it would be remiss of me not to thank them all publicly for their support during my time as leader of the opposition and for the sterling work they do in Parliament.
I also want to share the extraordinary story of Honourbale Sunduza’s appearance at our caucus farewell to present me with a gift. The symbolic outreach had a profound impact on me and reaffirmed in my mind why we are here as Members of Parliament: to do what is necessary to improve the lives of South African citizens.
My thanks also go to the Chairperson of this Portfolio Committee, my Portfolio colleagues and the Portfolio Committee support staff for their very generous words of farewell and for the manner in which we conducted our important work in oversight, the drafting and consideration of new legislation and the evaluation of existing legislation that is or has become out-dated and no longer relevant.
In this, the Green Paper process remains a concern to me and after last year’s budget debate where the committee demanded to have its first and only presentation to date on the Green Paper. This disdain for the committee by the department is frankly just not good enough. We won’t allow the department to treat us like mushrooms, keep us in the dark and feed us manure.
In preparing for this debate, not only did I consider the annual performance plan, the proposed budget and every other report that informed us of the state of the department and its performance indicators. I also read my speech from this debate last year.
This retrospection served to reinforce my worst fear that this department is failing to meet its enormously important mandate.
This regrettable state of affairs could not come at a worse time. 2013 is the year that marks the centenary of the 1913 Native Land Act and one would have expected this most unfortunate and regrettable milestone would have been recognised by ensuring an unprecedented and long overdue flurry of sustainable rural developmental initiatives, not the fluttering of flags and erection of tents covered in slogans. The poor, hungry and landless cannot eat your empty slogans.
The 23 identified district comprehensive rural development plan projects have flattered only to deceive. In this regard I challenge the Minister to tell this house what happened to the department appointed consultant that stole R1 million of a woman’s rural development projects money in Muyexe, which was reported more than a year ago.
The only way to appropriately commemorate and redress the abominable Native Land Act and the other equally reprehensible Acts that systematically expropriated the land and dignity of black, coloured and Indian South Africans, is to ensure that the programmes of restitution, redistribution and land an agrarian reform result in the establishment of successful and sustainable black commercial farmers and self-sufficient small scale black farmers.
To this end the ANC government must also give private freehold title to all people living in former homeland areas and in Ingonyama trust areas for all the obvious reasons and also because the National Development Plan (NDP) identifies insufficient tenure security for black farmers in communal areas as a “major risk” to agricultural expansion and the objective of building inclusive rural economies.
In this regard we must hold up a mirror to this department’s raison d'être and consider this image against the backdrop of the ministers admission that 90% of the departments land reform programs have failed.
This failure has ironically also provided those that prey on the resources of the state easy access to a source of ready cash. The so-called recapitalization programme which is set up to resuscitate going commercial farms that this department has allowed to fall into unproductive disrepair has become a veritable cash cow for corrupt officials and their cohorts.
What is happening with the many farms that you acquired in Cradock and Somerset East, first for the sugar beet project and now the biofuel initiative is a case in point? These properties have been allowed to become run down and unproductive in a short space of time and will per force have to be recapitalized at enormous and wasteful expense.
Minister, don’t think that reaching your quantitative land reform targets will address the issue of rural poverty and landlessness. Firstly you don’t have a clue how much state land you have. You have a vague but by no means credible audit of how much private farm land there is and who owns it. This, despite you holding up a pathetic bar graph illustration in this house claiming that the land audit is complete. In the Eastern Cape alone there is still 4 million hectares of land that is either un-surveyed or surveyed and unregistered, far from a complete and comprehensive land audit.
You also don’t have the faintest idea of what the potential land value or land holding would be of those restitution beneficiaries that chose cash settlements in lieu of land restitution. So until you do know this, don’t claim easy victories and more importantly don’t tell any lies.
My advice to you and your cabinet colleagues would be to concentrate on addressing the facts in Rural Development, Land Reform and Agriculture. These are; the contribution of agriculture to the GDP has decreased from 9.1% in 1965 to less than 2% in 2012. The number of commercial farmers has reduced from 100 000 to 36 000 in 15 years.
It is thus increasingly difficult for new entrants to succeed at farming as they have to face:
Ever increasing international competition; and
Rising input costs (especially electricity & wages)
New entrants need to receive appropriate support in order to cope with these difficulties. This is your responsibility and you are failing them dismally and if you are honest, you will have to admit that you are not producing new competent commercial farmers or small scale farmers through the land reform program.
The other important facts about your department that constrain your ability to deliver are:
Successive qualified audits by the Auditor General;
Financial irregularities in the department that have prompted the SIU to investigate it;
Massive claims against the department, resulting from negligence and slip shod legal proceedings;
Persistently high levels of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure (amounting to R83, 4 million in 2011/2012 alone.); and
In 2011/2012 the department only achieved 55% of its targeted programs. (Now some of your colleagues like Minister Motshekga and Minister Nzimande might regard this as a good success/pass rate. Mind you, now that Minister Nzimande has become the minister of Higher Education, he has come to learn that 33% is not an acceptable pass rate because the students with these results fail at tertiary institutions. We in the DA will never accept this as an acceptable success or pass rate and neither do those who expect their lives to be improved through the efforts of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.)
Your budget which we will conditionally support in this historically important year is simply not adequate to achieve your targets, regardless of what the market price of land is. So get real, cut your cloth to what you can afford and use your budget more effectively, efficiently and economically and stop looking for the proverbial scape goats. Julle het daardie stories nou al hol rug gery.
Furthermore you must understand that unless the reopening of the land claims process is funded by Treasury, we cannot support the budget because your current budget cannot cover the finalization of the current land claims and restitution costs.
Now some home truths - your departmental staff are the Achilles heel of your department and in this regard let me quote what I said about them last year after being in the committee for only 5 months; my impression has regrettably been reinforced.
“My interaction with officials of this department spans 13 years and my experience to date has been one of frustration as a direct result of ineptitude, carelessness, lack of Batho Pele, lack of professionalism, lack of integrity and blatant dishonesty. As with everything in life there are the exceptions and for those that I have encountered, I wish to say thank you. For the rest Minister I say shame on them.” They know who they are. If you and your deputy attended our meetings, you too would know who they are, however you clearly find this far too much of an inconvenience.
However I must commend the Chief Land Surveyor General for the way he has dealt with my queries and correspondence and I wait to see what the Director-General will do about some of the staff that I have reported directly to him.
I leave parliament today knowing that I did what I could, where I was, with what I had at my disposal. Regrettably though due to the shocking work ethic of your staff, I leave here with the queries I inherited from my predecessor and those that were generated in my time in this portfolio – mostly unanswered. These queries were not dreamt up by me – they come from South African citizens, tax payers, voters. You and your officials ignore them at your peril.
The other people/voters that you and your department are alienating are the beneficiaries of land reform initiatives. These beneficiaries enter the programmes full of enthusiasm and with dreams of a new purpose in life with a promise of a better life. As and when these programmes fail and become moribund these people are left disillusioned often indebted and angry.
Their failure compounds our precarious national food security status and the brunt of the cost of imported basic food stuffs is felt most sorely by the poorest in our society. These are the people that the ANC have taken for granted for so long as being their voting fodder.
Lendelelo izakhu nibetha kabuhlungu ngo 2014.
Yesterday I held a press conference to highlight the plight of the beneficiaries of the Kangela Farms land reform program in Kirkwood. Not only was the farm acquisition mired in controversy with 2 Eastern Cape MECs charged for corruption. It has only benefited some well-connected business people who have basically high jacked the whole initiative for their own gain at the expense of the original beneficiaries who tell heart-breaking stories of neglect, abuse and the fact that they were better off as farm workers before the land reform process. Speaking of farm workers, I witnessed and spoke with the seasonal workers on Kangela Farm who are housed in shipping containers and who cook in an open kitchen with a dirt floor. They earn between R85 – R95 a day as do the beneficiaries. On a government owned farm? What do Minister Olifant, Zwelinzima Vavi, Tony Ehrenreich and Nosey Pieterse say about that?? Ningama Menemene.
Lastly, Minister please explain today to this house what Minister Radebe meant by these words:
“This year we shall be commemorating the legacy of the injustice as caused by the draconian land Act of 1913. The constitution provides a framework for individuals and communities disposed of their land to be restored to their land or to equitable redress. We look to our courts to develop jurisprudence to guide us regarding the interpretation and implementation of the provisions of the property clause in our Bill of Rights. It is for this reason that we have through the department of Rural Development and Land Reform, proposed legislative amendments that will enable the judicial service commission to recruit judges who possess appropriate skills and the required judicial philosophy to redress the devastating effects of land dispossession. I am pleased that my colleague in the ministry of Rural Development and Land Reform is pursuing these amendments”.
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Budget Vote Debate 33 |
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