Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has sourced and is awaiting legal advice on the Animal Diseases Act 1984 (Act no 35 of 84) and the Animal Health Act 2002, (Act no 7 of 2002). Such advice will help inform the process going forward with regards to these two Acts.

2. Yes. In an industry adopted veterinary strategy, livestock owners as well as other animal owners are responsible for the health and welfare of their animals and ensure that all controlled diseases outbreaks are reported to the nearest state veterinarian or veterinarian to ensure that there is no unnecessary risk to the animal population of the country at large. Even at international level a trend is emerging where efforts to strengthen official state services, requires the active participation and investment on the part of both the public and the private sectors. The South African private sector as well as livestock producers have indicated their willingness to support this approach in their report to the Animal Health Forum. DALRRD continues to draft biosecurity guidelines to assist the livestock sector to prevent diseases and/or mitigate impact of outbreaks. DALRRD audits and assist to bio-secure facilities to assist them access regional and other international markets

Reply:

1. The claim is currently at settlement stage.

2. (a) Yes, there is a Court Order under Case number 1590/2000 dated 1 June 2000. The High Court in Pietermaritzburg granted a rule nisi, calling all interested parties to be available before the Court on 23 July 2000 at 9:00 am for a hearing why an order should not be granted on the following terms:

(i) the Applicant is granted leave to alienate to the Zwelethu Community Trust, immovable properties described as portion 104 of the Nelsrust No.849, Erf 126 Thornville;

(ii) any person claiming to have interest which entitled such person to object the granting of such order or intends to object thereto shall notify the Registrar of the Court and Applicants attorney on or before 24 July 2000.

(b) The final order was granted on 28 July 2000.

3. (a) Yes, there is a claim with reference number KRN6/2/2/E/42/0/0/202, which was settled on 9 January 2000 in respect of the following properties:

• farm Meyershoek No. 847,
• farm Onrust No. 848,
• Rem of Nels Rust and
• ptn 8 of Nooitgedacht No. 903 collective extent of 3262.9193 ha

(b) The Department is undertaking more in-depth research to determine compliance within the context of the land rights dispossession that took place in the Baynesfield Estate and conduct comparative analysis of the beneficiaries/households in respect of the section 42 D submission approved on the 9 January 2000. Such should happen using the available source documents which include the approved S42D, signed settlement agreement and court order of 2000. The further research will take approximately 120 days to complete.

Reply:

1. The Transboundary Animal Diseases Programme always submits reports on time. The information relating to phylogenetic trees is always supplied to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development with each new outbreak and on request.

2. Yes. The ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research is still the reference laboratory for Foot and Mouth Disease at the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and Food and Agriculture Organisation.

(a),(b) Falls away.

Reply:

1. (a) A total of 53 286 subsistence producers were supported across all 9 provinces.

(b) Table 1: supported subsistence producers, by province and district.

Province / Districts	Provincial Totals	District Totals
Eastern Cape	9 927
Alfred Nzo		1631
Amathole		1424
Buffalo City		211
Chris Hani		1646
Joe Gqabi		706
Nelson Mandela Bay		364
O.R.Tambo		3748
Sarah Baartman		197
Free State	2 905
Fezile Dabi		434
Lejweleputswa		385
Mangaung		826
Thabo Mofutsanyane		1092
Xhariep		168
Gauteng	2 594
City of Ekurhuleni		646
City of Johannesburg		676
City of Tshwane		544
Sedibeng		423
West Rand		305
KwaZulu-Natal	13 134
Amajuba		658
City of ethekwini		1356
iLembe		1105
King Cetshwayo		2367
Sisonke		1003
Ugu		1504
UMgungundlovu		1024
Umkhanyakude		844
Umzinyathi		654
Uthukela		603
Zululand		2016
Limpopo	7 707
Capricorn		1799
Great Sekhukhune		1642
Mopani District Municipality	1017
Vhembe		2719
Waterberg		530
Mpumalanga	8942
Ehlanzeni		4342
Gert Sibande		1825
Nkangala		2775
North West	5 505
Bojanala		1299
Dr Kenneth Kaunda		447
Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati	2138
Ngaka Modiri Molema		1621
Northern Cape	1 649
Frances Baard		214
John Taolo Gaetsewe		1108
Namakwa		73
Pixley Ka Seme		126
Siyanda		128
Western Cape	923
Cape Winelands		112
Central Karoo		30
City of Cape Town		343
Eden		247
Overberg		45
West Coast		146
Grand Total	53 286	286

(2) No. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020/21 resulted in several complexities and time-consuming activities that impacted on the acceleration of the implementation process. The latter includes but is not limited to the following:

- The setting up and operationalisation of the setting electronic systems which impacted on the management of the e-voucher solution.

- The physical verification of approved applicants for conformity to the qualification of set criteria.

Reply:

1. (a) The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) is required in terms of the Communal Property Associations Act to:

• Appoint a Conciliator (mediator) when there are disputes within a CPA
• Inspection CPA records for monitoring purposes
• Conduct an enquiry into the activities of the CPA
• Subpoena persons who may have relevant information in respect of affairs of CPA
• Require CPA members to conduct elections of new committee
• Place a CPA under Judicial Administration

The Department also assist CPAs to comply; the following are the Department’s interventions:

• Conduct Governance and Compliance training to CPA Executive Committee members and CPA members in general.
• Support CPAs towards compliance by assisting them with updating membership list, amending their Constitution, and facilitating an Elective Annual General Meeting.

b) The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) is responsible for all the 1 750 registered CPAs in the country. See Annexure A

c) The following is a breakdown of CPAs that failed to report on their financial records during the past three financial years. Annexure B

Province	Financial year
	2019 - 2020	2020 - 2021	2021 - 2022
Eastern Cape	170	176	195
Free State	52	49	56
Gauteng	22	34	33
KwaZulu-Natal	382	332	403
Limpopo	75	100	160
Mpumalanga	392	392	394
North West	168	170	191
Northern Cape	71	56	71
Western Cape	17	27	25

2. (a) The following is a breakdown of CPAs that failed to report on the validity of term of office for the CPA Executive Committee during the past three financial year.

Annexure C

Province	Financial year
	2019 - 2020	2020 - 2021	2021 - 2022
Eastern Cape	76	142	111
Free State	0	12	18
Gauteng	2	12	16
KwaZulu-Natal	313	231	308
Limpopo	24	29	72
Mpumalanga	390	389	307
North West	134	134	158
Northern Cape	55	47	63
Western Cape	2	0	1

(b) The DALRRD has powers through section 11 of the CPA Act to require CPA members to conduct elections for a new committee, if the integrity, impartiality or effectiveness of the committee or any member of the committee is in question. In implementing of this section, the DALRRD issues notices to notify all CPA members of such a requirement made by the DALRRD and if possible, assist the CPA in facilitating an Elective AGM to ensure that these elections take place.

3. In the event that the CPA cannot resolve their own dispute through internal processes as stipulated in the CPA’s Constitutions, the members may refer the dispute to the DALRRD for assistance. The DALRRD must investigate the dispute and determine if the issues fall within the scope of the CPA Act and receive consent from the parties involved for mediation. Mediation takes place, either by an official of the DALRRD or through the Land Rights Management Facility Panel. As a last resort when all interventions proved unsuccessful, the DALRRD can request through the courts to place a CPA under Judicial Administration.

Reply:

(a) A total of 2 124 144 hectares of land is currently leased for private use. The methodology used in 2018 and prior years has since been discontinued as part of measures towards improving the quality of information. For instance, in 2018 and preceding years, where a farm consisted of several lease units and only one lease unit has a lease, the entire farm was regarded as leased and, in the calculations, the total extent of the farm was used. The Department has since improved the methodology to calculate only the extent per lease/land unit with a lease hence the number of hectares of land leased out has been rectified from 2 309 078 hectares to 2 124 144 hectares.

(b),(c)(i),(ii) Please refer to Annexure A: List of Properties with leases.

Reply:

a) The Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has been engaging with Mr. Ntonga, who is the Chairperson of the members of Loto Greens farms on possible relocation because of wetlands affecting their farm. The wetland situation is also affecting other farms in the area of Cedarville including other lessees on this area.

b) The farm was bought for R 9 000 000 from the original owner and allocated to four farmers.

c) None.

Reply:

No.

a) The amount of R41 million is reported to have been paid to Ingonyama Holdings, a company of Ingonyama Trust, through two firms of attorneys as well as directly. The Board has to obtain an explanation from the directors of Ingonyama Holdings on what has been achieved as a consequence of this amount being transferred to Ingonyama Holdings. A new Board has just been appointed and I will ask them to look into this matter.

b) The KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Act does not empower the Minister to have direct representatives in the Board hence there are no direct representatives. I have however been informed by the Head of the Secretariat of Ingonyama Trust that the directors of Ingonyama Holdings do not accept that they are accountable to the Board. Their view is that they are only accountable to the Trustee hence they resisted attempts by the Board to establish the deliverables associated with the R41 million. The Board had decided in February 2022 to have a dedicated discussion on the relationship between the Board and Ingonyama Holdings, however, the matter had not been attended to at the time the previous Board’s term of office came to an end, which probably could have been the reason the matter was not timeously brought to the attention of the Minister.

Reply:

a) There is a time lag of almost a year in the publication of the Annual Agricultural Survey, which depicts statistical information on the general performance in the agricultural sector. Statistics on the 2022 performance will only be available towards the end of the year 2023, once the survey is completed and the results are made available.

(b),(i),(ii),(iii) The table below indicates the performance of the different categories of farmers for 2021. Performance is depicted in terms of income received across different agricultural business activities.

Activity	(b)(i) Large >R 30 million Turn over	(ii) Medium R18 million < Turnover <=R30 million	(b)(iii) Small R3 million< Turnover<= R18 million	Micro Turnover<= R3 million Turn over	Total
	R’000
Growing crops, market gardening; horticulture	130 641 686	12 915 431	29 660 855	11 071 701	184 289 673
Farming of animals	126 343 423	6 503 854	15 078 457	6 703 286	154 629 020
Growing of crops combined with farming of animals(mixed farming)	17 169 993	9 691 581	26 127 474	9 563 642	62 552 690
Agriculture and animal husbandry services, except veterinary services	7 522 709	568 956	3 655 981	1 656 365	13 404 011
Activity	Large >R 30 million Turn over	Medium R18 million < Turnover <=R30 million	Small R3 million< Turnover<= R18 million	Micro Turnover<= R3 million Turn over	Total
	R’000
Hunting, trapping and game propagation including related services	670 662	107 353	853 611	577 495	2 209 121
Total	282 348 473	29 787 175	75 376 378	29 572 489	417 084 515

Reply:

(1) (a) Yes. Since October 2020, the released state land was assessed to determine the status of each farm. Start-up packages were developed according to the categories/sizes of the farming operations, commodities and required activities to ensure optimum functionality of such farms. The activities on these farms ranged from infrastructure, production inputs and capacity development in respect of both livestock farming and crop farming. The 700 000 hectares of state land identified for redistribution was advertised in October 2020. The process of considering submissions for allocations was completed during 2021.

(b) (i) A total of 895 farms were identified for lease agreements. To date 213 farms have been issued with full leases; seventy-two (72) farms are partially leased; seventeen (17) farms in process; and five hundred and ninety three (593) farms have not been leased but were allocated in terms of the Land Reform: Provision of Land and Assistance Act 126 of 1993 as follows: -

• Communities: 210 farms;
• Donations: 277 farms;
• Land claims: 68 farms (Since these farms are under claim, they will be allocated to claimants in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994);
• Withdrawn:19 farms because of the legal challenge by the communities residing on those farms; and
• Long-term occupiers:19 farms found to have lawful occupiers in terms of Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) is currently working on legislation to enable government to transfer communal land to communities.

(b)(ii) Infrastructure development was identified as a key requirement to enable farmers to improve their production. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed with the Development Bank of Southern Africa for 5 years to assist with the infrastructure development on these farms. The infrastructure development will include fencing, water reticulation, irrigation systems, storage sheds, etc. The Department will be handing over the list of projects for infrastructure development to DBSA to commence with the implementation processes.

2. Yes. The Department conducted farm assessment to determine the status of the farms and the level of support required. It has been identified that most of these are under production at various levels. Given that the production levels at these farms is still not at optimum level, it is envisaged that production inputs, in addition to the envisaged infrastructure will be provided to kickstart agri-business unit(s) on various commodities.

Reply:

a) The objectives and commitments of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP) are implemented through two mechanisms, namely, the Commodity Value Chain Round Tables and Transformation Schemes. The two mechanisms ensure that implementation is at a commodity level focusing on both commercial and non-commercial (including tribal and land reform farms) farming areas. The Transformation Schemes are geared towards accelerating the empowerment and participation of previously marginalised groups in each agricultural commodity value chain. Since the signing of the AAMP in May 2022, the establishment of the Transformation Schemes in the mohair, cotton, citrus, and red meat industries are underway. Other industries to follow suit in 2023/24 year.

b) The main challenge is the availability of funding for off-farm infrastructure, particularly in rural and tribal areas where the Transformation Schemes are targeted. The enabling infrastructure such as rural roads, irrigation schemes, electricity supply, fresh produce markets, colleges, and processing or storage facilities are poorly developed. This affects the ability to attract private investments into these areas and impedes unlocking agricultural growth and jobs in rural and tribal areas.

c) Beyond the existing departmental funding that has been reprioritised to align with the AAMP interventions, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) is working with the private sector to raise additional funding to finance both on-farm and off-farm infrastructure and other AAMP interventions through the mechanisms namely, Value Chain Round Tables and Transformation Schemes. Some of the catalytic infrastructure projects that are crucial for the development of agriculture have been submitted to the Infrastructure Office in the Presidency to solicit both domestic and international private funding.

The AAMP furthermore seeks to drive transformation through commodity corridors, where the value chains deep-dives of the AAMP are translated into a district-based value chain approach. These are aimed at linking market-led investments with strategically identified agricultural land. In other words, whereas the deep-dives identify what needs to be done nationally in each value chain, the district-based approach identifies where the high potential areas are to create the biggest impact with respect to inclusive growth and job creation.

Reply:

a) The report has been finalised and its recommendations are currently being implemented.

b) The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development will release the findings and recommendations of the report as soon as all logistical and arrangements have been finalized and confirmed.

Reply:

The 450 farmers for commercialisation were identified across all nine provinces, with each province contributing and supporting at least 50 farmers towards being commercially self-reliant. The Commercialization Strategy was a response to the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme [CASP] Evaluation Report of 2015 which recommended that CASP commercialise 30% of producers. A commercial producer that we are referring to is a producer who produces with the intention to supply markets – both locally and internationally, is able to pay his overheads (breaks even or is profitable) and with a minimum turnover above R500 000 per annum.

Of the 450 producers targeted, a total of 350 have been commercialised. The table below outlines progress per province. These farmers were supported with infrastructure, production inputs, training, food safety and accreditation (where applicable) as well as mechanization through the CASP and Ilima/Letsema conditional grants.

The responses / details on these farmers / producers per province is attached.

Province	Targeted	Supported / commercial black farmers as at 30 March 2023.	Variance
Eastern Cape	50	44	6
Free State	50	91	+41
Gauteng	50	17	33
Kwa-Zulu Natal	50	33	17
Limpopo	50	36	14
Mpumalanga	50	33	17
Northern Cape	50	29	21
North West	50	17	33
Western Cape	50	50	0
Total	450	350	100

Reply:

Yes. The Department has allocated R87 million to the OBP and R100 million to the ARC respectively to ensure the sustained availability of FMD vaccine. The Department has also assisted the KwaZulu-Natal Province with R18,2 million towards control of the Foot and Mouth outbreak.

Reply:

(a)(i),(ii)(b)(i),(ii) The report has been finalised and will be released as soon as all logistical arrangements have been concluded. The Department has already started implementing the recommendations made by the task team.

Reply:

No, the Department does not have any collaboration in the provision of financial management skills to rural farmworkers. The Department has support programmes for farm dwellers and labour tenants under the Extension of Security of Tenure Act [No. 62 of 1997] ESTA. There is no special programme to support farm workers. If farm workers have farming practices outside their employ, they would apply for support like any other farmer supported by the Department.

Reply:

(1)(a) The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights reports to the Land Claims Court (LCC) at six months intervals regarding the settlement of outstanding old order claims. This progress includes the backlog reduction strategy, the budget allocations and referral of cases to the LCC. The report does not include a specific date envisaged for finalisation of the outstanding claims as there are outstanding processes that require approval from dependencies which are outside the control of the Commission/Department.

(b) The total amount of R65bn will be required to settle old order claims.

2. Yes. Please refer to Annexure A.

Reply:

1. Yes, the first draft of the Animals Protection Bill has been completed. The draft was considered by the Animal Welfare working group which comprises of provincial representatives on animal welfare. Due to the amount of research required to be undertaken; as well as the sensitivity around animal welfare and the need for benchmarking with the international community and practices, the Department is of the opinion that it does not have sufficient capacity and decided to place the project on tender.

2. (a),(b)(i),(ii),(iii) The first draft of the Bill is in place. It is anticipated that the consultant will start their work in the first quarter of 2023/24 and conclude the assignment in 6 months. The consultant will be required to consult broadly, including the gazetting of the draft document for public comments, and also arranging consultations with focus groups with expertise in animal welfare. The Bill will be submitted for public consultations a month after completion; and processed to Cabinet in the first quarter of 2024/25.

Reply:

The colloquium on Animal Welfare will be held once a consultant to conduct the necessary background research and develop the Bill has been appointed. This is envisaged to be facilitated within the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year.

Reply:

There is no reluctance on the side of the Department Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) to take advantage of indigenous plants in the Republic. This position is demonstrated through DALRRD’s support of research on several indigenous plants which have actual or potential use in agriculture and agro-processing. This includes research on a number of indigenous plants (such as African Ginger, African wormwood); the research focus include, amongst others:

• development of suitable or optimal cultivation practices to prevent harvesting of plant material from the wild;
• phytochemical analyses of active ingredients of the plants to elucidate or confirm potential useful characteristics;
• collection, storage and characterization to maintain its genetic diversity; and
• product development and value-adding.

It should be noted that bioprospecting (which cover commercial application) of indigenous plants is subject to the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA), 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004). This requires complex compliance conditions which hinders commercial exploitation of indigenous plant and investment. Plants used traditionally in agriculture (such as maize, wheat, etc.) are excluded from the provisions of NEMBA.

DALRRD is currently developing the Cannabis Master Plan, which aims to unlock the economic potential of the Cannabis sector.

Reply:

1. In the current financial year Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) sold 49 364 doses of horse sickness vaccine.

a) (i) In 2021, 6236 equines were vaccinated (ii) 2022, 5898 equines were vaccinated In the African Horse Sickness (AHS) surveillance zone and AHS free zone, the number of equines vaccinated is known as permission is required from the Veterinary Authority for vaccination.

(b)(i)(ii) The Department does not keep records of animals vaccinated for any endemic disease in the country even though it encourages owners to vaccinate their animals. AHS is endemic in the rest of the country, no records of numbers vaccinated is kept.

(c)(i)(ii) OBP produced enough vaccine during 2020 for the market. Thereafter until 2023 disruptions due to equipment breakdown and load-shedding started which disrupted consistent production supply.

2. (a)(b) responded by in 1(c)

3. (a) OBP is currently refurbishing critical equipment and has commenced in procuring new equipment.

(b) Negotiations are currently taking place to consider contract manufacturing with the aim of increasing OBP production output.

Reply:

a) Recording of animals that die because of controlled animal diseases is done at provincial level while the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) only records the number of outbreaks. DALRRD is however, in the process of collating and verifying data in this regard, which will be submitted once verified.

b) Below is the total amount of blood vaccines available at Ondersterpoort Biological Products as at 29 March 2023:

Blood Vaccine Type	In Packaging Department	In Distribution Department	TOTAL
Anaplasmosis	271	0	271
Redwater African	4709	849	5558
Redwater Asiatic	1480	627	2107
Heartwater	2870	163	3033

More batches of Anaplasmosis currently being tested are expected to be released at the end of April 2023 and the production of more blood vaccines is planned for April and May 2023.

Reply:

Yes, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, provides support for processing infrastructure through the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP). It should be noted that the programme is demand driven, thus the support is reliant on the number of applications received.

Reply:

a) The Land and Agricultural Development Bank (Land Bank) of South Africa is not implementing any AgriBEE programme on behalf of the Department. The Land Bank was appointed as the fund manager of the AgriBEE Fund. In terms of the Memorandum of Agreement between the two parties, Land Bank performs the following functions on behalf of the Department:

• Manage and administer the Fund which includes receiving annual allocations in respect of the Fund and keeping them in a dedicated AgriBEE Fund account.
• Conduct due diligence assessments on suitable applications received from the Department and provide due diligence reports thereof to aid the Department in the appointment of qualifying applications according to the fund criteria.
• Disburse funds to approved applications on written instruction by the Director General of the Department.

Based on the above, evaluation and approval of applications for support through the AgriBEE Fund remains the responsibility of the Department and not that of the Land Bank.

b) Land Bank has never failed to implement AgriBEE programmes as it was never its responsibility to do so. With regard to the Blended Finance Scheme, the Land Bank has the responsibility to implement and the following has been done to ensure successful implementation:

• The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and Land Bank agreed on the criteria and qualifications for the Blended Finance Scheme as well as the scorecard to ensure alignment by all branches of the bank to the blended finance scheme concept document.
• DALRRD has not imposed additional processes for approval by Land Bank to ensure applications are received, analysed, processed and approved by the Land Bank within reasonable and agreed timelines.
• DALRRD convened a workshop with Land Bank on 4 April 2023 to assess the norms and standards Land Bank uses to approve applications for Blended Finance; as these must be aligned to industry technical standards to avoid deserving applications being rejected by the Bank and the objectives of the scheme not being realised. The workshop was attended by DALRRD technical experts and bankers from all Land Bank’s branches across the country to ensure alignment with Land Bank officials to agreed processes and technical standards.
• A steering committee for Blended Finance has been established to oversee performance by all participating financial institutions (PFIs) and will monitor performance by the PFIs and unlock challenges that hamper implementation by these banks.
• The Land Bank has appointed a senior manager to oversee the partnership with DALRRD and DALRRD has likewise appointed a senior manager to oversee the successful implementation of the Blended Finance Scheme.

Reply:

a) Yes. Updated reports on Foot and Mouth (FMD) are released on a frequent basis, depending on the stability of the situation, and the latest report is dated 28 March 2023. In the most recent report, there are 183 FMD outbreaks that are open with the World Organization for Animal Health (founded as OIE), while 12 outbreaks have been resolved and closed. Please refer to Annexure A: 2021-2023 Report on Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak.

b) Biosecurity measures are applied in all cases of FMD outbreaks:

• Quarantine notices are placed on all affected premises as soon as the suspicion of FMD is notified.
• Biosecurity measures will differ, depending on the situation on the ground at a particular location, but always includes the prohibition of movement of FMD susceptible animals and unprocessed products from affected locations.

Reply:

1. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) does not have record of the above-mentioned claim reference number. It would be appreciated if DALRRD can be provided with further details on the claim such as claimants details, claim name, property description etc.

(2)(a)(ii),(ii)(b)(i),(ii) Falls away

(3)(a),(b) Falls away.

END

 

Reply:

No remedial actions have been taken at this stage. The Public Protector’s Report 44 of 2018/2019 relating to allegations of maladministration by the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and the former Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) involving the handling of an outbreak of brucellosis on the farm of Mrs Ronel Behrens (“the Report”) was found to contain serious irregularities and material errors of law and fact, which vitiated the investigation and remedial action which form the basis of the report.

The Report is under judicial review to be set aside with case number 82234/19. The required application documents were served on the Office of the Public Protector on 8 November 2019 and on the complainant (Mrs Behrens) on 19 November 2019.

In July 2021, the Office of the Public Protector requested a settlement with the newly formed Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and DARD in the matter. On 15 June 2022, the Office of the Public Protector agreed that the Report be set aside and the original complaint remitted back to the office of the Public Protector for an investigation de novo. The settlement is enrolled to be made an order of court in May 2023.

The Report is effectively set aside, and DALRRD has been advised to await the outcome of the review process before implementing any remedial actions, if necessary.

Reply:

1. Yes.

2. Yes. The contingency plan has been made available to provincial state veterinarians through the Provincial Directors.

3. The implementation of the plan differs across provinces and offices and is mainly influenced by the resources each office/province has allocated to veterinary services. The implementation of the contingency measures is also affected by the structure in the provinces where in some provinces the direct supervisors of animal health technicians have other priorities than disease control measures.

4. Yes, the process framework is already included in the general contingency plan.

(a) Chief Director: Animal Production and Health; Director: Animal Health; Provincial Directors concerned and State Veterinarian(s).

(b) Once an outbreak of national importance is notified and confirmed, the National Director: Animal Health and the Chief Director: Animal Production and Health, who is also the Chief Veterinary Officer, decide on appropriate control measure(s).

(c) In most cases, the advice given to farmers is:

• Only buy animals from confirmed healthy herds/flocks; avoid visiting and buying from auctions which have multiple unknown origin animals and therefore high risk;
• confine animals to avoid contact with other animals and possible infected material and improve biosecurity measures on the farm;
• avoid people/vehicles/equipment entering the farm as they may have been in contact with other animals or infectious material;
• for African Swine Fever: avoid feeding swill (leftovers or kitchen waste); if this is not possible ensure that the food is cooked thoroughly to inactivate the virus (the virus can remain infectious in meat for months); the added benefit is that you will be destroying other diseases with the cooking such as measles, Foot and Mouth Disease, Pseudorabies etc.

Reply:

(1)(a) Decisions to conduct the vaccination campaigns are based on:

• Where positive locations are well managed; fenced-in properties;
• Where there is no direct contact with animals on neighbouring farms, only the animals on the positive properties are vaccinated; and
• Where positive locations are communal areas, that are not separated by fences from other animals, then cattle in the surrounding area are also vaccinated (either based on natural geographic boundaries or large roads or based on shared grazing/water sources or set distances).

(b)(i) The vaccine used in all cases is Aftovaxpur.

(ii) More than 600 000 animals were vaccinated i.e. one dose per animal.

(c) On well-fenced properties, 100% of cattle are vaccinated. In communal areas, vaccination coverage is difficult to determine, but in most cases 80% coverage is reached.

2. Where animals are intended for slaughter, only one vaccination was done. Where animals are intended to be kept long term, a second vaccination was done. If cattle are in a permanent FMD Protection Zone with vaccination, they are vaccinated 3 times a year on a continuous basis.

3. South African Territories (SAT) FMD viruses, which cause the outbreaks in the region, are generally stable viruses. The vaccine does not necessarily need to be matched every time before animals are vaccinated.

(a)(b) The different virus strains contained in the Aftovaxpur vaccine are ones that have been shown to cause a wide spectrum of protection against most SAT viruses circulating in the region, so the vaccine matching is good.

Reply:

(1)(a) The current status of specified vaccines available is as follows:

VACCINES IN STOCK	AVAILABILITY (Y)/(N)	COMMENT
Anaplasmosis	Yes	N/A
Heartwater	Yes	N/A
Redwater Asiatic	Yes	N/A
Redwater African	Yes	N/A
Anthrax	Yes	N/A
Black Quarter	Yes	N/A
Pasteurella	Yes	N/A
Elephant Skin Disease	Yes	N/A
Tetanus	Yes	N/A
Bluetongue	Yes	Product available in stock but already invoiced to a client
African Horse Sickness	No	Product going into production on the week ending 17 March 2023 and available on the market the week ending 7 April 2023.
Lumpy Skin Disease	No	Product available end April 2023.
Pulpy Kidney Alum	No	Product available end April 2023
Brucella S19	No	Product available end May 2023.
Brucella Rev 1	No	Product available end May 2023.
Rift Valley Fever Live	Yes	Product available in stock – minimum quantities, in planned production
Rift Valley Fever Inactivated	Yes	Product available in stock more than 500 000doses
Botulism	No	Product available end April 2023.

(b)(i),(ii) List of vaccines in stock and not in stock. Please refer to the table below. Please refer to the table below.

 

(i) VACCINES IN STOCK	(ii) VACCINES NOT IN STOCK
Anaplasmosis	Bluetongue
Heartwater	African Horse Sickness
Redwater Asiatic	Lumpy Skin Disease
Redwater African	Pulpy Kidney Alum
Anthrax	Brucella S19
Black Quarter	Brucella Rev 1
Elephant Skin Disease	Rift Valley Fever Live
Tetanus	Rift Valley Fever Inactivated
	Botulism

1. Expected date on which vaccines currently not in stock would be available: Please refer to the table below.

Vaccine	Expected Date of Delivery to the Market
Bluetongue	Product awaiting Quality Control results due the week ending 10 March 2023. Product to be distributed to the market week ending the 24 March 2023.
African Horse Sickness	Product going into production on the week ending 17 March 2023 and available on the market the week ending 7 April 2023.
Lumpy Skin Disease	Product expected delivery date end April 2023.
Pulpy Kidney Alum	Product expected delivery date end April 2023.
Brucella S19	Product expected delivery date end May 2023.
Brucella Rev 1	Product expected delivery date end May 2023.
Rift Valley Fever Live	Product awaiting packaging and will be available to the market the week ending 17 March 2023.
Rift Valley Fever Inactivated	Product awaiting packaging and will be available to the market the week ending 17 March 2023.
Botulism	Product expected delivery date end April 2023.

All vaccines above are scheduled for production in March 2023 and April 2023, and to undergo quality testing in April 2023 and May 2023.

2. The other vaccines that may replace unavailable vaccines are imported products of companies from other countries. Bluetongue, African Horse Sickness and probably Rift Valley Fever, as far as we know are only produced at OBP. Vaccines such as Brucella S19 may be replaced with vaccines from companies such as MSD Animal Health which makes available a vaccine known as RB 51 which has the advantage that it can be given to animals older than 8 months. A vaccine such as S19 normally has a restricted age of between 4 and 8 months. S19 provides much longer protection. Botulism may be available from combination vaccines from similar pharmaceutical companies. All other vaccines may have alternative products.

3. The Department is supporting the Entity in its three-pronged long-term strategy to satisfactorily meet market vaccine demands. The four-pronged strategy as approved by the entity includes:

• Implementing a sustainable planned and preventative maintenance programme;
• Seven-year critical equipment recapitalisation plan;
• Finding an alternative manufacturing site for its vaccines;
• Completing the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facility project; and
• To augment the Entity’s strategy, the Department will also be looking at ways of supporting the entity in its renewable energy initiative as well as infrastructure recapitalisation programme.

Reply:

(a),(b) Public Protector recommended that the matter be referred to court. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development implemented Public Protector’s remedial actions by referring the matter to court under case number LCC15/2020.

 

END

Reply:

a) It has come to the Department’s observation that there is a significant amount of research that needs to be conducted to ensure that the ultimate legislation is modern and is not misleading. With limited capacity within the Department and dependency on the Animal Welfare working group, comprising of veterinarians from the national and provincial departments, this has led to delays in finalising the bill.

b) The Animal Welfare working group has drafted the first version of the Bill, which is now being studied carefully for the purpose of benchmarking the draft against international best practices and the latest research publications on animal welfare. With such investigations being necessary the Department is considering placing the project on tender especially because time has elapsed since the completion of the draft.

Reply:

Yes.

a) Details are as follows:

• 400 000 litres of insecticide have been procured for effective and efficient control of the locust outbreak;
• Locust control officers have been appointed in all locust outbreak areas to be on standby to control the locust outbreak if it occurs;
• Personal protective equipment has been procured for the control officers controlling the locust outbreak;
• Locust spray equipment has been procured; and
• The National Bid Adjudication Committee of Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has approved the appointment of a locust aerial spraying service provider to be on standby to complement the locust control officers on the ground and the contract is in the process of being signed with the service provider.

b) The locust officer’s contracts have been finalised. Locust officers are appointed in all locust outbreak areas.

Reply:

1. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development is not implementing any bulk water projects in the Northern Cape valued at R1.3 billion.

(a),(b),(c) Falls away.

(2)(a),(b) Falls away.

(3) Falls away.

(4)(a),(b),(c) Falls away.

Reply:

(1)(a),(b) Yes. Please refer to Annexure A. The list of approved laboratories and their capabilities (scope of tests) is published on the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development’s (DALRRD) website at: http://www.dalrrd.gov.za/Branches/Agricultural-Production-Health-Food-Safety/Animal-Health/Epidemiology/Approved-Laboratories

It should be noted that Government laboratory services is a provincial veterinary mandate. Provinces decide on the location and feasability of maintaining a laboratory as well as the procurement of equipment, reagents and the scope of diagnostic tests. Maintenance of a laboratory that is able to provide diagnostics of an acceptable standard is very expensive; therefore most provinces opt to have only one laboratory. The decision to not provide a service and become inactive is mostly a financial decision, although staff shortages can also play a significant role.

(2) No. DALRRD is not aware of any current backlog in any of the laboratories. SANAS accredited and DALRRD approved laboratories must have a Quality Management System, which also deals with laboratory turn-around time. An average turnaround time for test results at each laboratory is 5 working days but exceptions do exist when test methods may require a longer period to be completed. Examples of these are Tuberculosis and Johne’s disease diagnostics which require a turnaround time of weeks or even months.

(a),(b),(c) Falls away.

3. Yes, some laboratories outsource as not all have the same diagnostic testing scope. Clients are therefore encouraged to ensure that samples are sent to the correct laboratory to minimise the need for outsourcing which could impact on turnaround times and costs. Samples may only be outsourced to laboratories that are accredited and approved for the required diagnostics.

a) The number of samples that were outsourced is not available at national level as it is an agreement between laboratories.

b) Outsourcing will inevitably result in increased costs and longer turnaround times.

c) Currently, all samples sent to the Western Cape Provincial laboratory will be sent to other laboratories as the laboratory is currently being upgraded. Samples are outsourced if specialised diagnostics are required such as sequencing of samples to determine the virus makeup as only a few facilities offer such a specialized and costly service. Examples are Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever. As indicated in (a) above, information on which laboratories were used for outsourcing is not available at national level as it is an agreement between laboratories.

Annexure A to NA-QUES 221 of 2023

STATUS OF GOVERNMENT AND PARASTATAL LABORATORIES

No	Province	Laboratory	Laboratory type	(1)(a),(b) Currently operational and able to conduct clinical tests and not operational	SANAS accreditation
1	Western Cape	Department of Agriculture George State Veterinary Office	Government	Expired/Not active -
2	Western Cape	Department of Agriculture Swellendam State Veterinary Office	Government	Expired/Not active -
7	Eastern Cape	Grahamstown Veterinary Laboratory	Government	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending - Audit Date: 2019-09-18
8	Eastern Cape	Middelburg Provincial Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Expired/Not active -
9	Eastern Cape	Queenstown Veterinary Laboratory	Government	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending -	V0052
10	Free State	Bloemfontein Provincial Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Expired/Not active -
12	Free State	Kroonstad Veterinary Laboratory	Government	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending -	V0044
24	Gauteng	NICD Centre of Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases (CEZD)	Government	Expired/Not active -	M0029B
25	Gauteng	NICD Centre for Respiratory Disease and meningitis (CRDM)	Government	Expired/Not active -	Medical PCR
26	Gauteng	NICD Special Bacterial Pathogens Reference Laboratory (SBPRL)	Parastatal	Expired/Not active -	Medical Micro
27	Gauteng	OVI Meat and Bone Meal (MBM) Laboratory	Parastatal	Suspended -
29	Gauteng	ARC-OVI Transboundary Animal Diseases Programme (TADP)	Parastatal	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending - Audit Date: 2018-09-07	V0034
33	Gauteng	ARC-OVI Tuberculosis Laboratory	Parastatal	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending DAH-55 Audit Date: 2023-02-22
34	Gauteng	ARC-OVI Biotechnology PCR Laboratory	Parastatal	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending DAH-10 Audit Date: 2023-02-21	V0001
35	Gauteng	ARC-OVI Rabies Laboratory	Parastatal	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending DAH-02 Audit Date: 2019-04-03	V0003
36	Gauteng	ARC-OVR Virology Laboratory	Parastatal	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending DAH-46 Audit Date: 2022-09-12	V0001
39	Gauteng	ARC-OVI Bacteriology and Zoonotic Diseases Laboratory	Parastatal	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending DAH-01 Audit Date: 2023-02-15	V0003
40	Gauteng	ARC-OVI Epidemiology Parasites and Vectors Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory	Parastatal	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending DAH-30 Audit Date: 2023-02-14	V0017
45	Gauteng	ARC-OVI BSE Laboratory	Parastatal	Expired/Not active DAH-56 Audit Date: 2019-06-27	V0003
46	Gauteng	ARC-OVI Serology Laboratory	Parastatal	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending DAH-57 Audit Date: 2023-02-16	V0003
52	KwaZulu-Natal	DALRRD Vryheid Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Suspended -	no
54	KwaZulu-Natal	KZN DARD Allerton Provincial Veterinary Laboratory	Government	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending DAH-21 Audit Date: 2022-09-22	V0037
57	Limpopo	DALRRD Lephalale Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Expired/Not active -	no
58	Limpopo	DALRRD Makhado Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Expired/Not active -
59	Limpopo	DALRRD Mokopane Provincial Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Expired/Not active -	no
60	Limpopo	DALRRD Thulamela/Sibasa Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Expired/Not active -	no
61	Mpumalanga	DALRRD Ehlanzeni Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Suspended -	no
63	Mpumalanga	DALRRD Lydenburg Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Suspended -	no
64	Mpumalanga	Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land & Environmental Affairs Mpumalanga Provincial Veterinary Laboratory	Government	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending - Audit Date: 2023-01-30	V0041
66	Mpumalanga	DALRRD Skukuza Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Expired/Not active -	no
67	North West	Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Vryburg Veterinary Laboratory	Government	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending DAH-22 Audit Date: 2022-06-21	V0038
68	North West	Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Potchefstroom Provincial Veterinary Laboratory	Government	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approval pending DAH-14 Audit Date: 2022-11-02	V0018
70	Northern Cape	Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Land Reform & Rural Development (DAELR) Northern Cape Provincial Veterinary Laboratory	Government	SANAS Accredited, DAH Approved DAH-49 Audit Date: 2022-06-21	V0036
73	Western Cape	Western Cape Department of Agriculture Western Cape Provincial Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Voluntary suspension DAH-29 Audit Date: 2018-10-12	V0029
76	Western Cape	DALRRD Beaufort West Veterinary Laboratory	Government	Suspended -	no

Reply:

a) (i), (ii) and (b)

National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC)

Entity	a) (i) CEO Salary	(ii) Top Executive Salary	b) Total paid to attend a meeting
NAMC	R2 194 379.25	Chief Financial Officer: R1 687 429.74.	NAMC Council Members: daily rate for attendance of meetings: Chairperson: R5 387. Vice Chairperson: R4 578 All other council members: R4 005. The total amount paid to Council members from April 2022 to February 2023 is R1 237 920.49.
		Senior Manager Statutory Measurers: R1 413 190.84.
		Senior Manager Markets & Economics Research Centre: R1 413 190.84.
		Senior Manager Human Resources: R1 413 190.84.
		Senior Manager Agricultural Trusts: R1 413 190.84.
		Senior Manager Agribusiness Development: R1 413 190.84.
		Company Secretary and Legal services: R 922 500.
		Manager Risk Management and Compliance: R740 950.

Agricultural Research Council (ARC)

(a) (i), (ii) and (b)

Entity	a)(i) CEO Salary	(ii) Top Executive Salary	b) Total paid to attend a meeting
ARC	R3 229 856	Chief Financial Officer: R2 500 000.	R0
		Group Executive – Animal Sciences: R2 075 196.
		Group Executive – Crop Sciences: R2 075 196.
		Group Executive –Information Systems: R2 035 312.
		VACANCIES
		Group Executive Human Capital Management.	N/A
		Group Executive Impact & Partnership.	N/A

Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB)

(a) (i), (ii) and (b)

Entity	a) (i) CEO Salary	(ii) Top Executive Salary	b) Total paid to attend a meeting
PPECB	R 3 228 319.	Chief Financial Officer: R2 694 998.	R0
		Chief Operating Officer: R2 258 582.
		Chief Information Officer: R1 960 241.
		Human Resource Executive: R1 664 335.

Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB)

1. (i),(ii) and (b)

Entity	a)(i) CEO Salary	(ii) Top Executive Salary	b) Total paid to attend a meeting
ITB	R1 850 000.	Chief Financial Officer: R1 460 000 (seconded).	Board Members: Chairperson: R 654 per hour. Vice Chair Member: R556 per hour. Other members: R486 per hour.
		Head: Tenure: R 1 350 000.
		Head: Corporate Support Services: R990 000.

Note: Part (b) Total amount paid to attend meetings. Executive members of management i.e. CEO and other top management do not get paid specifically to attend meetings but receive a salary as detailed above.

If the meeting is out of office, subsistence and travel (S&T) will be paid in line with the entity’s S&T policy. Board members, however, get paid per hour of work done within the entity i.e. for each meeting they would receive payment for preparation time and actual meeting attended, including S&T, the board member’s rates per hour have been included above. Annual board members’ remuneration for past the two years has been included below based on audited financial results. Board members’ rates have not changed in the past three years.

Name of Board Member	Role	2021	2022
Mr SJ Ngwenya	Chairperson	R1 817 000	R1 634 000
DR NZ Qunta	Vice Chairperson	R207 000	R362 000
Inkosi PR Bele	Member	R493 000	R245 000
Inkosi ZT Gumede	Member	R369 000	R236 000
Inkosi SE Shabalala	Member	R293 000	R279 000
Inkosi WT Mavundla	Member	R687 000	R268 000
Adv W.E.R Raubenheimer	Member	R185 000	R0

Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP)

a) (i),(ii) and (b)

Entity	a (i) CEO Salary	(ii) Top Executive Salary	b) Total paid to attend a meeting
OBP	R2 118 000.00 (Interim) Total cost to company per annum.	Company Secretary & Head of Legal: R1 287 401.95.	R0
		Chief Operating Officer: R1 446 525.62.
		Chief Financial Officer: R1 968 136.29.
		Sales and Business Development Executive: R1 482 544.01.
		Chief Scientific Officer: R1 446 525.62.
		Corporate Services Executive (Vacant).

Valuer General (VG)

b (i),(ii) and (b)

Entity	(i) CEO Salary	(ii) Top Executive Salary	b) Total paid to attend a meeting
VG	R2 068 458	Chief Financial Officer: R1 590 747.	R0

Reply:

(1)(a),(b),(c),(d) Please refer to Annexure A.

(2)(a) Only three Colleges made donations during the 2021/22 financial and to date as follows:

• Fort Cox donated one (1) heifer to the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and no cattle were donated in the current financial year;
• Tsolo donated three (3) cattle in the 2021-22 financial year. The donation was for catering in the graduation of the college’s students to minimise the catering costs that would have been incurred by appointing a service provider; and
• Cedara - One cow was donated to students for Heritage Day function

The rest of the Colleges did not donate any cattle during the 2021/22.

(b)(i) No donations during first quarter of the current financial year.

(b)(ii),(iii) Falls away.

3. No.

ANNEXURE A OF NA-QUES 409 OF 2023

Province	Name of College	Question (1)(a),(b),(c),(d)
		(a) cattle disposed off by auction and/or donation	(b) how it decided that cattle will be donated to an individual or institution rather than being auctioned	(c) how a person is selected for such a donation	(d) requirements to qualify for such a donation
Eastern Cape	Fort Cox	Unproductive stocks (stock that out of production) and surplus are disposed of through a public auction	Requests for donations are received by management and forwarded to the council for approval	There has not been a person who requested a donation from the Institute	The Institute has not recieved any request for donation from any person. Request for donation of livestock from Institutions are received by management, assessed and recommendations are forwarded to the Council for approval
	Tsolo	When the cattle do not meet the norms and set standards e.g. challenges with breeding, production genetics or there is an overpopulation leading to over grazing because of new additional cattle, the animals are culled	The primary disposal method is an auction but when there is a request for a donation and there is culled stock due for disposal, that donation is considered	There is no selection done, its as per the request	The donation should be proved to have a contribution to service delivery or minimising of any additional costs that might be incurred without the donation
KwaZulu Natal	Cedara & Owen Sitole	The KZN Agricultural Colleges only keep cattle for the purposes of teaching, however by the nature of cattle and due to the teaching practices being undertaken in the colleges, normal commercial cattle farming activities still form a vital part of the management of the herd. Moreover, cattle reproduction systems form an integral part of the students’ syllabus as much so does cattle nutrition, field management, markets as well as animal selection, genetics and ultimately reduction strategies in line with the markets and disposals. The Department of Agriculture & Rural Development has the management of livestock under qualified Animal Health Technicians, Livestock Scientists or Agricultural Lecturers, who are all professionals in their fields.	The Head of Department receives ad hoc requests for the donation of cattle from members of the public or social or religious organisations or other departments who requests the assistance of the Department in the form of a donation of cattle. As the Department does not donate cattle from the breeding stock but draws from those cattle already identified for disposal, the availability of surplus or disposal cattle will need to be ascertained prior to donation decisions being considered. Once availablity of cattle is ascertained, the Head of Department then assesses whether, by donating the cattle, the department would be demonstrating gratitude, displaying sympathy or enhancing professional and ethical business relationship with the organisation, department or individual through the donation. This assessment would guide his decision whether to donate the cattle or not	The person is not selected for such a donation, but rather ad hoc applications are made and motivated to the Head of Department from time to time for the donation of cattle. These type of applications are usually associated with some major religious, social, political or departmental event.	There would have to be some religious, social, political or departmental event that the cattle would be needed for in order for an application for donation to be considered. The Head of Department would not consider members of the public merely writing to request the donation of cattle as they would like to start farming. In this instants this would not constitute a reason for a donation but the individual may be referred to the district management in terms of applying for agricultural support through the departments service delivery mandated programmes.
North West	Potchefstroom & Taung	Culled animals are disposed by auctioning to the emerging farmers.	The process is performed by the committee appointed by the HOD	The colleges do not donate any cattle	Competitive bidding is utilised for disposing culled animals
		Culled animals are disposed by auctioning to the emerging farmers.	The process is performed by the committee appointed by the HOD	The colleges do not donate any cattle	Competitive bidding is utilised for disposing culled animals

Reply:

Yes. The majority of fresh produce markets are still competencies of municipalities. There are three categories of such markets and are outlined as follows:

Markets are operational and municipality owned:

No.	Fresh Produce Market	Municipality
1	Tshwane	City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
2	Sol Plaatjie	Sol Plaatjie Local Municipality
3	Gqeberha	Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality
4	East London	Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
5	Durban	EThekwini Metropolitan Municipality
6	Mangaung	Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality
7	Pietermaritzburg	Msunduzi Local Municipality
8	Matjhabeng	Matjhabeng Local Municipality
9	Matlosana	Matlosana Local Municipality
10	Springs	City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
11	Vereeniging	Emfuleni Local Municipality
12	eMalahleni	eMalahleni Local Municipality

 

Markets that are corporatised municipal entities:

No.	Fresh Produce Market	Municipality
1	Johannesburg	City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality
2	Kei	King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality

One market that is municipally owned but privately operated

No.	Fresh Produce Market	Municipality
1	Cape Town	City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality

Reply:

(a),(b) Please refer to the table below

Province	Name of College	Question (a),(b)
		(a) number of cattle culled during last quarter of 2022	(b) reasons for culling in each college
Eastern Cape	Grootfontein	26	Surplus
	Fort Cox	1	Severe injuries from car accident.
	Tsolo	0	Falls away.
Free State	Glen	0	Falls away.
KwaZulu Natal	Cedara	0	Falls away.
	Owen Sithole	55	poor production; infertility; old age; and inbreeding.
Limpopo	Madzivhandila	0	Falls away.
	Tompi Seleka	0	Falls away.
North West	Potchefstroom	22	old age; unproductive; and not needed for breeding purposes.
	Taung
Western Cape	Elsenburg	0	Falls away.

Reply:

(1)(a),(i) Please refer to table 1 below for colleges that keep minimal number of cattle for teaching purposes.

It should be noted that the Glen, Elsenburg and Madzivhandila Colleges do not keep any cattle for training purpose, the students have access to departmental cattle for teaching purposes which are mostly housed within the reserach unit of the department.

Table 1

Question (1)(a),(i)
Name of College	Number of Cattle
Grootfontein	150 cattle
Fort Cox	95 beef cattle and 30 dairy cows
Tsolo	100 beef cattle (Nguni) and 10 dairy cows
Cedara	50 breeding cows, 2 bulls and 10 replacement heifers
Owen Sitole	15 cattle (55 auctioned on 8th March 2023)
Tompi Seleka	38 Dairy cattle and 37 Beef cattle
Taung	15 cattle
Potchefstroom	90 cattle of which 34 are for dairy

(ii),(aa),(bb) None.

(b) Falls away.

(2)(a)(b) Falls away.

(3) No.

Reply:

No. Funding is allocated as indicated in the reply to question 1393. The Agricultural Products Standards Bill, currently in the parliamentary process, seeks to regulate organic farming in that anyone who makes ‘organic farming claims’, should have in place an auditable management control system. The same applies to “free-range” and similar claims. Once the Bill is passed into law, regulations will be developed to govern/guide requirements for organic farming.

Reply:

(1)(a) Since the settlement of the claim, there have been serious internal conflicts that resulted in the instability within the CPA. This has led to non-compliance with the Communal Property Associations Act,1996 (Act No. 28 of 1996) and non-adherence to the Constitution of the Koegas CPA. A mediator was appointed through the Land Rights Management Facility to regularise the CPA, but the mediation efforts failed as members did not support the process. Reconciling parties to the dispute remains a challenge.

b) Due to unending conflicts, infighting, and non-compliance with both the CPA Act and the Constitution of the CPA, the Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has decided to place the CPA under judicial administration in terms of section 13 of the CPA Act. The matter is being processed by the Kimberley Office of State Attorney in the Northern Cape, and the legal process will unfold in due course.

(2) No. Not all disputes have been resolved. The details are as follows:

• Verification will be finalized by the Judicial Administrator as the main dispute in the CPA relates to the membership list.
• The claim has been settled but not finalized.
• The outstanding matter relating to the release of development grants (section 42C grants) which will only be released once the determination of who are the beneficiaries has been resolved as required by the court order on this matter.

Reply:

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has been actively involved in ensuring that the Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) supplies the need of the farmer. Relating to the backlog, the DALRRD has been assisting the OBP to liaise with the private sector partnership to alleviate the backlog and finding sustainable solution.

The capacity of the Agricultural Research Council to produce sufficient quantities of Foot and Mouth Disease and other vaccines is being improved.

Reply:

a) The Land was bought in 1978 by Government prior to the democratic dispensation. The Department, under the current democratic dispensation did not pay any money for the acquisition of the land; a deed of donation was used to donate the land.

b) A detailed breakdown of the amount paid by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) to support the CPA towards input and infrastructure costs since the start of the CPA to date are:

• 2001: R11 584 000.00;
• May 2011: R5 895 846.00;
• October 2011: R354 706.62; and
• November 2011: R2 301 748.59.

(c) (i) Size of the farm is 25 700 hectares.

(ii) Citrus and Livestock production.

(iii) Currently, there is no production on the farm.

(iv) Challenges faced by the CPA are conflicts amongst members.

Reply:

(a),(b),(c),(d) (i) Minister : No vehicles were purchased since 1 June 2019,

(ii) There has only been one Minister since 1 June 2019.

(iii) Deputy Minister Skwatsha: None.

Deputy Minister Capa: None

(iv) Deputy Minister Dlamini: None.

Reply:

(1) No funding is provided to private companies as the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development does not do work with private companies with regards to provision of technical support to emerging farmers. However, the following Commodity Organisations are being used to provide technical support to emerging farmers:

- National Emergent Red Meat Producers Organisation (NERPO)
- South African Grain Farmers Association (SAGRA)
- Grain SA - South African Poultry Association (SAPA)
- South African Pork Producers’ Organisation
- Deciduous Fruit Development Chamber (DFDC)
- Citrus Growers Association (CGA)
- South African Farmers Development Association (SAFDA)
- South African Wine Industry Transformation Unit (SAWITU)

(2) (a), (b) and (c) Falls away.

Reply:

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has acknowledged the need to increase employment in agriculture. In general, growth in agriculture is two to three times more effective at reducing poverty than an equivalent amount of growth generated outside agriculture.

As the President stated in his 2022 State of the Nation Address (SONA) speech, the agricultural sector has significant potential for job creation in crops such as citrus, table and dried grapes, subtropical fruit, avocadoes, berries and nuts. Masterplans in the Agriculture and Agro-processing Sector; Cannabis; Sugar and Poultry Industries are contributing significantly to increased investment, improved production and transformation.

The Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP) forms part of Government’s strategy to revitalise key sectors or our economy stimulate growth and job creation. The AAMP seeks to create 71 000 new jobs, impacting 6 500 small business and an estimated 300 000 livelihoods; further shifting black business participation in the sector from an average of 4% to 19% of market participation by 2030.

The Cannabis Master Plan prescribes a comprehensive plan of action which seeks to fully industrialise the Cannabis sector towards increase economic growth, creation of jobs and for poverty alleviation. The potential size of the Cannabis industry is estimated at approximately R 28 billion with the potential to create up to 25 000 jobs across its value chain.

The Sugar Master Plan was announced in the SONA in June 2019 and developed to guide the future growth of the sector; address a number of serious challenges faced by the sugar industry; stabilize the industry and also to ensure its long-term sustainability. Since the signing of the Master Plan, some progress has been made including the support to small-scale growers (SSGs) and industry transformation interventions. The MAFISA Loan scheme disbursed R4,032,217 to 96 farmers comprising of 1,153 beneficiaries in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal to support farming in the 2022/3 season. There is also additional support which is directly offered by the Department through the implementing agents in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. Before the intervention of the DALRRD, Mpumalanga had 673 seasonal jobs. With the DALRRD intervention, the number of new 2 jobs were increased to 1 260 seasonal jobs in Mpumalanga. In KwaZulu-Natal, 52 955 jobs have been stabilised.

In 2021, the Department completed the Poultry Master Plan which was aimed at supporting chicken farmers and processors with better production techniques and training is provided to the farmers. Through the implementation of the Poultry Master Plan, the industry has invested R800 million to upgrade production. South Africa now produces an additional one million chickens every week. A total of 1888 new jobs were created in the poultry industry to date and it is envisaged that 2600 new jobs will be created by the end of 2024

Reply:

Yes. The Office of the Special Master had consulted with the Minister and Director General of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) (DG) and obtained concurrence from Executive Management. The Court granted the Office of the Special Master permission to fill the two additional posts, but the filling of the posts is subject to the job evaluation process.

A job description was developed for the post by benchmarking against similar posts with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME). The benchmark job evaluation process for the post of Master Data Specialist was conducted for similar posts in the defunct departments (DAFF and DRDLR) and within the DPME and the job evaluation (JE) results for both posts were salary level (SL) 13 that were approved by the Minister on 11 May 2021. However, the processes for the development of the job descriptions and the JE benchmarking took longer than anticipated and the Special Master requested that filling the position not be continued. The Special Master was seeking alternative solutions in reconfiguring the roles and the budget repurposing to rather appoint graduates intended for the research roles, and this was envisaged that post-doctoral and or post-graduate degree holders in the Humanities field will be appointed as field research leaders while the auxiliary staff will be first and honours degree holders in Geography / Survey / Agriculture/ History/ Business Administration / Economics, etc. These disciplines bear direct relevance to using innovative technological tools to build evidence and embed sustainable livelihoods in land claims resolutions. The field research leaders will be expected to participate in delivering capacity development and training workshops with the Special Master and his core staff to develop the capabilities of existing departmental staff working on labour tenant claims resolution. The Special Master was advised to seek approval from the Minister to reconfigure the roles, instead of the two approved positions, namely 1 X Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist and 1 X Master Data Specialist.

To institutionalise the Office of the Special Master within DALRRRD, special focus will be given in the Fit-for-Purpose Project to restructure and repurpose current posts to support the Office of the Special Master as follows:

• Permanent establishment of a national unit with a provincial footprint (provincial and district level) that will address the labour tenant functions;

• Mapping of business process for labour tenants;
• Development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs); and
• Determine capacity requirements and create post establishments to address the need.

DALRRD is therefore, in the process to fill the following positions allocated to the Office of the Special Master:

• 1 x Systems and Operations Manager post filled.
• 1 x Programme Administrator and Office Manager post filled.
• 1 x Corporate Affairs and Stakeholder Manager post filled.
• 1 x Office Assistant post filled.
• 1 x National Programme Manager post. Post advertised and the closing date for the advertisement was 20221014. Filling of the post is anticipated by 28 February 2023.
• 1 x Programme Coordinator. Seconded from the DALRRD.
• 1 x Senior Administrative Officer post. Filling of the post through the Recruitment and Selection or Transfer Processes and filling of the post is anticipated by 28 February 2023.
• 1 x Messenger post. Filling of the post through the Recruitment and Selection or Transfer Processes and filling of the post is anticipated by 28 February 2023.

Reply:

(1)(a),(i) Information received from five of the Millers (Umfolozi, Malelane, Sezela, Eston and Noodsberg) indicates that the Small-Scale Growers (SSGs) deliveries against expected delivery estimates are behind the mill percentage as at the end of October 2022. Out of the five Millers, two Milling areas (Umfolozi and Malelane) have indicated that SSGs will catch-up with deliveries by the end of the season. The remaining Millers which are Sezela, Eston and Noodsberg plus Felixton, have indicated that SSGs will not deliver full season sugarcane estimates and will carryover cane into 2023/2024. Commercial growers are on track and will deliver the estimated tonnage.

(ii) The harvesting cycle of sugar cane in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) ranges from 12 to 24 months and the main affected areas are on the 16-month cycle. It should be noted that off farm infrastructure (i.e. local roads, access roads, bridges etc) and on farm infrastructure which broadly inhibits optimal operations, will take some time to repair. The latter is further dependent on the availability of resources that its anticipated to be reprioritised based on the disaster declaration process.

(b)(i) The April 2022 report issued by the SA Canegrowers, indicates that 308 producers across five regions in KZN have been affected. The report does not indicate ceasing of operation but indicated the inability to deliver to the market due to extensive on and off farm infrastructure damage. The report further indicates that 2516.65 hectors have experienced severe root damage and thus necessitates replating of the hectors. The estimated damage for infield is R 194, 9 million while the on-farm infrastructure is R 27, 9 million.

(ii) The KZN provincial Department of Agriculture is part of the response teams that are engaged in the assessment process and further ensuring that a speedy provision of support is in place and operation. It is however noted that a ratoon programme(replanting) with an estimated amount of R 7, 5 million has been secured to assist the small-scale sugar growers in the rural parts of the province.

(2)(a) The South African Farmers Development Association (SAFDA) report of April 2022 indicates that heavy rains in the province had devastating impact on several farmers who lost both cash crops and in the main livestock and the support infrastructure. A total of 5178.53 hectors of crops were damaged costing farmers a total of R 236 979 436. Livestock farmers were faced with a loss totalling R 61 686 150.

(b) The main income generating activities are supported through the ratoon programme while activities in terms of crops and livestock, will benefit through the provincial reprioritisation of allocated funds to ensure that the food security element for affected households is maintained. The latter stems from the fact that a disaster has been declared and thus allows for the reprioritisation of interventions or reassignment of funds to be implemented.

Reply:

(a)(b)(i),(ii) The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) is not in a position to indicate the extent of communal land currently not surveyed in the Republic and in each nine provinces. However, DALRRD will investigate the extent of properties falling under communal land that are still to be surveyed in the Republic and the report will be provided.