Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers, hon MECs, hon members, traditional leaders, representatives of organised agriculture and the private sector, ladies and gentlemen, we have here some very important guests that I need to acknowledge. The first are a group of young people who are part of the 8 000-strong National Rural Youth Service Corps. They are here as our guests. [Applause.] We also have a 95-year-old man, Oom Veertjie, from Witzenberg. We met this old man when we visited Prince Albert Hamlet in Witzenberg. [Applause.] I won't go through the story, hon Chair. The story is written briefly in a paragraph reflecting how we met him, what the conditions were and what has happened since we met him. You can see now that he is lively and happy. He is an old man who lives with his daughter and son-in-law, who only visit him during the weekends. I can see that he is lively.
Hon Chair, we have just come out of local government elections which emphasise the importance of service delivery. As a department, we think that because we are, or should be, very close to the poorest of the poor who voted; we should recognise that.
Secondly, we want to emphasise once more that in regard to land reform the three fundamentals remain: deracialisation of the rural economy; democratic and equitable allocation and use of land across gender, race and class; and sustained production discipline for food security for all.
Insofar as rural development is concerned, we continue with the three indicators, being to meet basic human needs; enterprise development in rural areas; and small-scale industries sustained or underpinned by markets and credit facilities.
We would like to refer very briefly to the progress we have made to date. It is very important for us to do that because some of the decisions we have taken and actions we have embarked upon have had a bearing on the budget.
Hon Chairperson, we have reorganised and rationalised the "back office", including rationalising the Commission on Land Restitution. We have done that because we wanted to ensure that we sharpen our performance and, therefore, service delivery to people.
It is important for us to recognise that part of the challenge with restitution has been the parallelism that we find between the commission and the department. We needed to rationalise and streamline that relationship to ensure that there is effective service delivery and accountability. The effect of this rationalisation is therefore that the accounting officer continues to be the accounting officer in the full sense of the word, whilst the Chief Land Claims Commissioner is the responsible official.
With regard to service delivery, we have looked at our credibility and recognised that over the years there have been challenges with land reform, particularly land that has been redistributed to people and is lying fallow. We are on record as having said that approximately 10% of that land is productive.
We have mentioned before and we now report that the Recapitalisation and Development Programme is on course. It's working very well. As a result, we can confidently say that because we have a strategy now, there are partnerships with commercial farmers who are willing to get on board with us. Secondly, we have the Recapitalisation and Development Fund. We think that the programme is working pretty well, but we still have to improve on it.
We also have a mandate over revitalisation of small rural towns. In the policy speech we present two particularly important examples in this regard. We present Prince Albert Hamlet, which I referred to earlier on and from where Oom Veertjie comes, and Dysselsdorp. Dysselsdorp is a good example of what could be defined as an emergent, vibrant, equitable and sustainable community, whilst Witzenberg is a very good example of what could be achieved by young people, given the opportunity, support and back- up.
We present a special programme with the young people sitting up there, the National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec, which has enlisted 7 958 youngsters between the ages of 18 and 35 since 1 September last year. The 50-50 principle applies. Also, every fourth person should be a person with disability. We are indebted to Disabled People South Africa for support in this regard in ensuring that we get more and more young people enrolled in the programme. Possibly some hon members might have observed this when watching AgriTV in the morning. This is a programme in which youngsters are on a stipend. They go through training and a programme, and this programme is not at all linked to any political organisation. It is purely meant to develop the character of young people to take responsibility among young people in society and build skills so that over a period of internship they can become para- professionals. Some of them might even become full-blown professionals.
Through the pilot programme, 500 of the youngsters have already gone through non-military army training for two months. Because we have people with disability, we have, with one Mrs Sibisi from KwaZulu-Natal, piloted the training of young people in craft. We are convinced that if we can contract her to train these young people with disability, who cannot go to the army, they can become entrepreneurs in their own right and create and establish their own craft enterprises and related commercial ventures.
We are participating in disaster management to a small extent and are particularly focusing on emergency housing, using steel and sandbag technology. This we have done in various small communities and we have listed some of them there, and also some accessories, particularly using the green economy.
Access to water remains a huge challenge, because even one of the many big programmes that we are running, at Muyexe, is always dented by this lack of access to clean water, much as we have provided. We have revived existing boreholes and drilled eight new ones. There is water, but the quality of the water is poor. So, water remains a problem. We are happy to report here that our sister department in Limpopo has started a pipeline from Nandoni Dam to Muyexe. We hope that once that is completed, it will make a difference.
Hon Chair, we are also facing some fraudulent activities in the Deeds Office in Pretoria and in some land reform programmes in certain provinces. In order to deal with these, we successfully persuaded the President to authorise the appointment of the Special Investigating Unit to follow up on them. This process has started and a couple of officials have been arrested and charged. [Applause.] Hon Chair, the details of some of these are there in the report. But with regard to the one that I have just mentioned, there are no details there because of its sensitive nature. We will provide reports to the House on an ongoing basis.
We have also started a process of social contracting with stakeholders. We have been meeting with them and since November we have had a number of consultative workshops where we have discussed policy, strategy, legislation and operations of the department.
We have also heard from farmers themselves, how they are experiencing this work that we are doing. On that we have had very important feedback. Commercial farmers are of the view that we should appoint strategic partners, particularly mentors. Most of the time we appoint farmers who have failed in their own ventures. The point of view of the beneficiaries is that the selection of beneficiaries has been flawed. People who are neither interested nor have the ability and passion to farm are selected. So, both groups have requested that they be part of the selection processes and we have agreed, because we think that these criticisms are valid. We are establishing a national reference group which will work out the modalities with us.
Moving forward quickly, hon Chair, with regard to priorities we have to fill vacant posts. You will notice in the policy speech in the report that we say that the department has underspent by 2,3% which is R171 million, mainly because we have rationalised the staff, as you will find in the Treasury report. We have inherited more than 4 000 warm bodies. Probably about 50% of those are relevant to the mandate of the department. We are trying to restructure and reorganise the department. So, we are looking for horses for courses. We couldn't employ more people, even though we had applied for funds to fill vacant posts. We needed to restructure and then move on. We are hoping that this year this problem will be something of the past.
Outcome 7 in our department is for building "vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities". We are on course with that. It has five outputs and one of them is food security. We are working very hard on ensuring that we are relevant. We don't have a one-size-fits-all approach to development in rural areas. Therefore, we will continue with household and community profiling. The cutting edge of that will particularly be the National Rural Youth Service Corps - the youngsters there - who will be doing that. We are intending to reach out to 50% of rural communities, of the 108 rural wards, over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period.
With regard to the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, we have developed a draft Norms and Standards Schedule and have started consulting with some departments, particularly the National Planning Commission, looking at how we can agree on norms and standards with regard to the development programme. We know that infrastructure backlogs are endemic in the countryside, but we don't have a cost estimate and the extent to which there are backlogs. That is why we want to have norms and standards, as well as cost estimates put in place so that we can begin to plan and prioritise properly.
We have some big projects that we are embarking upon. There are the Nelson Mandela Legacy Bridge and other infrastructure projects. That bridge is going to start at the end of July. We have done all the technical and engineering work and are waiting for the Eastern Cape province to give us a record of decision. We are ready to start at any time now, but we have scheduled the end of July with the engineers. It will cost R100 million and at peak it is going to employ 300 people over a period of 24 months. We also have similar low-water bridges that we shall build in a number of provinces - two in Mpumalanga, two in Limpopo and one in the Eastern Cape. In fact, that is an addition to this one, which leads to the bridge over the Mbhashe River.
With regard to food security our stakeholders have agreed that all land reform farms should be 100% productive. We have put aside R3,3 billion for land reform, R2 billion of which will go to strategic acquisition of land and the rest will ensure that farms are farmable and are productive.
We have R2 billion for restitution, which is a very small amount of money, given the challenges that we are facing in this regard. We will engage with all stakeholders, including commercial farmers, rather landowners - current landowners - and beneficiaries, to try to find the solution.
We have good examples here, such as the Mondi memorandum of understanding, MoU, and we are meeting Sappi soon to discuss their own situation in terms of our model. We met with Sugar SA in KwaZulu-Natal. All of this really shows you that South Africans are ready to make their own contribution across the colour line in terms of ensuring that we solve these problems which are apparently intractable.
We are going through other things which I am not going to mention here, which are normal agri-paths that we have been talking about.
Regarding rural roads and infrastructure, they are why we have young people here. We want these young people to construct the roads. That is why they go through training with the army. The army has the technical skills and know-how to train them. Together with the army, we have committed ourselves to taking back the first 500 who went through two months' training to go through a further four and half months' training in construction and artisanal skills - plumbing, welding and so on. That is so that we can then put them in the field and they can work under supervision for the remaining 18 months of their contract with us. We are hoping that we will soon have this group released and working in the field.
We actually do participate in disaster management, particularly in rural areas, focusing on steel and sandbag technology in emergency houses. This is something which is very small, but it helps us to develop the techniques to help our people when they are hit and are vulnerable to national disasters like lightning.
We will go on and deal with improvement of our professional capacity and support to the department and Deeds Office in ensuring that we further curb corruption and fraud. Of course, the implementation of the e-Cadastre is to ensure that we have proper information with regard to land parcels that we own, including auditing state land over the next three years. We are hoping that by 2014 we will complete that so that we can have a register of state- owned land and privately owned land in the country.
The Green Paper is on course. We submitted it to Cabinet and Cabinet advised correctly that we should separate rural development from land reform. Land reform is very sensitive and it could take us a little bit of time to get to a point where we all agree. The key elements of what was presented to Cabinet, the Green Paper, which we also indicated in the House, both in the 2009-10 and in the 2010-11 financial years, remain.
With regard to the three-tier land tenure system that we are proposing - the Land Management Commission, the Valuer-General's office and the Land Tenure Security Bill - it is piloting agri-villages. We have been discussing this matter and I am happy that we are moving forward with it and we will come back to Cabinet very soon with the two Green Papers - one on rural development and the other one on rural reform. We are finalising those now.
Of course, we are also working on the Land Protection Bill, which will come up with specifics with regard to precarious tenure in so far as it affects foreigners owning land in the country. There are other Bills that are in the offing, such as the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill, which is a programme that is being pushed by ourselves and other departments, including the National Planning Commission.
We wish to thank the President and Deputy President for their guidance and support - as you are well aware, land is a very emotive and sensitive issue. It is only through the kind of support that we are receiving from them that we can keep on going relentlessly towards achieving the mandate given this government by the majority of South Africans.
The department's tactical thrust remains one of implementing the CRDP in a manner which will make the country realise its vision of vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon Members of Parliament, officials from the department, guests, ladies and gentlemen, I stand here to say that as the ANC we support the Budget Vote.
The land question was at the core of our liberation struggle. It is therefore fitting that our land and agrarian policy be designed in a manner that alters the racially based patterns of distribution of land holdings inherited from the colonial and apartheid governments. Moreover, there is a need to go beyond deracialisation of land holding to addressing the structural problems around poverty and inequality.
One of the questions that we need to explore as we intensify the land reform programme, as promised in the ANC manifesto, is the kind of land reform to follow. Should the land reform involve the break-up of some of the large-scale commercial farms into smaller production units allocated to large numbers of rural poor, with the agrarian restructuring conceived as a key measure of poverty reduction? Is a mixed agrarian structure a possibility?
The past 16 years of the implementation of the land reform programme provide us with useful lessons for the future design of processes of agrarian change. To date we have observed that land reform has retained the large-scale commercial farming sector. It has begun to deracialise ownership as a contribution to national reconciliation.
We have observed both the strengths and the weaknesses in land reform. An intervention by the department was to design the Recapitalisation and Redevelopment Programme, where 25% of every Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, allocation has been set aside for development and recapitalisation of projects. In this way, government aims to assist land reform beneficiaries to bring most of the unproductive farms into full production, guarantee food security, create jobs in the agricultural sector, and enable the graduation of some farmers into the commercial mode of production.
On the recapitalisation and redevelopment of land reform projects one needs to be careful about not using the notions of viability and productivity to obstruct the goals of restructuring of the agrarian structure. I emphasise the restructuring of the agrarian structure from the view of the 52nd ANC National Conference resolutions, specifically a clause that reads thus, and I quote:
(To) embark on an integrated programme of rural development, land reform and agrarian change ... Agrarian change with a view to supporting subsistence food production, expanding the role and productivity of modern small-holder farming and maintaining a vibrant and competitive agricultural sector.
Sometimes the debates about viability and productivity are located within the new liberal conceptualisation of land reform that emphasises business profitability rather than other significances of land - source of livelihood for the rural poor and a symbol of dignity. What is required is policy coherence on the vision of land and agrarian reform. The programme of land reform and rural development should be embedded within a wider agrarian reform and as government reviews and develops policies on these aspects, critical choices have to be made.
An exclusive focus on efficiency of production on redistributed farms, and a focus on market forces as the driver of wealth creation, can at times be one of the shortcomings. While those issues are relevant, questions regarding the creation of multiple sources of livelihood for beneficiaries, especially the poor and marginal groups, are also vital. At least a livelihood dimension allows us to transcend the narrow focus on farming and agriculture, and also to see how we can deal with the structural origins of poverty. The programme of agrarian reform should consider its impact on household food security and vulnerability.
The New Growth Path, championed by the Department of Economic Development, highlights the significance of agriculture in the growth of society's productive capacity. The challenge, however, is how to achieve the social efficiency of agricultural growth.
Let us think for a moment about poverty and rural development. Some analysts think of agriculture, small farms, and the nonfarm rural economy as being concerned with livelihoods. On the other hand, rural development is widely concerned with health, education, participation and social protection. It can be argued that it is not an either/or kind of situation. A comprehensive approach is vitally important.
The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, as outlined in the strategic plan, seeks to help rural dwellers with household basic needs of food; job creation; investment in infrastructure such as transport; communication; education; and also developing enterprise growth. It also speaks to the revitalisation of small towns and supporting industrial clusters.
Having established the Social, Technical, Rural Livelihoods and Institutional Facilitation, Strif, Branch in the department, one hopes that the sustainable livelihoods perspectives in rural development that focus on the various assets rural people access, structures and processes which mediate how these assets are transformed into income and other desired outcomes, that is, improved social and economic infrastructure, will be given priority consideration. Considerable funding for these projects is required from within the department, as well as other government departments, which will be co-ordinated.
The focus of the department is agrarian transformation which includes rural and agricultural development that lays a solid foundation for food security, food sovereignty, and economic development.
Let me turn to some of the priority programmes of the department. The first is the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP. The ANC Manifesto spelt out a requirement for, and I quote:
an equitable, sustainable ... growth path that brings decent work and sustainable livelihoods; education; health; safe and secure communities; and rural development;
targeted programmes for the youth, women, workers, rural masses, and people with disabilities;
In view of the above and related pronouncements, the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, in his state of the nation address said "rural development, food security and land reform" are one of the top five priorities of government.
The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, encompasses programmes that ensure links between land and agrarian reform programmes and water allocation. The examples of Muyexe in Limpopo and Riemvasmaak in the Northern Cape provide vivid illustrations of interventions to improve rural lives and provide a better life for all.
However, the challenge is enormous. According to Statistics SA, Chairperson, 68% of the total of 4 227 national wards, in other words, 2 920, have rural characteristics, and that 68% has a total population of over 25,7 million people. These are the people that the programme of government still needs to reach, and government is on track to do just that, but more resources, both financial and human, will be required from the national level for the local levels of government.
It is encouraging to witness a renewed interest in the development of skills among the youth through the National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec. The programme and infrastructure development projects are reported to be the key instruments for job creation in rural areas, especially for the youth. Already, experience from the pilot projects has shown huge success in job creation. However, there is still room for improvement, and we are proud of it.
In line with the provisions of the Constitution, we have made commitments to "get the land back to the people". The project of restitution is underpinned by two central themes, namely redress to victims of land dispossession and trauma caused by dispossession, where some 3,5 million people and their dependants were forcefully removed from their land and the policies of the day sought to maintain white supremacy in South Africa, and the commitment to restorative justice through the return of land to the victims of dispossession, or a comparative redress.
In this respect, there has been a call for a faster pace of resolving land claims, while on the other hand, many of those who now own the land have derailed the process through court processes, escalation of land prices, lengthy negotiation processes and just blatant lack of commitment to the process of national reconciliation through transformation of land holding patterns and property relations.
Chairperson, the impact of forced removals on the social and physical landscape of South Africa is ineradicable. In the countryside one still finds many people who personally experienced the harsh and ruthless apartheid policies that dispossessed them of their land rights and displaced them from the only places they knew as their home. These demands are real and involve real people.
The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights has settled the majority of land claims lodged by various communities, households and individuals in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, Act No 22 of 1994. It is known that the majority of the remaining land claims are complex and involve large amounts of highly developed commercial farms in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The challenge is escalation of prices, reduction of budget allocated for restitution, and community disputes. It is for these reasons that there are backlogs.
However, one should commend the department for putting in place measures to ensure that all land claims are settled within the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, baseline allocated. Going forward from this financial year, there are major implications for the structure of budget allocation and mechanisms for land acquisition for restitution, a subject that the land policy review should address.
The complexity and challenges of restitution have resulted in numerous court cases involving the department. Of all the 316 cases, 47% are in KwaZulu-Natal, 21% in Mpumalanga and 16% in Limpopo. Restitution is a constitutional imperative, and all citizens of this country need to honour this constitutional provision.
With regard to the state land asset register, the auditing of state land and the comprehensive database of land parcels registered in the name of the government of the Republic of South Africa, as reported on 30 March 2011 to the portfolio committee, the department has completed the development of a state land database. Further work required is to verify the database against those managed by Public Works.
One of the things that the Ministry and the department need to clarify is the state land asset register and management of state land, especially the role and functions of the Ingonyama Trust Board, established in terms of the KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Act, Act 3 of 1994 and amended by the KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Amendment Act, Act 9 of 1997. The primary objective of the board is to function as landowner in law of Ingonyama Trust land, which is some 2,7 million hectares.
To quote the 2010 Annual Report of the Ingonyama Trust Board: (it) has long identified itself as a catalyst for development in areas it operates in.
There is a need to explore the role of the Ingonyama Trust Board and the municipalities or other departments, such as this department, which see themselves as catalysts for rural development. The challenges are the issues around putting into effect, into operation, the provisions of the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act, and the board has seen a situation where it, and not the beneficial occupiers, was sent huge rates bills.
With regard to job creation and skills development, the CRDP model is a vehicle that addresses the issues around skills development and job creation. In addition, the objectives of the Recapitalisation and Development Programme include the graduating of emerging farmers to becoming commercial farmers and creating job opportunities in the agricultural sector.
Development in the context of the Recapitalisation and Development Programme entails mentoring, capacity building in its broader sense, and infrastructural development. This will be done through strategic partnership and mentorship. These are the matters that the committee will prioritise for oversight during the MTEF period.
In conclusion, let me draw your attention to the central theme of the World Development Report of 2008. That theme is "Agriculture for Development". There is wide acknowledgement of the renewed interest in agriculture and its centrality as an engine of economic growth. South Africa should consider redefining the imagination of the vision of the future of food, agriculture and agrarian relations. In this process, we must consider possible pathways out of poverty for the many people found in rural areas, including the workers on the commercial farms, as well as those in the former Bantustans. Policy processes under way provide opportunities to strategically design interventions that will make South Africa a better place for all.
As I have said, Chairperson, as the ANC we support this call. I thank you, Chairperson. [Time expired.]
Sincerely, I hope! [Applause.]
Chairperson, the DA's vision for rural development and land reform in South Africa is informed by the four pillars of the open- opportunity society for all. These are redress, reconciliation, diversity and delivery. It is a vision of a thriving rural economy in which the vile injustices of South Africa's apartheid and colonial legacies are effectively and decisively redressed through a combination of sustained job- creating economic growth and a well-managed and resourced restitution programme.
Our approach to land reform has always been about the creation of genuine broad-based opportunity, coupled with the expansion and diversification of South Africa's commercial agriculture sector to increase productivity, create more rural jobs, and promote food security.
What this requires is an energetic and focused government, which is willing and able to perform its own functions effectively, while at the same time creating economic conditions which are conducive to sustained economic growth, which can attract investment and which can create jobs in order to ultimately eradicate the grinding rural poverty which grips the majority of our communities.
The ANC government's aims may be similar to those of the DA, but its state- centred approach and its failed policy implementation are vastly different. They have had the effect of ultimately hampering the achievement of these all-important goals.
At the level of implementation, for example, the department received yet another qualified audit from the Auditor-General in the 2009-10 financial year, with the Auditor-General citing once again its failure to conduct the all-important audit of state-owned land, which will enable it to reach a conclusive understanding of just how much state land is available for land reform purposes.
For 15 years, Mr Chairman, we have been subjected to excuse after excuse for the government's failure to conduct an audit of state-owned land and to get its house in order. All the while the department continues to engage in a process of aggressively acquiring land for reform purposes, under the auspices of the progressive land acquisition scheme, without knowing how much land it has in its possession. As such, we have no reason as a Parliament to believe that the Minister's new 2014 deadline for the completion of this audit will be met.
In addition to the failure to complete the state land audit, the Auditor- General further noted the following additional financial irregularities at the department: R53 million lost by the department through fraudulent activities; outstanding claims against the department amounting to R566 million; irregular and fruitless expenditure amounting to R4,1 million; fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to R3,2 million; and, finally, R420 million's worth of outstanding payments to land claimants.
The Deputy Minister, Thembelani Nxesi, has been a regular and enthusiastic attendee of the meetings of the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development. However, the Minister Gugile Nkwinti, under whose constitutional authority the activities of the department fall, has not appeared before the committee to account for the state of his department in the past year, even as his failure to perform has had an adverse effect on almost every single programme under the Minister's purview - the land reform programme, in particular.
Minister Nkwinti has acknowledged elsewhere the crisis which faces the department. Last year, the Minister admitted that 90% of the R5,9 million hectares of land acquired by the state for emerging farmers is not productive. As a consequence of this, one quarter of the R900 million budget for restitution had to be diverted to the Recapitalisation Programme in the last financial year. In addition, according to Minister Nkwinti and I quote:
To date, 852 distressed farms across the country have been advertised for expressions of interest by either mentors or strategic partners interested in making them commercially viable and productive.
At the level of policy, the ANC government seems more concerned with centring rural economic activity on itself than creating the economic and the regular three conditions necessary to make sustained economic growth and job creation a reality.
The much vaunted Green Paper on Rural Development and Land Reform, which was meant to be tabled for public comment in March 2010, has yet to be gazetted. While a number of copies of the draft document have been leaked to the media, causing a great deal of uncertainty in the agricultural sector, we have no guarantees that the government will be able to reach its own May 2011 deadline for the tabling of this all-important policy document.
The ANC government's Proactive Land Acquisition Scheme remains a seminal example of a rural economic government policy which is failing at both the policy and implementation levels.
A reply to a DA parliamentary question in January this year revealed that since the inception of the programme in 2006, the vast majority, that is 98,3%, of state land transferred to land reform beneficiaries by the department has not been transferred as freehold title. Instead, this programme has simply become a means by which the government has become an active participant in the commercial agriculture sector, while black beneficiaries are merely its tenants. According to the reply, of the 1 841 applications received since 2006, 528% were granted. Of those granted, only 1,7% have been converted into actual freehold title.
This is not land reform, Mr Chairman. It has more in common with nationalisation by stealth, since the leasehold title holders, who are supposed to be land beneficiaries, do not have the means to borrow against their assets in order to improve and implement changes to their businesses in the case of commercial operations, or simply to upgrade their property if it is residential.
In addition, so-called leasehold beneficiaries must apply and reapply for leases on an annual basis in order to continue their operations, until such time as the Department of Agriculture has decided that they are capable of continuing independently.
Mr Chairman, without the freedom and the stability to invest in their properties, black so-called beneficiaries of this programme are consigned to the status of tenants. They have no incentive to make improvements to the land that they have acquired, since they bear neither the risk nor the reward associated with running a successful, or indeed an unsuccessful, agribusiness. Under the circumstances, it can be no surprise that the ANC's land reform project is failing.
It remains unclear to the DA how the state can identify the need to acquire land aggressively if it does not know how much it already earns. While we support the principle of the government's using state-owned land for land reform purposes, we do not support the department's attempts to centre rural economic activity on itself, by creating land tenants instead of land beneficiaries.
The DA believes that land reform in South Africa can and must be a win-win situation. And for land beneficiaries this can only occur if they are able to be invested in the operations they acquire by fully taking on the risks and enjoying the rewards of free enterprising citizens. There is a need for the department to streamline its mandate, particularly in response to the challenges in respect of its capacity to deliver on its multiple and far-reaching programmes. The core business of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform should be providing the framework necessary to ensure that the rural economy flourishes and then managing, effectively and swiftly, the restitution and redistribution programmes which fall under Land Reform.
The Minister has referred to his department as co-ordinating in function, but the truth is that if this function were successful, much of the work that is the Minister's responsibility would not be in freefall, as it is right now.
It is essential that the Minister ensures that his department return to basics by providing those services which form the core of its remit in as efficient and transparent a manner as possible. Only then will we be able to ensure the sustainability of this crucial pillar of the South African economy and roll back the injustices in rural South Africa, which are the legacy of our apartheid past. Thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, Minister, Deputy Minister, and hon members, in South Africa, as in Morocco, 43% of the country's people live in rural areas. Many of them are generally worst affected by unemployment, poverty, malnutrition, poor education, and a lack of clean drinking water. Refuse removal and modern methods of sewage disposal are seriously lacking. All these factors contribute to the poor health status of the people living in these rural areas.
Rural development cannot occur without good infrastructure: roads, power and telecommunications. The United Nations estimated that having a telephone installed in a rural village increased the economic activity by a factor of 50. In order to address these challenges, sustainable rural development strategies need to be implemented at an accelerated pace.
Rural Development must recognise that people from rural areas are draining into urban areas. A rural development policy cannot happen in isolation from a policy on urban development. I am, however, sure that Minister Trevor Manuel's Planning Commission is giving considerable attention to this matter, as is the Minister of Human Settlements. Rural Development is not applying town planning and it is poorly administered. Government needs to come alongside in these areas.
Government also needs to give incentives to industrialists to move to rural towns, a key driver for manufacturing successful commercial agriculture. In Ugie in the Eastern Cape the plantations have spawned a large manufacturing enterprise in Steinhoff's sawmills and furniture production.
Unfortunately, employment in the agricultural sector is declining year on year. In the past few months a staggering 24 000 jobs were lost in this sector between the fourth quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011. A loss of jobs on this scale has to force government to put the focus on issues of rural development.
In rural areas more households consist of part-time farmers, headed by the elderly and women. They are confronted with severe input constraints and access to subsidies. Women in particular are facing increasing food insecurity. This is compounded by a comparative lack of assets, as well as access to arable land. This lack of the right to own the very land they till must be addressed.
The former Transkei and Ciskei have much unutilised and underutilised land with good soils and high rainfall. South Africa could double its agricultural production if this land were productively farmed. This will not happen until secure leasehold or private ownerships can occur. For structural reasons it has not been possible to turn these areas into high- production areas due to the untenable system of communal tenure. We should look to Rwanda, where land is owned by individuals. There they will take the financial risk to invest in what is required to make farmland fully productive.
To add to the woes of our rural citizens, climate change is already exerting a negative impact on farming. The droughts that occur are prolonged, and when rains come, they cause flooding. The western half of Southern Africa is going to become progressively drier over the coming half- century. What measures will government be taking to help these rural communities deal with these challenges?
Chairperson, Cope believes that support must be given to the rural economy, both in the agricultural sector and any other. In the 2010 state of the nation address, President Zuma said:
Our success in this area will be measured by the increase in the number of small-scale farmers that become economically viable.
Has the government measured up to its own self-imposed criteria? Has the number of small-scale farmers who are viable substantially increased? We need to realise the importance of all three spheres of government and, importantly, we need to start looking at local government.
Land restitution is a lingering problem. Court cases are continuing and delays in settling claims have not been overcome. The restitution programme appears to have run out of steam, and I want to say also out of budget!
To add to government's woes, tender irregularities continue to scandalise the nation and impact negatively on service delivery. The cancellation of a tender by the Agricultural Research Council, ARC, for tractors, due to tender irregularities by government officials, is an indication of the rot at the heart of the system. The question Cope is asking is whether the R100 million already paid for the cancelled project will be recovered? Also, what disciplinary measures were taken against those implicated in this corruption?
Further, as a matter of urgency, can we please ask the Minister to inform the House who the respective owners are of the following farms in the North West, and whether they have any direct links to the department: in the North West, the remainder of the Farm Mellville, that was purchased for R8,5 million; secondly, the remainder of Section 1, 2nd Railway Grant that was purchased for R18,25 million; and, lastly, portions 1 to 5 of the farm Quaggablatt.
To add even more to government's woes, there is the question of posts not being filled and a critical lack of skills manifesting itself elsewhere. Cope is utterly shocked by the revelation of the critical skills in the Office of the Commission on the Restitution of Land Rights, CRLR. The lack of critical skills, as well as the inadequacy of the R3,6 billion allocated to this programme, indicates that the programme, which was to have been completed in 2008, will drag on for years to come. There are still 3 673 claims that need to be researched. Chairperson, I would like to know if it is true that 852 land reform projects are at risk of collapse?
Government is falling far behind its own targets. Whilst it was the objective of the department to create 50 000 jobs in the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, by 2010-11, only 1 619 jobs have been created.
In 2011, the people of Muyexe in Limpopo, Riemvasmaak in the Northern Cape and Diyatalawa in the Free State - the beneficiaries of the much-acclaimed CRDP - have little to celebrate. All these wards are struggling to produce adequate supplies of water, because water reform has not been integrated into land reform. The Minister must indicate whether the department has met its objectives with this pilot project. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, rural development must be and remain a top priority of government in order to correct the imbalances of the past. In order to give more impetus to this portfolio, the President of South Africa announced in 2009 that the new Department of Rural Development and Land Reform would be responsible for working together with and co-ordinating different departments to improve the lives of the residents in rural areas.
In Limpopo province an amount of R500 million was set aside for the development of an area called Muyexe. The community and its leadership received the development warmly, the result being that the lives of the residents at Muyexe are now changed for ever. These are the success stories that the department must build upon in its mandate in order to fully eradicate informal rural areas from our country's landscape.
The department also has its challenges. In the garden project in Muyexe there is a major problem with the supply of water as a result of nonmaintenance of the irrigation system, which has led to the destruction of numerous crops in the scorching heat of the sun. Poor maintenance of the net shades over the crops is another reason, but the main culprit has been the lack of co-ordination and bringing together of our government departments to assist the hard-working women in the area. That is why the project has failed.
Another problem that must be dealt with immediately by the department is the seeming lack of a work ethic in the extension officers in the department. These officers are by and large spending way too much time in department offices and not enough time out in rural areas assisting communities with the aims and objectives of this portfolio, as they are mandated and paid to do. This negligence is of the highest order and must be stamped out immediately.
Land claims and issues associated therewith are another big departmental challenge because of the snail's pace at which they are being processed. This, we hear, is due to the poor attitude of staff members at provincial land claims offices, corruption, and the lack of financial resources in the department to settle these claims.
The continuous changing of ownership of restituted land is another very worrying factor, as a trend seems to be developing in which people are selling the land that has been restored by the department to their ownership. Whilst alienation of land is one of the rights of ownership, it is not the intended consequence of this process. Beneficiaries of land restitution should be encouraged to remain owners of the land so restored.
The challenges above are not insurmountable, but they will cost money to overcome and the budget allocation does not seem to be enough for this department. Nevertheless, the Minister will have to cut his coat according to his cloth, and do the best with what has been provided to him. The IFP wishes the Minister and the department all the very best for 2011. The IFP supports the budget. Thank you. [Applause.]
Sihlalo, amaLungu ePhalamende nezihambeli zethu, abesifazane kanye nentsha bawumkhakha obaluleke kakhulu kubantu bethu. Bangadlala indima ebalulekile ekuzuzeni inthuthuko ezindaweni zasemakhaya esezingeni eliphezulu ikakhulukazi ekuthuthukiseni iNingizimu Afrika kwezombangazwe,kwezenhlalakahle nakwezomnotho.
Uhlelo lokuthuthukisa izindawo zasemakhaya nokubuyiswa komhlaba kuwumkhakha obalulekile kakhulu. Lokhu kuguqula ukungalingani kwezenhlalakahle nakwezomnotho uhlelo olukhulu lokuthuthukisa izindawo zabasemakhaya, phecelezi, Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP. Luyinqola iNingizimu Afrika engazuza ngayo ukuthuthukisa okusezingeni eliphezulu, ikakhulukazi uma ingaqondiswa kwabesifazane kanye nentsha okuyibona abaningi abahlala ezindaweni zasemakhaya.
Ngokulandela izinqumo zenkomfa kazwelonke kaKhongolose eyayibanjwe ePolokwane, kwavunyelwana ngokuthi:
Ukulingana ngokobulili kufanele kube ngumgudu futhi kube nemiphumela ebalulekile kuzo zonke izinhlelo zokuthuthukisa ezasemakhaya, ezokubuyiswa komhlaba kanye nezinguquko zolimo.
Izinhlelo ezibhekelela abesifazane ziqinisekisa futhi zivikela inkululeko namalungelo wabantu besifazane basezindaweni zasemakhaya, ikakhulukazi abasebenza emapulazini. Zibaluleke kakhulu izinhlelo ezinjalo.
Kufanele sizame ukulwa nokuqeda nanoma yiluphi uhlobo lokubandlululwa kwabesifazane kanye nokuqinisekisa futhi ngokulingana kuzo zonke izinsiza. Ngaleyo ndlela sizobe siphakamisela phezulu yonke imigomo yoMthethosisekelo wethu.
Ukusetshenziswa kwe-CRDP endaweni yasePolokwane eMuyexe naseRiemvasmaak eNtshonalanga Kapa, kuyisibonelo esenzele lula abesifazane basezindaweni zasemakhaya ukuba bathole izinsiza. Uhlelo lokwakha kabusha amapulazi olwaziwa ngokuthi, phecelezi, Recapitalisation and Development, uhlelo oluphakamiswe uMnyango luzozuza imiphumela uma lubhekiswe kwabesifazane.
Kuyamukeleka ukuthi uMnyango uhlela ukwethula i-CRDP emawadini asemapulazini ayi-180. kuyithemba kubantu abahlala ezindaweni zasemakhaya ukuthi abakade balindele uhulumeni wethu abasombulele izinkinga zokubuyiswa kwemihlaba njengabaceli bomhlaba baseBabanango KwaZulu-Natali, yibona abazozuza kulezi zinhlelo ezinhle.
Ucwaningo luveze ukuthi inqubomgomo yokuthuthukisa abesifazane kumele ibeke phezulu lokhu okulandelayo: okokuqala, ukuqedwa kobandlululo kwabesifazane; okwesibili, ubuchwepheshe nokunikezela ngezinsiza kwabesifazane; okwesithathu, ukusebenza ngokubamba iqhaza kwabesifazane ngendlela elula enenzuzo emisebenzini yezimakethe. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Ms P P XABA: Chairperson, Members of Parliament and our guests, women and the youth are an important group of people. They can play an important role in attaining a high level of development in the rural areas, especially in developing South Africa politically, socially and economically.
The Rural Development and Land Restitution Programme is a very important programme. Through the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, socioeconomic inequality is being addressed. It is a vehicle through which South Africa can gain a high level of development, especially if it is focused on women and the youth who are a majority of the people living in the rural areas.
If we follow the resolutions of the ANC National Conference held in Polokwane, it was resolved that:
Gender equality should be a policy and there must be important results in all programmes to develop rural areas, land restitution and agricultural reforms.
Programmes aimed at assisting women ensure and protect the freedom and rights of women in the rural areas, especially those who are working on the farms. Such programmes are very important.
We should try to eradicate any form of discrimination against women and ensure equality in the distribution of services. In that way we would be able to achieve all the objectives as set out in our Constitution.
The implementation of the CRDP in Polokwane in the area of Muyexe and in the area of Riemvasmaak in the Western Cape is an example which has helped women in the rural areas to get services. The Recapitalisation and Development Programme, a farm renewal programme initiated by the department, will be fruitful if it is aimed at the upliftment of women.
It is acceptable that the department aims to launch this CRDP in the 180 rural wards. It is a hope to many people in the rural areas who have been waiting for the government to assist them with land restitution, like the people of Babanango in KwaZulu-Natal, who will be the ones to benefit from these good programmes.
Research has shown that the policy of women development has to prioritise on the following: firstly, the eradication of discrimination against women; secondly, technology and service delivery to women; thirdly, women labour and participation in a manner easy and profitable in markets.]
One of the critical elements of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, is its National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec, programme. The department plans to create 5 000 jobs for the youth. This initiative is a major contribution because of its focus on skills development. Effective implementation of this programme will lead to the utilisation of the youth segment of the population to attain nation- building, national development and national integration, and to addressing the problem of rising unemployment and limited opportunities for young people in rural areas.
Sikusho ngokugcwele futhi singesabi ukuthi siyabonga uhulumeni oholwa nguKhongolose ngemisebenzi eyenzela omame basemakhaya [Ihlombe.] siphinde sisho ukuthi labo okuthi njalo uma siletha inthuthuko kubantu bona baqhamuke ngokuyigxibha nokuyigxabhashiya. Sithi kubo kusekude lakuyiwa khona, kuseduze engxilibeni. Ngakho-ke bona abazame ukwenza okwabo ngaphandle kokugxeka imisebenzi eyenziwa nguKhongolose kubantu bakithi.
Namhlanje, ngiyakhathazeka uma umhlonishwa uMazibuko ekhuluma ngeminyaka eyi-15 umntwana wami, ngoba mncane. Thina sisuka emakhulwini ngamakhulu yeminyaka sicindezelwe emakhaya singazi lutho ... [Ubuwelewele.]
Iminyaka eyi-15 yincane kabi mntwanami ... [Ubuwelewele.] ... amakhulu ngamakhulu[Ihlombe.] [Uhleko.]. Ngakho-ke ngithi siwuKhongolose asinamona futhi asinanzondo kepha siyayidumisa i-ANC ngemisebenzi eyenzela abantu basemakhaya. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[We say without shame that we are grateful to the government led by the ANC for what it does for women in the rural areas. [Applause.] Again we say to those who always criticise and destabilise when we bring development to the people, there is still a long way to go. Therefore they must try to go about their business without criticising the services delivered to our people by the ANC.
Today, I am disturbed when hon Mazibuko speaks about 15 years, because she is still young. We come from hundreds and hundreds of years of oppression in the rural areas and not knowing ... [Interjections.]
Fifteen years is too little, my child ... [Interjections] ... hundreds and hundreds [Applause.] [Laughter.] Therefore I say as the ANC we are neither jealous nor hateful, but we praise the ANC for the services it renders to the people in the rural areas.]
The ANC supports the budget of Rural Development and Land Reform. Thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MECs and hon members, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, we meet here only days before the 56th anniversary of the adoption of the Freedom Charter by the Congress of the People on 26 June 1955. I here mean the real Congress of the People! [Interjections.]
I therefore suggest that we take this opportunity to look at what the Freedom Charter had to say about land issues. The relevant section is entitled: "The land shall be shared among those who work it!" It includes the following demands:
Restriction of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land redivided amongst those who work it, to banish famine and land hunger; So, production, discipline and food security, mentioned by the Minister as guiding principles, are enshrined in the Freedom Charter. The second point is:
The state shall help the peasants with implements, seed, tractors and dams to save the soil and assist the tillers.
Is this not what the department's development programmes seek to address? The third point is:
Freedom of movement shall be guaranteed to all who work on the land; All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose;
Taking these two clauses, they are clearly directed against the geographic segregation of the time. I am trying to reassure AgriSA that this last clause is not an invitation to wholesale squatting. But maybe the point needs to be made that unless we address the issue of land reform and redistribution with greater urgency, we face the real possibility of land invasions. I am saying that without fear or favour. I am sure I can rely on the support of the DA now that they have all of a sudden embraced the Freedom Charter. [Interjections.] Briefly, the final point:
People shall not be robbed of their cattle, and forced labour and farm prisons shall be abolished. Why? We may have outlawed forced labour and farm prisons, but we still hear of cases where vulnerable farm dwellers have their cattle impounded, and of cruel actions being meted out to defenceless people on the farms. Some are still treated as outcasts and slaves in their own country. Farm evictions continue, often illegally. This is exactly why the department has drafted the Land Tenure Security Bill, to close the loopholes.
Obstacles put up to prevent free political and trade union activity on the farms deny farmworkers and dwellers their basic human rights. The FF Plus and the DA are the first to complain when their rights are infringed, but when some amongst their constituency deny basic rights to vulnerable farm dwellers, including by killing them, the silence is from you deafening. [Applause.]
I also feel that there is a responsibility for organised agriculture to educate and police their membership in this respect. For the benefit of those who have developed political amnesia since 1994, let us pause to remember where we come from. [Interjections.] I know that it is painful to the DA when we talk about the past.
Within walking distance of these Houses of Parliament lies District Six, a symbol of apartheid's inhumanity and the destruction visited upon vibrant communities in the name of racial supremacy. When District Six was declared a white group area in 1966, the heart was ripped out of the city. [Interjections.]
Order! I am sorry, hon Deputy Minister, but the House has very much of an echo, and the acoustics are not good in here. So, please, hon members, keep your voices down. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairperson. That is typical of the hon Mazibuko - we listened when she was speaking, but she doesn't want to listen! The heart was ripped out of the city - so says the District Six Beneficiary Trust, which describes Cape Town as one of the most polarised and disintegrated cities in the Republic, if not the world.
Another local example is a community living in Tramway Road in Sea Point. They were forced to move because they were the wrong colour, with devastating results. One of the ex-residents recalls how his father committed suicide on receiving the eviction letter. In this case restitution has been awarded in the form of an education trust to benefit the children of the descendants. And last week Minister Nkwinti presided at a sod-turning ceremony to mark the start of a new housing project in the area.
These are examples from Cape Town. There are hundreds more in the rest of the country. The point we are making here is that the hurt and damage caused by apartheid is still with us, and this national democratic revolution of ours will not be complete until the land question has been addressed. So, even as we work our way through the complex minefield of restitution claims, we also have to address the call for fundamental land reform and the Freedom Charter's demand that "The land shall be shared among those who work it!"
Minister Nkwinti has shared with us the challenges that face the land restitution programme: the complexities of dealing with competing interests, and claims which often require careful research, facilitation and mediation, together with a lack of capacity. With courage and integrity, the Minister has met with thousands of claimants and beneficiaries to hear of their experiences and to engage with them on how to take the process forward. In all humility he has apologised for the delays in the process, because the African people are peaceful. He was able to say, "I am sorry." However, some other people have never said that, despite the hurt they have caused. [Interjections.]
From our side, systems are now in place to fast-track claims. But the challenge of inadequate resources remains. I am particularly concerned at the implications of recent court decisions which call for compensation for old order mineral and land rights. There appears to be a tension at the heart of our Constitution. Whilst it recognises and seeks to promote the rights of the dispossessed, it simultaneously effectively entrenches the rights of vested and landed interests.
I was struck by the words of hon Stella Ndabeni last week in a previous debate, when she quoted a learned judge. She said:
Whom would the proposed Bill of Rights protect; the victims of the unjust conduct, which has been condemned as a crime against humanity by all humankind, or the beneficiaries? I leave it to you to answer.
The Opposition will say that I am dwelling on the past. I know that it's uncomfortable for them when I'm dwelling on the past, and can understand why they would want to forget the past. But the truth is that the past is very much with us. Daily we battle to balance the rights of the dispossessed with those of the landowners.
I believe that strategically - as a minimum, and as part of the broad strategy for rural development - together with sister departments, we need to facilitate a number of issues, such as the following: securing the position of farmworkers and farm dwellers against evictions and improving their lives; revitalising subsistence agriculture in the former reserves; and rapidly promoting black commercial agriculture, whilst mindful that the white commercial agriculture will continue to play a crucial role in ensuring food security.
So, how do we achieve these goals? Firstly, it is not enough to acknowledge shortcomings. We also need to learn from past mistakes. Many of the farms transferred to black ownership failed. This should not have come as a surprise. Apartheid did two things: it dumped millions of black people in the countryside - those superfluous to the labour needs of the urban economy - and simultaneously denied them any meaningful access to productive agricultural land. Even basic subsistence agriculture declined. Then, when we gave people land after 1994, without providing adequate follow-up training, credit and other support, we were setting people up for failure.
Going forward, all restitution and land reform projects are now accompanied by a viable business plan, which includes training, mentorship, partnerships and other forms of support. All this is guided by the three principles of land reform enunciated by the Minister.
As government, then, our task is twofold. It is to restore the land to the people, and this is a political and moral imperative to us, but at the same time to restore to the people a practical knowledge of the land, which is an economic and developmental necessity. We are not going to be apologetic about it. This reflects a crucial shift from the approach of hand-outs and social grants to a productive model of development, which stresses empowering and skilling the people to create their own employment opportunities.
Even as we seek to restore the land to the people, as government we also need to guard against the danger that South African prime land - relatively cheap by international standards - is snapped up by foreign buyers. This has negative implications, including the following: inflation of land prices; alienation of sensitive land, with adverse security and environmental implications; and undesirable land use changes, as prime agricultural land is converted into game farms and golf estates. This is already happening in the Western and Eastern Cape. These issues will be addressed, I believe, in the forthcoming Green Papers.
Vested interests and those in real estate industries, who reject any form of regulation that reduces their profits, will not be allowed to prevail in this matter. We also need to make it very clear that these measures are in no way motivated by antiforeigner sentiment. The government will continue to encourage foreign investment in the land where this is consistent with national interests. Let me cite the case of Australia where legislation seeks to control foreign purchase of existing real estate, whilst encouraging investment in building new housing, thus benefiting the local building industry.
Let me end by pointing to some of the positives, which augur well for the future.
In interacting with the District Six Beneficiary Trust I have been inspired by their philosophy of restorative justice and their inclusive vision for restitution. They say, and I quote:
Never again will there be forced removals in our country. So we will not ask for the people and institutions who stole our land to be forcibly removed from there. Rather, when we restore the justice that is due to the victims of apartheid in District Six, we shall hold the perpetrators of that crime accountable, not as criminals from whom we wish to extract revenge, but as partners who can contribute to making our nation as a whole and vibrant again.
They are saying this because black people are peaceful and are not like others.
Let me add that the Trust's vision for the restored District Six goes way beyond the previous owners, mostly the so-called coloureds, to include tenants and members of the black community who were removed from District Six as early as 1901. The Trust's objective is to re-establish an inclusive and vibrant community here in the heart of Cape Town, reflecting all races and classes. We have now put together a team including all relevant role- players to take the District Six project forward. I believe it will be seminal in challenging apartheid's spatial planning and providing a model for a truly nonracial and pro-working-class town.
I am looking forward to working with the Premier of the Western Cape in this regard, because the two of us have been given that task by the Minister. Just for your information, when we were ready to hold the meetings, it was this very same Western Cape Premier who requested ... [Interjections.] Very interesting. Very interesting. They do not even want to listen to the Chairperson.
Hon members, order, please! No engaging one another like this over the table. I know that you are close to each other, but try to distance yourselves, please. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy Minister, Please continue.
Very interesting on the part of the DA - the meeting about District Six has been postponed for three months by the DA Premier.
I was greatly encouraged by the recent report of a white farmer in Mpumalanga, Mr Forbes, who donated land worth R4,5 million to empower 50 of his workers who had worked the land over four generations. He recognises the farming skills of his employees, but seeks to mentor them in management skills to make the project a success. Mr Forbes is reported to have said he believed, and I quote:
... that if white commercial farmers were not willing to be involved in empowerment initiatives to solve the land reform problem in South Africa, then they should be expropriated.
I hasten to reassure the DA and FF Plus that there are no plans for expropriation at this point ... [Interjections.] ... and, please, I am saying, "at this point".
Let me say a word about the youth in the National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec. It is a clich that the youth are the future, but unless we facilitate and provide training opportunities, that future is bleak. Let me remind you of what the Minister of Higher Education and Training said previously. He said there are 2,9 million school leavers in the age range 18-24 who are neither at work, nor in education and training. This is why Narysec is such an important initiative. I am concerned, therefore, about the negativity towards Narysec in certain quarters. Let me deal with some of the false perceptions.
Firstly, Narysec is accused of being some kind of ANC Youth League militia. Not true! This is a government programme open to all rural youth ... [Interjections.] [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Ministers, chairperson of the portfolio committee and members, for many years the UDM has decried government's neglect of rural areas and communities. The rural people continue to occupy the periphery of economic activity. The infrastructure in rural areas is in a state of disrepair. Rural youth unemployment is unacceptably high.
However, it is gratifying to see that to a considerable extent rural youth skills development and unemployment needs are receiving much-needed attention, due in large part to the department's National Rural Youth Service Corps. We hope that the 7 000 young people recruited thus far were not screened on the basis of political affiliation.
In addition, government's noble intention of creating 500 000 rural jobs over the next five years will yield nothing if inadequate attention continues to be paid to the creation of effective performance monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in this and many other government departments.
While you are still there, Chairperson, I trust that with regard to the officials who were arrested and charged, as the Minister has just informed us, the department will work hand in hand with the investigating team and the courts to see to it that at the end of the day those culprits are convicted and sentenced.
The UDM has always advocated infrastructure-led growth in rural communities to remedy the shocking state of infrastructure in the rural communities, and to create employment opportunities. The UDM has always maintained that rural communities have different needs, as compared to urban communities. There needs to be a comprehensive control structure that attends to the special needs of rural communities, such as dipping tanks, fencing of grazing lands and mealie fields, clearing of streams and rivers, and the combating of soil erosion, among others.
The UDM supports the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]
Agb Voorsitter, hierdie is 'n baie belangrike debat en daar is 'n paar baie belangrike dinge ges. Ek wil vir die agb lid van die DA s dat ons vir die eerste keer nou amptelik iets kan s, en ek wil h dat die landbouleiers wat hier teenwoordig is mooi moet luister. Die boere en die grondeienaars moes mooi geluister het. Die agb lid van die DA s die DA se doelstellings is dieselfde as di van die ANC as dit kom by grondhervorming. Neem kennis daarvan!
Die VF Plus verskil dramaties van u oor grondhervorming. Ek wil vir die agb Adjunkminister s dat u my laat dink aan die katspesie. U baklei nou met die agb lid, maar dit is soos twee katte wat tegelyk vry en baklei. Dit is waarmee u besig is. Ek wil vir die agb Adjunkminister die volgende s. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Mr P J GROENEWALD: Hon Chairperson, this is a very important debate and a few important things have been stated. I want to tell the hon member of the DA that for the first time we can now state something officially, and I would like the leaders in agriculture who are present here to listen carefully. The farmers and land owners should have been listening carefully. The hon member of the DA has said that the aims of the DA are the same as those of the ANC when it comes to land reform. Take note of this!
The FF Plus differs dramatically from you on land reform. I want to tell the hon Deputy Minister that he reminds me of the cat species. The one moment you are fighting with the hon member, but it is like two cats that are courting and fighting at the same time. That is what you are busy with. I want to tell the hon Deputy Minster the following.]
As you said, the FF Plus is the first party to complain. You are right, and we will keep on complaining. Take note of that. I challenge you, hon Deputy Minister, to bring us the statistics of those farmers who are treating their staff the worst. You said that they kill them. I will give you the statistic of the farm killings in South Africa, which is 313 per 100 000 of the population. The same figure for the police, who do a dangerous job, is only 271 per 100 000, while the world average is 7 per 100 000. Those are the statistics. If you simply come here in order to make allegations, and say something just to be popular, then you need to get your facts straight.
Ek wil vir die agb Minister s dat landelike ontwikkeling nie sal slaag sonder die hulp van die kommersile boer nie. Die kommersile boer is die hartslag van die ekonomie, vir landelike ontwikkeling. Ek wil vandag vir u s dat u departement die faktor is wat die grootste bydrae lewer om onsekerheid by die kommersile boere te skep. Hulle weet nie waarheen hulle op pad is met hulle grond nie. U skep daardie onsekerheid. Di mense gaan nou elders boer, want hulle raak bekommerd oor wat in Suid-Afrika gebeur.
Ek wil vir u s dat die feite is daar. Gee my 10 minute en ek sal vir jou al die feite gee. Daarom s ek vandag dat u, saam met die Minister van Landbou, die kommersile boer in Suid-Afrika moet vertroetel. U department raak die grootste bedreiging vir voedselsekerheid in Suid-Afrika.
As die kommersile boer nie daar is om voedsel te produseer nie, s ek vandag vir u, gaan u agb Adjunkminister nie so blink en vet hier kan sit en stellings maak nie. [Gelag.] Dan het u nie kos om te eet nie. U moet gaan kyk na die boere en werksekerheid bring.
Agb Adjunkminister, u moet luister. Die agb Minister het ges dat 90% van die projekte van grondhervorming 'n mislukking was. So u wil die belastingbetalers se geld gebruik om 'n 10% suksessyfer te h. Hoe kan u nog meer projekte gee as u 'n 90% mislukking het? Kry u feite reg en dan kom praat u weer. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[I want to say to the hon Minister that rural development will not succeed without assistance from the commercial farmer. The commercial farmer is the heartbeat of the economy, for rural development.
I am telling you today that your department is the factor that contributes the most to creating uncertainty amongst commercial farmers. They don't know where they are going with their land. You are creating this uncertainty. These people are now going to farm elsewhere, because they are concerned at what is happening in South Africa.
I am telling you that the facts are there. Give me 10 minutes and I will give you all the facts. That is why I am saying today that you, together with the Minister of Agriculture, must indulge the commercial farmer in South Africa. Your department is becoming the biggest threat to food security in South Africa.
If the commercial farmer isn't there to produce the food, I'm telling you today, your hon Deputy Minister will not be able to sit here so well fed and prosperous, making statements. [Laughter.} Then you will have no food to eat. You should look after the farmers and bring job security.
Hon Deputy Minister, you should listen. The hon Minister has said that 90% of the land reform projects were failures. So, do you want to utilise the taxpayers' money to obtain a 10% success rate? How can you give out even more projects when you have a 90% failure rate? Get your facts straight and then come and talk to us again. I thank you.]
Thank you, Chair. Based on comments from presenters and the audience, key priorities emerging from the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, Plas, public debate on rural transformation held in January 2011 included land reform; service delivery in rural areas; experimenting with alternative modes of agricultural production, such as smallholder producers and organics; access to food value chains for more producers, especially small producers; the rising costs of farm inputs, including new technologies, fertiliser and petrol; and ecological matters.
In addition to urgent land reform and redistribution, delegates also argued for "comprehensive improved service delivery plans" for rural areas, and "investment in teaching and instilling the value and importance of growing food in young people". The department's programmes appear to address these priorities. Hopefully budget and a lack of capacity will not limit the results.
Is the department able to address complaints that the bureaucracy involved, for example, in becoming an approved supplier to a supermarket is too complicated and costly for small farmers? Big brands in South Africa crowd out small traders in poor areas. In other African countries, local producers can sell to the local population in order to eke out an existence, while in South Africa local producers are forced to compete with large producers. Since 1994 many rural towns have deteriorated as big supermarkets have moved in, forcing local shops, traders, etc, out of business.
A general lack of investment in farming due to uncertainty relating to land reform challenges has resulted in national food security being increasingly at risk. The lobby for sustainable agriculture has pointed out that since 1994 even established farmers, or white farmers if you like, in South Africa have gone bust due to the harsher global climate, the impact of globalised trade and tariff reduction, and the higher cost of inputs like petrol and fertiliser. If running capital-intensive farms are struggling in harder times, how can we expect small-scale farmers to cope?
In South Africa, land and food are increasingly owned by corporate enterprises, as they can more easily bear the risks and variability of food growing. As global discussion conferences on the agri-food system and food security are generally sponsored by banks, chemical companies or food multinationals, all with vested interests in the sector, can these conferences be expected to represent the interests of the many poor farmers who rely on small holdings for subsistence?
If sustainable agriculture is to succeed, we will need more inclusive and diversified agricultural and rural development models. The ACDP supports land reform which includes service provision and skills transfer, and stimulates local economies with value-adding business. Rural development and transformation, both government and presidential priorities reflected in this budget, must now ensure that money goes both to farming and to creating rural infrastructure, access to markets, storage and credit facilities.
The ACDP will support this budget. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Sihlalo, Ngqongqoshe Wezokuthuthukiswa Kwezindawo Zasemakhaya Nezinguquko Zomhlaba nePhini lakhe, abahlonishwa abakhona kanye namaLungu ePhalamende akhona namhlanje, namhlanje kusele izinsuku eziyisishiyagalolunye ukuba sifike esigigabeni esikhulu esaguqula umlando waleli lizwe nentsha yakithi, uJuni 16.
Lo Mnyango wakho mhlonishwa wawungekho eminyakeni eyishumi nanhlanu eyedlule kodwa ngomonakalo okhona owadalwa yisimo sobandlululo wanqamula kabi ukuphathwa kwabantu baleli lizwe, kwakhona abasezindaweni ezisemadolobheni nabasezindaweni ezisemakhaya, umisiwe ukuba ulungise lowo monakalo omkhulu kakhulu.
Njengoba ngilapha ngizophawula kabanzi ngezindawo lezi zasemakhaya ezazingama-13% okwakuthiwa abantu abamnyama abaphile kuzona bese kuthi-ke wonke umhlaba kuphile labo ababephethe umbuso. Umhlaba wasemakhaya yilowo owawenganyelwe amakhosi ayehleli nabantu bawo ababebalelwa kuma-43%, ababecindezelwe benganikeziwe amathuba okuthi baqhubekele phambili baziphilise, kodwa benza ngamandla abo onke ukuba bakwazi ukuphila kulowo mhlaba ongama-13%. Njengo-ANC siyaseseka lesi Sabiwomali ngoba abantu bamjubile u-ANC ukuba abenzele lokhu abakufunayo. Nakulolu khetho esiphuma kulo bebesaqinisa khona ukuthi u-ANC uyazazi izidingo zabantu ngakho-ke akaqhubeke asebenze. Babekuqonda kahle abantu bakithi ukuthi umhlaba uyifa abangaphila ngalo, babengazange bathembele kwabanye abantu abaseceleni.
Umhlabathi ababekhiqiza kuwo ukudla babeziphilisa ngawo kuze kuthi uma kukhona izinsalela banikeze umuntu oseceleni akwazi ukuziphilisa naye. Abazange baphile ngaphansi kwesandla somhombolo sokuthi bacebe kodwa bonke abantu baphile ndawonye.
Inkosi nomkhandlu wayo yayinamandla negunya lokuthi iyithathe leyo nsimu eke yalale yangasetshenzwa kwaze kwaphela iminyaka emithathu iyinikeze umuntu ongaba namandla okuyisebenzisa akhiqize ukudla okungaphilisa yena nabanye abantu abakhona.
Abantu basemakhaya bayasidinga iSabiwomali ukuba kuvuselelwe lo mhlabathi ongama-13% ngoba njengoba manje sesikhuluma ngeSabiwomali sokuba kubuyiswe umhlabathi owaphucwa abantu bakithi ukuba uyovuselwa usetshenzwe ngoba kwakuwumhlabathi owawumuhle ukwazi ukukhiqiza uphilise abantu bakithi.
Izindawo zasemakhaya zinabantu abaningi besifazane nentsha. Intsha iyona ewungogodla waleli lizwe. Ikusasa lethu uma singekwazi ukuba silibeke lapha etsheni yethu kusho ukuthi alikho ikusasa laleli lizwe.
Ngakho-ke, ithemba lonke lisentsheni, kufanele ukuba zonke izinhlelo esizenzayo sibheke intsha yethu ehlezi laphaya emakhaya. Intsha yasemakhaya iyafunda iphase umatikuletsheni ngezinkulungwane, bese iqala ufuduko olukhulu lokuba iyofuna amadlelo aluhlaza emadolobheni.
Lokhu kusidalela enkulu inkinga nengcindezi kuhulumeni ukuthi laba bantu uma beza kanjena ngapha, ngempela akwenzi yini ukuba kugcine kunezinkinga ezinkulu kuqaleke imijondolo esingeke sazi ukuthi ingaqedwa kanjani. Bese bethi abaphikisana nathi njenge-ANC, iziteleka ezikhona zidalwa ukuthi uhulumeni uyahluleka ukuletha izidingo kubantu.
Kodwa uma unaka, iqiniso ukuthi la bantu abasuka emakhaya bayasetshenziswa uma sebefike lapha, kuthathwe lelo thuba kwenziwe lowo monakalo ngabo, bese kuba sengathi uhulumeni akazilethi izidingo, kanti kufanele ngabe sibavalele khona emuva bathuthukise lapho bekhona ngoba umhlabathi ukhona singaphila kuwona.
UMnyango wakho mhlonishwa ubhekene nenselele enkulu yokuthuthukisa abantu ezindaweni zasemakhaya. Abantu abaningi baphila ngaphansi kobubha obukhulu obesabekayo, ikakhulukazi abantu besifazane nentsha. Uyabona uma ungena laphaya emakhaya uyathuka uma ufica ugogo omdala kunguyena yedwa ohola impesheni. Bese eba nezingane eziyishumi nantathu ezingenazo izitifiketi zokuzalwa ezishiywe ngonina nabo bengenazo izitifiketi zokuzalwa abahambile bayosebenza emapulazini babuya bazozilahla lapha. Balahliwe laba bantu bahleli endlini yodonga.
U-ANC uyakwazi lokho kodwa abanye bangelwazi lolu sizi olunjengalolu ukuthi kukhona izinto ezinjalo emakhaya ezidinga ukuthi uhulumeni ka-ANC azilungise.
Uhlelo lwezolimo kungakuhle ukuthi luqale lufundiswe ezikoleni ngoma uma singakhuluma ukuthi kuze kube namhlanje akukho ukuvuselelwa komhlabathi ngeke sikwazi ukuthi siye phambili. Kodwa uma singaqala ukuthi kubekhona ukubambisana komnyango wakho noMnyango Wezemfundo kube khona uhlelo lwezolimo, kufanele luqale luyofundiswa phansi ezikoleni ukuze leziya zingadi ezazenziwa zibekhona kungabi sengathi yizingadi okwakupanishwa ngazo abafundi okwaze kwadala ukuthi intsha yenyanye indaba yokusebenzisa inhlabathi ngoba kuthiwa yilapho kupanishelwa khona umuntu.
Uma omama basemakhaya becela usizo lokuba baxhaswe ngocingo kuba nenkinga abayibekayo mhlonishwa ukuthi kuthiwa: Hamba uyokwenza i-business plan yokwenza ingadi. Uma eseyenzile leyo-business plan bese kuthiwa Linda. Kuyoze kuphela iminyaka emibili engenaso isiqiniseko sokuthi leyo-business plan iphasile yini.
Leyonto idinga ukuba ilungiswe ngoba asikho nesincane isidingo sokuthi kwenziwe i-business plan yamakhosikazi ayishumi afuna ukutshala ingadi yemfino. Kufanele bakulungise lokho mhlonishwa, u-ANC ongalungisa lokhu alikho elinye iqembu elingakulungisa lokhu. Uma abantu abahlala emakhaya bengathola ukusekelwa ezinhlelweni ezingamaphupho ezindaweni abahleli kuzo umnotho abawukhiqizayo ungaguqula izimpilo zabo ngokusebenza nje besebenzisa izandla zabo. Bayakwazi ukuqeqesha intsha yabo, abadingi nokuba baze basekelwe lokhu okutheni.
Uma uvuka ekuseni ungumzali uyakwazi ukuthi ngane yami yenza lokhu nalokhuya. Ingane ibe yingxenye yokwenza konke okuzoyisiza ukuthi iphile lapha ekhaya. Ngesikhathi umzali ehamba emhlabeni, umntwana uqeqeshekile uyazi ukuthi umzali wakhe wayethanda lokhu nalokhu. Ngakho-ke uma ubantu besimame bengaxhaswa ngayo yonke indlela bangakwazi ukuthi babenomthelela omkhulu ekuqeqesheni intsha yakithi.
Uma thina sikhuluma ngomama nentsha ehlala emakhaya sisuke sicabange ukuthi badinga lokhu nalokhu. Uyabona, ngale ngaphesheya umhlonishwa uMazibuko ukhuluma engazi ukuthi emakhaya kunjani; ukhuluma engazi ukuthi uma kukhulunywa ngezindawo zasemakhaya kukhulunywa ngento enjani futhi ebuhlungu kanjani, lapho ingane yakhona ingeke ikwazi ukuvuka ekuseni iye esikoleni ingazange yaqala ngokuthi iye kokha amanzi, lapho izingane zigezela endishini eyodwa zilungiselela ukuya esikoleni ngoba amanzi emancane. Leyo mpilo aniyazi kodwa thina sikhuluma ngempilo esiphile sakhulela kuyona, siyazi ukuthi ubuhlungu bayo bungakanani.
Uhlelo lwe-National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec, liwumqondo omuhle ukuthuthukisa intsha yakithi futhi luhle kakhulu ngoba aluhlangene ngokuthi kukhululwa ngobuqembu. Uma kukhishwa izikhala zemisebenzi kwenziwa into elula nje, mhlonishwa, zithunyelwa kubo bonke omasipala ukuba bakwazi ukuthi bazidlulisele entsheni. Intsha yafaka izicelo yathathwa ngalolo hlelo.
Siyaqinisa-ke ukuthi uma lolu hlelo lungaqhubeka kungaba umbono omuhle, mhlonishwa, ngoba intsha eningi ihleli laphaya emakhaya, ukuthi uma sebeqeqeshiwe bebuya benje sikwazi ukubatshala ezindaweni ezahlukeneyo, bahambe bayosiqeqeshela intsha, amasenti akhona ezikoleni lapho kufunda khona izingane zethu, babuye baqeqeshe leyontsha ngobuningi bayo emakhaya singabheki ukuthi kuyogcina kuqeqeshwe bona bese kuthiwa isibalo sincane. Ngoba uma bebuya sebenikezwa isibalo esikhulu siyophindaphindwa kulabo obatetileyo mhlonishwa.
Uma-ke lolu hlelo lungaqhubeka singaqinisa ngokuthi ...
USIHLALO WENDLU WESIKHASHANA (Mnu M R Mdakane): Mhlonishwa zama-ke ukuyiphetha inkulumo yakho.
... kube khona ukubambisana nabe- Services Sector Education and Training Authority, Seta. Abe-Seta ababambisana nabe-Narysec, ngoba ngempela uma bebambisana baphuma baye emakhaya yilapho esizobona khona intsha ithola ukusizakala. Nabesimame abangasali ngaphandle ... [Ubuwelewele.]
USIHLALO WENDLU WESIKHASHANA (Mnu M R Mdakane): Bahlonishwa!!
... ngoba abantu besifazane yibona ababaluleke kakhulu ... [Ubuwelewele.]
USIHLALO WENDLU WESIKHASHANA (Mnu M R Mdakane): Mhlonishwa, ngizama ukukusiza kulabantu ababanga umsindo, amalungu abanga umsindo asisezwa ngempela ukuthi ukhuluma uthini. Sicela amalungu athi ukwehlisa kancane umsindo. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Prince B Z ZULU: Chairperson, Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and his Deputy, hon people present here and the Members of Parliament who are here today, today marks nine days before the big day that made a mark in the history of our youth and of the country, June 16.
Your department, hon Minister, did not exist 15 years ago, but it was created to correct the huge damage caused by apartheid policy that had divided the settlement areas of the people of this country, where some people lived in the urban areas while others lived in the rural areas.
I have come to speak broadly about these rural areas that constitute 13% of the land which was meant for black people to live on and the whole lot of land would be used by those who were in government. The rural land was administered by the chiefs who were living with their people, who constituted about 43% of the population, and who were discriminated against, with no opportunities to advance their lives, but who did everything they could to survive on that 13% of land.
As the ANC we support this budget because the people have mandated the ANC to do the things they want. And even with the recent election people were still emphasising that the ANC knows the people's needs, and therefore it must go on working. Our people knew very well that the land is the heritage that they can live on, and they did not depend on somebody else for their livelihood.
They lived on the soil that produced food to the extent that where there was a surplus they would give it to other people who did not have food. They did not live selfishly in order to become rich, but they distributed to other people as well.
The chief and his executive had powers to confiscate fields that had not been used for three years so that somebody else could use them to produce food that would be enough for themselves and others around them.
The rural people need this budget so that it can revive this issue of land that was expropriated, so that the land can be returned to our people - this fertile land that can produce food so that our people can sustain themselves.
There are many women and youth in the rural areas. The youth is the backbone of this country. If we do not invest in the youth, this country has no future.
Therefore, all our hopes are on the youth; we need to make our plans with the rural youth in mind. The rural youth study and pass matric in their thousands, and then start a big exodus to look for greener pastures in the urban areas.
When these people come here it causes a big problem which puts pressure on the government; does this really not cause the enormous problems and the construction of squatter camps that we do not know how to get rid of? And then those who oppose us as the ANC say that people strike because the government cannot deliver services to them.
But you will note that the people who are from the rural areas are being used when they are here; they are taken advantage of and they cause damage, under the pretext that the government is not delivering services to the people. We should stop them from coming to the urban areas by developing those areas where they live because we can live off the land.
Your department, hon Minister, is faced with a big challenge of developing people in the rural areas. Many people are living in abject poverty, especially the women and the youth. You are surprised when you get to a house in a rural area and find that only an old granny receives a pension which is the only source of income. And she would be living with 13 children without birth certificates who were left by their mothers. And those mothers do not have birth certificates themselves - they go and work on the farms and come back with babies and dump them there. These people who are dumped here are living in a mud house.
The ANC knows this, but others do not know such misery and that there are such things happening in the rural areas, which the ANC government needs to correct.
Agriculture needs to be taught in schools because unless we talk of the fact that there is no revival of the soil, we cannot progress. But if we can start by ensuring co-operation between your department and the Department of Education and have an agricultural programme which will be taught in schools, the gardens at schools will not look like they were cultivated to punish the learners, which results in the youth being disgusted by working the soil as they feel that gardening is for punishing people.
When the rural women request assistance with the provision of fencing, they say they are told to go and draw up a business plan for gardening. After they submit their business plan, they are told to wait. Two years will pass without any assurance of whether the business plan has been approved or not.
That needs to be corrected because there is no need for a group of 10 women to draw up a business plan to cultivate a vegetable garden. That must be rectified, hon Minister, and it is only the ANC that can rectify this - no other party can do it. If the rural people can get the support in respect of the programmes that they dream about in the areas where they are, the products they produce with their hands can transform their lives. They can train their youth; they do not need much of that support thus far.
When waking up in the morning as a parent, you know that your child is doing this and that. A child should be part of what will keep him alive in the home. And when the parent leaves this earth, the child is well trained and knows that his parent liked this and that. Therefore, if the womenfolk can be fully supported, they will have a big influence in training our youth.
If we speak about rural women and the youth, we think that they need this and that. You see, hon Mazibuko on the other side speaks about rural areas without having sufficient knowledge of those areas; she speaks without knowing what the rural areas are and how painful it is to be there; where a child cannot just wake up and go to school without having to fetch water first; where children wash in the same basin before going to school because there is not enough water. You do not know that kind of life, but we are talking about something that we know; a life that we grew up in - we know how painful that life is.
The National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec, is a programme aimed at developing our youth and it is also a great idea because it is not party partisan. When distributing the lists of vacancies, a simple thing is done, hon Minister they are sent to all the municipalities to be distributed to the youth. The youth put in applications and are employed in that programme.
We are, therefore, ensuring that this programme continues, hon Minister, because most of the youth are in the rural areas. After being trained, we can then deploy them to different areas to train the other youth. There is remuneration where our children are training - they must come back and train every other youth who is still at home and we should not resolve that it is only the first group that needs to be trained only to later find out that the numbers are low. Because when they come back and are given the large numbers, those numbers will be multiplied with those that are riding on your back, hon Minister.
If this programme can continue, we can be sure that ...
Hon member, try to conclude your speech.
[Prince B Z ZULU: ... there must be co-operation with the Sector Education and Training Authority, Seta. The Setas must co-operate with Narysec, because if they co-operate by getting to the rural areas together, that is where we will see our youth getting the help they need. Even women should not be left behind ... [Interjections.]
Hon members!!
... because womenfolk are the most important people... [Interjections.]
Hon member, I am trying to help you with regard to the people who are making noise because we cannot really hear what you are saying. We request hon members to lower the noise level a bit.]
Also, there is one ... [Inaudible.] ... service. Please switch it off. If you are not using it, please switch it off; otherwise it disturbs all of us. It is somewhere there and it is causing us some problems.
Mhlonishwa yiphethe-ke manje inkulumo yakho.
Sengiphetha Sihlalo, kuvamisile ukuthi kulokhu kuhlala kwantambama kube nomsindo ngoba kusuke sekuke kwalunguzwa nakwezinye izindawo. Yikho-ke umsindo uvame ukuthi ube ngaka nje. [Uhleko.] Amanzi, mhlonishwa, ayisidingo sokuqala ... [Kuphele isikhathi.] Ngiyabonga. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Conclude your speech now, hon member.
In conclusion, there is usually noise during sittings in the afternoon because people go to some other places. That is why there is usually so much noise. [Laughter.] Water, hon member, is a primary necessity ... Thank you. [Time expired.]]
We really request hon members - Gatsheni! - at least to lower their voices. Even if they just whisper, they should try their level best not to disturb other members.
Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Minister, hon members and distinguished guests, in the time that I have, I will focus on the aspect of land reform. Land has been at the centre of the struggle for liberation in our country. Of course there were other issues for which the struggle was waged. The history of the dispossession of land and how people were forcefully removed from their land is well documented. So, hon Minister, we are very interested in land restitution. One of the yardsticks that will be used to judge the success of our democracy will be the extent and pace of land restitution.
Indeed, land reform is an emotive matter - those who have are resisting it and there are those who want it to fail. Azapo wants land reform and land restitution to succeed.
We are therefore looking to your department, Minister, to drive the process of land restitution to its logical conclusion. We do not want a situation where, in another five years from now, this House is still discussing the return of land to victims of land dispossession. Azapo had expected that after all the battles that your department has had, and the partial failure of the willing-seller and willing-buyer system, the country would be moving towards land expropriation.
Minister, Azapo supports any effort to deal with fraud and corruption related to land reform. We also call upon your department to deal decisively with the so-called disputes in beneficiary communities where individuals and groups hijack and appropriate land given to communities for themselves. A classic example is the land handed over to the Masakaneng community around Groblersdal, where certain persons are now selling plots and pocketing the money.
We have also heard reports of interference by the political elite and the politically well-connected in Makgobaskloof. The result is that up to now the Makgoba community is still unable to benefit from possibly the richest farm in our land.
Lastly, we need success stories in land restitution. So, we are asking: Can your department, for example, identify progressively two farms per province and assist those communities to become large commercial farmers in the following two years?
Azapo supports Budget Vote 33. [Applause.]
Chairperson, there is widespread recognition and agreement that the land reform programme is in crisis. In its current state it is therefore unlikely to achieve its objective of creating a more equitable pattern of land ownership, human settlement and agricultural production. Minister Nkwinti, you yourself, in your opening speech of the National Land Reform Consultative Workshop, said and I quote:
I acknowledge that we have not done well in managing the Land Reform Programme, as government, causing strain, pain and frustration. In some instances Land Reform programmes have not yielded the intended results.
Minister, we thank you for admitting to these failures, but this is not enough. In 1994 the ANC government set a target for the land distribution programme, aiming to transfer 30% of white commercial farmland, which is 24,6 million hectares, to black South Africans by 1999. The implementation date has since been extended to 2014 and again to 2025. By March 2011, just 7,4 million of the 24,6 million hectares had been transferred through the various land reform programmes.
Two major challenges face the land reform programme at present. The first is to speed up the transfer of land. The second is to support productive use of transferred land.
Dit is verblydend om te sien dat die departement nou self erken dat die jaag van hektaar, ten koste van die oordrag van grond, sonder die nodige opleiding en finansile steun van die departement, nie volhoubaar is nie. In my begrotingsrede, twee jaar gelede, het ek die Minister gewaarsku dat die oordrag van grond slegs die eerste stap in die grondhervormingsproses behoort te wees. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[It is heartening to see that the department itself is now admitting that the pursuit of hectares, at the expense of the transfer of land, without the proper training and financial support, is not sustainable. In my budget speech, two years ago, I cautioned the Minister that the transfer of land should be regarded as merely the first step in the land reform process.]
Inadequate budgetary allocations, unrealistic deadlines and a lack of postsettlement support for land reform beneficiaries have continued to hamper both the redistribution and restitution components of the land reform programme.
The DA is concerned about the slow process of restitution in particular. This has proven to be a long drawn-out process without proper communication to farmers and claimants. Statistics, which are presently being reviewed by the department, indicate that approximately 95% of the claims that were lodged have been resolved.
During previous years, the department's poor financial and administrative management resulted in officials continuing to negotiate and sign offers to purchase with willing land owners. This resulted in outstanding commitments of approximately R12 billion. As a result, R700 million of the restitution budget was used to settle court orders, based on litigation awarded in favour of applicants. This situation is not resolved yet and needs the department's urgent attention.
A clear plan of action that will include a payment schedule must be drawn up and communicated to all affected parties. It is a concern that expenditure for this programme is expected to decrease at an annual rate of 8,2% without the department's having any idea as to what funds are required to complete this exercise.
There are also indications that government wishes to move away from a market-based willing-buyer, willing-seller approach to land acquisition and to shift towards a more proactive yet narrower state approach.
This is evident in the introduction of a number of new policies, such as the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, called Plas. Under Plas the state buys land directly from the owner, rather than providing grants to applicants to buy the land. It is clear that the department does not have the capacity on the ground to identify appropriate land to be acquired, to engage with people in identifying land needs and to inform the choice of land - or the ability to go about this in a systemic way.
The Auditor-General noted in the 2009-10 report, and I quote:
... the department did not have a database of all previous and current beneficiaries who benefitted through different programmes and projects to ensure compliance with the criteria to qualify for land reform and restitution subsidies and prevent mismanagement of grant funding. Adequate monitoring controls did not exist to detect fictitious beneficiaries receiving grant funding, both in terms of initial contracting and ongoing contract management for the LRAD programme.
This new system would rely on a department that had the required personnel and systems in place to be able to monitor and evaluate all acquired farms on a regular basis. These staff would not only have to be trained in financial management, but also need some kind of understanding of agricultural principles.
If the department had met the above criteria, it would not have been necessary to embark on a Recapitalisation and Development Programme. The focus of this programme would be on improving the productivity of the agricultural land that had been redistributed since 1994. This programme would seek to assist land owners with efficient utilisation of irrigation, increasing production potential, mentoring of emerging projects and share- equity schemes.
The department plans to recapitalise and develop 387 farms and 27 irrigation schemes across the country during this financial year. A budget of R331 million has been set aside in the current financial year for this. The DA supports the move to include strategic partnerships and mentors to assist with the development of these farms, but with the objective of transferring title to the beneficiaries. The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, is the latest manifestation of government's attempt to integrate agricultural support, land reform and broader rural development. This CRDP is currently being rolled out in 60 wards, using the "war on poverty" methodology. This is theoretically about high-level co-ordination of activity by different departments, based on household profiling and community planning. In reality, it looks more like a desperate flurry to achieve something in the very short term, without preparing the ground adequately.
The budget for the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period for this programme increased from R3,5 million in 2007-08 to R342,4 million in the current financial year, at an average annual rate of 360%.
The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme includes the National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec, initiative. Under this programme the department has targeted reaching 22 000 youth by 2014. The DA supports programmes that target the development and employment of youth. This programme, however, was not well planned and as a result, necessitated a virement of R133,7 million in the 2010 adjustment budget - very nicely just before the elections, Mr Minister.
The call of the President to create 500 000 jobs in the rural sector over the next 10 years could be the reason why these positions were created in such haste.
Ek kry die indruk dat meer mense meer werk kry, maar dat daar in werklikheid al hoe minder plaasvind. Op 'n onlangse oorsigbesoek aan Muyexe, het ons aan die jeug gevra wat hul van hul nuwe werk dink. Die antwoord was dat hul nie genoeg daarvoor betaal word nie. Dit laat ernstige vrae ontstaan oor die uitvoerbaarheid van die program. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[I get the impression that more people are getting more jobs, but that, in reality, less is happening. On a recent oversight visit to Muyexe, we asked the youth what they thought of their new jobs. The answer was that they are not being paid enough for it. This raises serious questions with regard to the feasibility of this programme.]
Given the performance with regard to the current land reform programme, it might have been better to give the new department the mandate of building capacity to implement land reform. Currently, there is insufficient financial support for the agricultural sector as a whole, which means that agriculture plans cannot be carried out.
The government should restrain itself from designing plans that it is unable to implement because of a lack of resources. It is better to be honest about what can be achieved than to make grand promises that cannot be met. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, members and our guests, ANC policy, coupled with the Freedom Charter, the Reconstruction and Development Programme, RDP, and the Constitution, should be one of our key sources to guide us and our approach to the Budget Vote debate on the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, land reform and restitution.
The Constitution enjoins the state to support its citizens in gaining access to land on an equitable basis. Section 25 of our Constitution has a direct bearing on the core mandate of the department. Provision 4 of this section focuses on the three-pronged land reform programme, pointing to tenure reform, restitution and land redistribution.
The 52nd National Conference of the ANC confirmed that rural development is a central pillar of our struggle against unemployment, poverty and inequality. High levels of inequality inhibit the growth of our economy and undermine our efforts to ensure growth. Therefore, the ANC resolved to embark on an integrated programme of rural development, land reform and agrarian change by providing social and economic infrastructure and the extension of quality government services, particularly on health care and education, to rural areas.
Poverty is the single greatest burden on South Africa's people, and is the direct result of the apartheid system and the grossly skewed nature of business and industrial development. The CRDP was launched in Muyexe in August 2009. The department has rolled out this programme out to more than 30 wards in rural municipalities in a few months. Its intentions are to improve service delivery; to provide skills and reduce unemployment; and to improve economic growth in rural areas.
We commend the department for the improvement made in implementing the CRDP. In the 2009-10 financial year the department had nine sites in the following areas: Muyexe, Riemvasmaak, Donkershoek, Diyatalawa, Mhlonthlo, Dysselsdorp, Msinga, and Vryburg. These areas are better than yesterday and tomorrow they will be better than today.
In all these areas the department has been able to improve the socioeconomic conditions, and the lives of the poor in rural areas. Large- scale programmes were implemented in a co-ordinated manner, such as access roads, IT technology, houses, a multi-purpose centre that houses postal services and a community hall.
This is a strong indication that the department has the capacity to implement the CRDP and to expand the programme to 180 wards by 2012. Is that not progress? What type of progress do we want? The ANC government can plan and implement its programmes.
Lessons were also learnt by the department during the implementation, and some challenges were picked up, such as: underutilisation and unsustainable use of natural resources; unexploited opportunities in agriculture, mining and tourism; lack of access to water for household use and agricultural development; lack of socioeconomic infrastructure in rural areas; decay of social fabric, where lots of households are headed by children.
We are confident that the identified challenges will assist the department to adjust and intensify its plan according to the needs of our people, and identify viable solutions to these challenges in order to improve the CRDP.
We have noted the budget increase of this programme. In 2010-11 it was allocated R342,4 million, which has been increased to R441,3 million in 2011-12, representing a real increase of 23%. This increase will ensure that the department is able to meet its higher target for rolling out the CRDP to 180 wards in 2011-12.
Development is not about the delivery of goods to passive citizens, but it's about active involvement and growing empowerment. The profiling of each household and the establishment of the council of stakeholders is to ensure that we mobilise the masses of our people to work in partnership with government to carry out the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, and liberate themselves from poverty and unemployment.
We need the involvement of the people in this programme in order for them to be part of decision-making on what infrastructure they need; to participate by being employed in the construction of those projects; and also to be empowered to manage and administer the projects to overcome the legacy of apartheid.
This is an indication that the ANC government is for the people. The top- down approach is what has failed the DA. The bottom-up approach is what will sustain the ANC.
Amandla asebantwini. [Power is in the people.]
This budget must be used effectively and respond to the needs of the people, as we know that the budget is a tool to change lives of the people.
The President has declared 2011-12 as the year of job creation. The department has a plan in place regarding how they are going to create jobs as per the directive of the President through land reform and rural development. The New Growth Path provides strategies for the creation of jobs. It plans to develop strategies and programmes that will create jobs specifically for rural communities.
As the ANC we welcome the plan of the department to create 500 000 jobs in ten years to eradicate poverty and unemployment. Unemployment has been caused by apartheid, by designing education that makes us job seekers instead of job creators, but the ANC is turning the tide. [Interjections.]
For the department to execute its mandate, it must have sufficient human and financial resources. It is convincing that the department is geared to ensuring improved service delivery by creating enough capacity for the implementation of its programmes.
The department has been able to reduce its vacancy rate from 16,7% to 10,2%. There is a plan to reduce the vacancy rate to 8%, based on the available budget for the compensation of employees. The work has already begun of filling the posts with the right people for the job. We also welcome the plan of the department to review its staff establishment to get a picture of the capacity they have and the capacity they need, because they cannot keep on filling vacant posts without any purpose.
The 52nd National Conference of the ANC resolved that there should be an agrarian change, with a view to supporting subsistence food production, expanding the role and productivity of smallholder farming, and maintaining a vibrant and competitive agricultural sector.
Therefore smallholders are established with the purpose of improving the productivity of the existing small-scale and subsistence farmers and integrating the smallholders into formal value chain links with markets for the smallholders to grow and expand, and be part of the commercial market.
The hon President has entrusted the department with the responsibility of ensuring that more small-scale farmers graduate and become commercial farmers by 2014. Therefore the department has to ensure that its interdepartmental co-operation agreement with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is able to achieve this. We appreciate the role the department has played in empowering smallholders but there is still more to be done.
We note the good intentions of restitution, which seeks to deal with the settlement of land claims lodged with the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights in terms of the provisions of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, Act 22 of 1994.
The department is trying its best to restitute land to the people who were dispossessed of their land, through restoration and financial compensation. In 2010-11 the restitution budget was R3,5 billion, which has decreased by R1 billion to R2,5 billion in 2011-12, a decrease of 33,3%.
We have further noted the decline in the budget for this programme over the past four years, despite the challenges faced by the department in accelerating the implementation of land restitution. Some of these challenges are the following: the outstanding land claims to be paid, the litigation against the department by land owners, and the land claims backlogs. It will only be possible for the department to deal with these challenges if it is properly funded.
The Public Finance Management Act, PFMA, Act 1 of 1999, allows a virement to be made if there is a need to shift funds from one programme to another. What is the problem with that? What is the problem if the virement has been done within the prescripts of the PFMA? It was made for South Africans in order for them to benefit from the restitution programme.
The department has realised that delivering land to people is not sustainable without effective support and development. That is why it has taken a decision to improve all land reform projects. It has implemented the Recapitalisation and Development Programme to assist land reform beneficiaries who are struggling to use land effectively.
The programme will improve their farming skills for them to benefit from this programme, and their lives will be changed for the better. In the 2010- 11 budget year 411 farms were recapitalised and in the 2011-12 financial year 387 farms are to benefit from this programme.
To assist the struggling beneficiaries, the department has called on experienced farmers to assist in regard to co-management, strategic partnership and mentoring. While this is the right thing to do, the department has to monitor whether this strategic partnership is achieving the desired objective of training and skills transfer to beneficiaries and ensuring that beneficiaries are involved in the management of their farms, so as to avoid a situation of management of farms becoming a one man show. Thorough selection criteria of strategic partners have been developed to ensure the appointment of progressive partners. Some of the strategic partners fail our people. Some people must thank God for giving them a chance to come here and say what they want to say in this House.
Kujabula kuyashintshana. [Today all is well with me, but tomorrow all will be well with you.]
The budget for the land reform programme increased from R2,1 billion in 2010-11 to R4,2 billion in this year, reflecting an increase of 100%. It is also expected to increase further over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period at an average annual rate of 29,8%. In normal terms, this increase will ensure that land reform projects and beneficiaries are provided with technical and financial resources in order to enhance productivity of land and create sustainable livelihoods and decent work in rural areas.
The lack of access to water was identified as one of the challenges that affect productivity. Land reform projects and land restitution cannot be productive if there is no water. Therefore we commend the department for its plan to provide 5 000 kl rainwater harvesting tanks; drilling and equipping boreholes; and constructing reservoirs. This will address the challenge faced by communities with a shortage of water for household use and agricultural purposes, which deprives them of their right to farm.
Chairperson, it does not mean that the department is doing nothing about the State Land Audit. It is a work in progress. We appreciate the comprehensive plan of the department to audit state land, for the department to know what belongs to the state, to private owners and to foreigners. Although, Chairperson ... [Interjections.]
So what? So what, hey?
Order, hon members! Give the member an opportunity to complete her speech.
Although, Chairperson, there is a lot that the department has done, it does not mean that there is nothing good the department has done, and there are lots of successes. It has been able to improve its spending from 2009-10, when it was 91,6%, to 2010-11, when it was 93,9%.
It has been able to assist the beneficiaries to revitalise their struggling farms for them to benefit out of those farms.
The department has been able to transfer more than 5,2 million ha of land. This has been redistributed under the land reform programme.
It has been able to implement the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, to improve the social and economic conditions of rural people.
The department has also established the Land Rights Management Facility for farm dwellers and farmworkers to get legal representation, although there is still more to be done to make people aware of this facility.
The department has instituted an investigation into the reported alleged corruption taking place in KwaZulu-Natal and in the Land Bank. This is an indication that we as the ANC are totally, totally, against any form of corruption. [Interjections.]
It has initiated the National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec, to provide the youth with skills to be used to improve rural areas, although there are challenges to be addressed. [Interjections.]
Order, hon members! Order!
Chairperson, challenges are not crises. If people are working, there will obviously be challenges, such as farmworkers and farm dwellers still facing the harshest conditions of poverty and lack of basic services.
Some challenges are: land claims involving forestry, mining and conservation; disputes about property values which end up in litigation; high land prices; late payment of farmers, which results in litigation and the payment of extra money, such as interest; underfunding of land restitution programmes, which delays the finalisation of land restitution; an incomplete immovable asset register; sittings of audit committees being in line with the prescription of section 77(b) of the PFMA; delays in the collection of money held in trust on behalf of the department, as required by Treasury regulations; and, lastly, lack of financial controls to avoid wasteful and unauthorised expenditure.
As I have said, if you are working, there will always be challenges. They are an indication that you have to pull up your socks and fill up the gaps that are there. All South Africans have to work together to foster sustainable development in rural areas. All sectors, such as nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, traditional leaders and the community, have an important role to play in promoting and bringing about agrarian transformation.
The department has made enormous progress in ensuring sustainable rural development and agrarian transformation, despite the challenges they have experienced. By working together, we can ensure that South Africa really belongs to all who live in it.
Chairperson, I invite the following hon members, Mrs C Dudley, Mr K J Dikobo and Mr P J Groenewald to attend the committee meetings in order for them to be well informed about the rural development programme.
The ANC supports Budget Vote 33 of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chair ... [Interjections.] ... I would like to say to the hon member of the DA that we acknowledge the qualified audits, and we are working on that.
Secondly, to the hon Cebekhulu, thank you very much for the comments. Indeed, we have referred to the co-ordination and said that it is a challenge and that we need to improve on that. It is there - the hon member is correct. We acknowledge that.
Then, hon Carter, thank you very much. I have just received this information and will give it to you. None of these people are members of staff of the department. I will pass this note on to you. It responds to the question on Melville Farm and so on. So, you will get that. We got that information, and I think it is correct.
Thank you, hon Dudley, for your comments. We appreciate them. You are correct about the bureaucracy. We have mentioned the bureaucracy and the budget here, and that is why the back office reorganisation, including the rationalisation of the Land Claims Commission, is being worked on. Thank you very much for that.
I don't know where the hon member got the information about the R12 billion, but it is true.
From your department, sir.
I understand, but it is a Samson and Delilah issue. You know, that is actually true. We are not afraid to say that is why we are rationalising. We are making the commissioners, particularly at provincial level, more accountable. I think you will see in some of the results that we have taken action. That is exactly the reason why we have taken action in the past. We've acted against people who have been responsible for that.
Thank you very much, Mr Dikobo. With regard to disputes, that is true, particularly the institutional problems like you find in the communal property associations, CPAs, and the trusts. You find these people running the show without accounting to any of the members of the CPAs and trusts and so on. That is really the problem. That is why we are having meetings, consultations and discussions with all the beneficiaries of land claims. It is because of this problem. We are also discussing this with the traditional leaders and will meet with them during the month of June to further discuss this point.
With regard to the National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec, no, the hon Steyn has it all wrong. Just look at them. They don't look like the ANC at all. Is has nothing to do with elections. [Interjections.] I understand - it is what you've been saying outside. These are young South Africans who are disinterested in politics, as far as I understand. They are very interested in developing themselves and their communities. That is what we think should happen, actually.
Now, there is another thing. Chair, we are in fact making progress. I am referring to points made by hon members, and thank you, Mr Groenewald - I take your point as well.
Meneer het dit in Afrikaans ges. Ek het verstaan, mooi verstaan. [Sir, you said this in Afrikaans. I understood it well.]
So, we are making progress, and that is actually what is being said here. We are making progress, both in land reform and rural development, especially rural development. The report is very clear. The progress review there tells a story. There are big challenges, and we are not defensive about them. We have been very clear about the challenges that there are, and we are working on those challenges. We are hoping that in time we will overcome them. I think we should also say ...
... masiyitsho le nto kuMhlekazi uTrollip. Mhlekazi, sinawo amatshantliziyo kwi-ANC, musa ukuqhayisa ngetshantliziyo lakho, intombi yethu. Sinamatshantliziyo athi xa ethetha ungcangcazele nawe. [Uwelewele.] Xa thina siwuphethe kakuhle nangobunono umcimbi womhlaba - undoqo wedabi lenkululeko leli lizwe - musa ukufuna umane usityhala usihlaba ngenaliti ukuba masihambe kuba lo mcimbi siwuphethe ngendlela eyekeyeke. [Uwelewele.]
Lo mcimbi ...
ILUNGU ELIHLONIPHEKILEYO: Uza kusixelela nge-District Six.
UMPHATHISWA WOPHUHLISO LWAMAPHANDLE NOKUBUYEKEZWA KOMHLABA: Ne-District Six leyo naniyithathile bantu bamhlophe kubantu balapha ngendluzula. [Uwelewele.] Iyabuyiswa ngoku i-District Six kwaye ibuyiswa ngembeko nangobunono kuba siyahlonipha thina. Yiyo le nto usithi wena, Mhlekazi, makusetyenzwe, usitsho phaya kuMaxaba, ilungu elihloniphekileyo uMkhize. Unyanisile, Mhlekazi. Bona basetyenzelwa ngooyisemkhulu babo ababesomba kwabethu ooyisemkhulu eqolo. [Kwaqhwatywa.] Zange basebenze aba bantu; abawazi umsebenzi, basetyenzelwa. Ngoku uthi sebenza. Siza kusebenza, Mhlekazi, nomhlaba siza kuwubuyisa uze kuthi.
Ntonje ke thina asizokuwubuyisa ngolwaa hlobo lwenu kuba thina simthanda kakhulu umntu; simhloniphile umntu. Siza kuwubuyisa ngembeko nangenzolo. [Uwelelwele.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[... let us say this to Mr Trollip. Sir, we have activists in the ANC, you must not boast about your activist, who is our daughter. We have activists who can make you shiver when they are talking. [Interjections.] If we consider land affairs with deftness - the key aspect of freedom of this country - you must not keep on pushing us, pricking us with needles to act, because we are handling this matter in a very sensitive manner. [Interjections.]
This matter ...
You will tell us about District Six.
Even District Six, you white people expropriated it forcefully from people of this country. [Interjections.] Now District Six is returned and it is returned with respect and deftness because we respect people. That is why you say, sir, work must be done; saying that to Maxaba, hon Mkhize. You are telling the truth, sir. Their forefathers worked for those exploiting our forefathers. [Applause.] These people have never worked; they do not know what work is all about, work had always been done for them. Now he says "you must work". We will work, sir; we will also return the land to us.
The only difference is that we will not return it the way you took it, because we love people; and we respect them. We will return it with respect and dignity. [Interjections.]]
We, as the ANC, who are governing, don't have the luxury of grandstanding. You have it, because you are an opposition party, and you are a very small opposition party. [Interjections.] Yes, yes, you are. It is only in South Africa, and I think one of the commentators of the ANC - I can't remember who it is - is correct when he says that it is only in South Africa that a minority party could be regarded as having been so successful, when in fact it got 27% of the votes. [Applause.] We got 62% of the votes in the recent election, so all I am saying is that kuhamba kahle - we are progressing well with the issue of land.
We are actually very grateful to AgriSA - there sit AgriSA - who are very worthy partners in this land transformation process. These are the people we engage with behind closed doors to discuss matters and for them to give us advice. I mentioned in my speech what they are saying about selecting partners and so on. We have an engagement with them. There sits the deputy president. We are engaging with them, and I have mentioned here that we are going to have a meeting with them in June to discuss how we can take this programme of land reform forward. They are not politicians. They are not grandstanding. They are interested in ensuring that this country moves forward in terms of land reform. [Interjections.]
So, the DA cannot speak about this, because the DA understands only big business from Europe and America. [Interjections.] Here in Cape Town, Chair, there is a family, the Salie family, who are part of the tenant claimants in District Six and who are being evicted now. I sent the chief of staff there to speak to the landlord. Who is the landlord? He's a German. He's buying this house to renovate and sell. That is happening here in Cape Town.
In Cape Town, Constantia, we have learned that there is land under claim. It is owned by the Department of Public Works here, but what do they say to the claimants, because they are coloured? They say, "Don't bring your coloured people back here. You can't build here, because those who own the land around this land will not accept it." [Interjections.] Fine, Ndlambe! Fine, Ndlambe! Forget about Ndlambe. I am talking about Cape Town, your base here in Cape Town. So, don't talk about these things, because here in Cape Town the coloured people, the descendants of the Khoi and the San, have suffered from the beginning until now. That is the story of Cape Town. There's nothing about Ndlambe here. It's about Cape Town. Ndlambe is fine. [Interjections.] You will never win that municipality. You may win the ward, but you will never win that municipality. [Applause.]
Chair, we are making progress. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.