Hon Chair, considering where we have come from with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, especially the fact that most of what is happening in the rural areas is run, administered and controlled by the urban centres, few people know the truth about what is required in terms of the amount of land, numbers of beneficiaries, the cost of land acquisition and registration of titles of land. Mistakenly, the Land Claims Commission was given an arbitrary deadline of 2008 to acquire and distribute 30% of commercial agricultural land via an inadequate amount of funds using the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle.
Staffing of the department was kept low as most of their work, such as research, evaluations, management of land holdings, pre- and postsettlement support for beneficiaries, was done by consultants, resulting in long delays, fictitious beneficiaries, dysfunctional communal property associations, trusts and associations. Many farms, so acquired, were never tilled. Many farms were gazetted on poor research reports by consultants, who rarely consulted the farmers and beneficiaries. This resulted in a huge number of court cases which put the budget of the department in jeopardy - that is, on wasteful and fruitless expenditure owing to the court fees and interest.
However, in the 2010-11 financial year, we witnessed three huge changes in the department. Firstly, there was a hands-on political champion of the department, resulting in outcome-based performance, close scrutiny of quantities of land acquired, verification of beneficiaries linked to those pieces of land, investigations of wayward behaviour, especially the collusion of staff with estate agents who distorted land acquisition costs in pursuit of high commissions. There has been a charge of guard in the senior management of the department, resulting in more transparency in financial management systems design, and control and accountability.
Thirdly, there has been programme-based budgeting followed by better collaboration of the department with stakeholders, its partners and beneficiaries, especially in terms of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme. Fourthly, for the first time in rural development, rural communities have a say in decisions about their development and therefore we now know the budget is inadequate for its purpose. We also know when the state land will be fully accounted for. We also know that the smash-and- grab land tenure system in our country is going to come to an end. We further know that all staff that collaborate with the criminals are going to be arrested.
We know that the beneficiaries are getting financial and technical support from the state and the private sector. Above all, we know that the Auditor- General, the Special Investigating Unit, and KPMG will reveal all hidden abuse of state funds. Therefore the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform commends this report, and I thank you. [Applause.]
There was no debate.
Chair, we welcome all the knowledge that the portfolio committee has brought to the House in terms of the progress the department is making. I move:
That the Report on the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform be adopted.
Motion agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted.