Whether he has taken any action to assist small-scale farmers at Grabouw, Western Cape, in particular, and other farmers in a similar predicament in general, who have no land for their cattle to graze on, resulting in their cattle straying where they are impounded and/or roaming near major national roads where they are knocked down by motorists causing farmers serious loss and seriously endangering the lives of motorists; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? WRITTEN REPLY QUESTION 3006 / NW3545E MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Honourable W. M. Madisha to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: QUESTION Whether he has taken any action to assist small-scale farmers at Grabouw, Western Cape, in particular, and other farmers in a similar predicament in general, who have no land for their cattle to graze on, resulting in their cattle straying where they are impounded and/or roaming near major national roads where they are knocked down by motorists causing farmers serious loss and seriously endangering the lives of motorists; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?    REPLY The Theewaterskloof Local Municipality (THWK LM), the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) from the Office of the Honourable Deputy Minister Skwatsha, the Office of the Premier of the Western Cape, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDOA), and other role players held a meeting on the 27th July 2015 particularly to discuss the problem of the cattle (120 cows) crossing the roads, especially crossing on the National Road (N2) which has put motorists and other people’s lives at risk. There is an urgent need for land that will be used to graze the cattle. The requirement for land has been communicated with the DRDLR office. The THWK LM reported that there are 2 farms available in the area, but these could not be committed as available/secure for use by the cattle. This will be looked into as a short term solution whilst following the DRDLR processes to acquire land. There is a 17 hectare piece of land available as part of the ARC land, though this is equally not available for use by the producers immediately as it is meant to support the ARC’s research interventions. The WCDOA advised the producers to reduce the number of cattle in order to contain the cows in a better condition, in terms of supervision and easy handling, including the provision of feed on a continuous basis. The reduction in cattle numbers was proposed by the WCDOA as a short term solution whilst the THWK LM resolves the availability of the two farms for immediate use. The cattle producers did not agree to this and refused to negotiate any further. The land acquisition matter is being discussed as a matter of urgency to address the challenge of the cattle crossing the N2.

Whether the Government has developed or was developing a policy and funding plan to allow the country’s rural population to have access to biodigesters in order to create biogas for domestic cooking and electricity purposes as is happening in India and/or to stimulate large-scale production of purified biogas for fuel as in China; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the relevant details of the biogas initiatives in the country that are led by the Government and (b) how extensive is the roll-out of the specified initiatives in the country’s rural population?

(1) What is the current language policy at each of the Agricultural Colleges; (2) Is there any change expected in the specified language policy; (3) What is the breakdown of the home language spoken by students at each of the specified Colleges?NW3453E

(a) How does (i) his department and (ii) entities reporting to him define red tape and (b) what (i) specific interventions and/or (ii) systems have been implemented to (aa) identify and (bb) reduce red tape in (aaa) his department and (bbb) the entities reporting to him?

Whether he has taken any action to assist small-scale farmers at Grabouw, Western Cape, in particular, and other farmers in a similar predicament in general, who have no land for their cattle to graze on; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

What maintenance has his department conducted at each agricultural college(a) in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012, (v) 2013 and (vi) 2014 and (b) since 1 January 2015?

What is (a) the status of the current discussions about moving agricultural colleges to the Department of Higher Education and Training and (b) his position on this potential move?

(1) What is the current language policy at each of the agricultural colleges; (2) is there any language policy change expected in each specified college; (3) what is the breakdown of the home language spoken by students at each of the specified colleges?

With regard to his department’s announcement on 1 July 2015,that Adv Shaheen Moola, Prof Julian Smith and Ms Mamashe Mdhluli has been appointed to advise him on appeals relating to the Fishing Rights Allocation Process 2013, what (a) is the total cost of employing the specified persons, (b) are the monthly salaries of the specified persons and (c) is the timeframe for each of the specified persons’ contracts?

(1) Is he aware of the investigation conducted into the commercial value of recreational lobster fishing; (2) has he received the report; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant findings; (3) will the report be tabled in the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; if not, why not; if so, when?