With reference to the WWF-SA 2015 report on Agricultural Facts and Figures, which indicates that 5 million hectares of South African crop land have already been acidified as a result of indiscriminate use of synthetic fertilizers resulting in the rapid decrease of arable land in South Africa, what is his department doing to (a) strictly regulate the use of synthetic chemicals and (b) promote sustainable and ecologically sound agricultural practices?
(a) Fertilizers are registered in terms of Fertilizers, Farm feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act No. 36 of 1947. Section 3:2(a) requires that any fertilizer in respect of which registration is applied for is suitable, and sufficiently effective for the purposes for which is intended, and complies with such requirements as may be prescribed and that it is not contrary to the public ...
(1) Whether his department has given full and proper attention to the expert opinion of Fisheries and Research Development officials within his department who noticed a massive decline in the population of horse mackerel in South African waters at the time of granting an 8 000-ton experimental quota to a certain person (name furnished); if not, why not; if so, why (a) did his department act contrary to the view of the specified experts and (b) was his department endangering the viability of the horse mackerel population; (2) whether he will make a statement on the granting of the quota to the specified individual and address the soundness of the decision to grant the specified quota in relation to the scientific facts available to him; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1) The Department always gives full and proper attention to the expert opinion given by each Branch or Chief Directorate. It is not understandable why there is a belief that the Department acted contrary to the view of some experts. The Department acted in accordance with proper rules and procedures and followed the scientific recommendations given by its experts. The Department has not allocated ...
1)Whether he and/or his department has bought advertising space in The New Age in the (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 financial years; if so, (i) what number of times and (ii) for what amount in each specified financial year?
With reference to President Jacob G Zuma’s undertaking in his State of the Nation Address delivered on 12 February 2015, that the Government will set aside 30% of appropriate categories of state procurement for purchasing from Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs), co-operatives, as well as township and rural enterprises, what percentage of the total procurement of (a) his department and (b) every entity reporting to him went to (i) SMMEs and (ii) co-operatives from 1 April 2015 up to the latest specified date for which information is available? NW370E
(1) Whether his department has any models of the long-term impact of climate change and altered rainfall patterns in various parts of South Africa;
(2) Whether his department is using the specified models to inform the agricultural sector of the changes they needed to effect and the strategies they needed to employ to remain economically viable; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) Whether he will make a statement on recorded high temperatures in South Africa
between 1 December 2015 and 15 February 2016;
(4) Whether the department is sufficiently responsive to the likelihood of western South Africa becoming hotter and drier in the foreseeable future and what needed to be done to deal with an altered climate?
Whether he has entered into a performance agreement with the President, Mr Jacob G Zuma, with regard to the implementation of the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2014-2019; if not, why not; if so, (a) which key indicators and targets from the MTSF are reflected in the agreement, (b) how many performance assessments has he undertaken in consultation with the President since the agreement was signed, (c) what progress has been made in meeting the key indicators and targets from the MTSF, (d) what are the key obstacles to implementation and (e) what is the plan to address such obstacles? NW73E
Whether his Ministry has any frozen vacant positions; if so, (a) how many of the specified positions are vacant, (b) what are the designations of the specified positions and (c) for how long have the specified positions been vacant?
Whether his department completed the Agricultural Disaster Risk-Management Plan; if not, (a) why not and (b) when will the specified plan be completed; if so, (a) what is the current status of the plan and (b) under what circumstances will the plan be implemented?327/NW337E
Whether his department completed the Agricultural Drought-Management Plan; if not, (a) why not and (b) when will the specified plan be completed; if so, (i) what is the current status of the plan and (ii) under what circumstances will the plan be implemented? NW338E
(a)Why did the National Crop Estimates Committee issue its preliminary production forecast for the summer 2016 crops in January 2016, (b) who requested such a forecast to be issued so early in the year and (c) what is the expected margin of error when releasing a forecast so early in a year
