NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 895
INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [No 8-2011]
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 18 March 2011
895. Mr D A Kganare (Cope) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and
Land Reform: Â
Whether his department has been successful in ensuring that all of the 2.9
million hectares of land handed over to beneficiaries as part of the land
reform programme remained commercially viable and productive; if not, why
not; if so, what are the relevant details? NW988E
THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:
No. For this reason, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform
has introduced the Recapitalisation and Development Programme (RADP) which
is an intervention strategy aimed at providing support to distressed farms
so that they can become commercially viable and productive.
The RADP seek to respond to challenges of collapsing land reform projects
and defunct irrigation schemes in the former homelands as well as
distressed farms owned by private individuals. The objectives are to
increase production, enhance food security, graduate small farmers into
commercial farmers and create employment opportunities within the
agricultural sector.
To this end, the Land Reform Branch set aside 25% of the baseline of the
land acquisition budget amounting to R900 million for the 2010-2011
financial year. The target for the 2010-2011 financial year was to
recapitalise 504 distressed farms. To date approximately 852 distressed
farms have been advertised for expressions of interest by either mentors or
strategic partners interested in making them commercially viable and
productive across the country. A total of 411 farms were selected from the
852 advertised farms by both strategic partners and mentors through normal
tender processes and direct sourcing.