Hon Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, Minister, Deputy Minister, hon members, I also greet the nine strong hon members of the EFF in the House, EFF fighters, as a consequence of colonial land dispossession and apartheid forced removals, our agricultural sector has not been able to develop in the way it has developed in other countries.
Minister, for the better part of 200 years the agricultural sector in this country has been built on the dispossession of black land and cattle, and on the legalised exploitation of cheap and disposable black labour. This created two agricultural sectors, one white, highly capitalised by the state and with unlimited supply of land and labour; and the other black, with limited land, without access to capital, limited to subsistence farming.
The results of this are still evident today, there are currently only 35 O00 to 37 000 commercial farmers in South Africa, with an annual turnaround in the billions of rands and the majority of them are white. Since the opening up of markets and the economy the agricultural sector has been an aggressive accumulation of
agricultural land by a small minority, who have bought off struggling smaller farms, and consolidated these into bigger farms, and increasingly, these farms are owned by corporations.
Yet, on the flipside, we have around 2,3 million agricultural households in South Africa, the bulk of them in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. They are mostly landless and engage in agriculture on a subsistence basis, with no government support. Every aspect of the agricultural industry including downstream and upstream activities are dominated by white monopolies who rely on their resources and the ANC's lack of spine to block an attempt at transforming the agricultural sector.
The agricultural sector is like a cartel, and it requires a bold state to transform this industry. The basis of this transformation must entail the radical and swift expropriation of land without compensation, for equal redistribution and use. The main beneficiaries of redistributed agricultural land must be these agricultural households already engaged in agricultural production.
Also, they must be the farmworkers who are the ones that are doing the bulk of the work on the farms and the farm dwellers who know no other life but agriculture. But the state mustn't just give people
land; it must support emerging black farmers by doing the following: Providing support to farmers by providing equipment, seeds, storage facilities, advertising and access to markets.
The state must also increase tariff and nontariff barriers to reduce the importation of agricultural products which the country can produce. We cannot allow the local agricultural industry to continue collapsing simply because of cheap imports. We need to build and support fresh produce markets in each municipality for access by small-scale food producers.
We need to reintroduce agricultural product marketing boards to ensure that farmers derive the most benefits from the sale of agricultural products while at the same time, opening up market opportunities for emerging black farmers. We need to identify agricultural development nodes and offer tax breaks to companies that invest in agricultural production in any of these nodes, provided that such investment is based on strict principles of empowering local farmers to develop into independent farmers.
Government must outlaw the use of genetically modified seed in South Africa until the health hazards of these seeds are fully understood. Government also needs to outlaw monopoly of the seed industry by a
few companies. This will allow for the local production of seeds for agricultural development. The fishing industry like the agricultural sector, is dominated by a small number of companies, and whites, at the expense of the majority of our people.
For centuries our people relied on the ocean as a means of subsistence, but over the years, this access to the ocean has been taken away from them. During colonialism and apartheid it was done through apartheid spatial planning, today the ANC government denies our people access to the ocean economy with fishing quotas and licences. While companies like I and J receive huge quotas which are destroying our oceans, local community fishermen do not receive enough fishing quotas to support themselves and their families.
Government must also upgrade the infrastructure that local fishermen are using. Harbours must be upgraded, and new ones need to be built. Storage facilities must be established and local fishermen must be given access to markets to transform the fishing industry. It is clear that this government does not have the will or capacity to transform the agricultural and fishing sectors. That is why we reject this budget. I thank you. [Applause.]
Ms B N SITHOLE-MOLOI - KWAZULU-NATAL - MEC - AGRICULTURE AND RURAL
DEVELOPMENT: Hon Deputy Chair, hon Chair of the NCOP, Minister Didiza present, Deputy Minister, hon members of the NCOP, all delegates that are present today ...
IsiZulu:
... ngiyathanda nokubulisa abakhaya, ngibulise bonke abakhona nalabo abalaphaya phezulu izichukuthwane zethu ezikhona kule ntambama lapho sizokhulumisana ngezindaba zezolimo nokuthuthukiswa kwemiphakathi engaphandle kwasemadolobheni. Ngisukuma-ke ngenkulu intobeko, ukuba yingxenye yokuba sizoxoxa ngenkulumo-mbiko yohlahlo lokwabiwa kwezimali ethulwe nguNgqongqoshe Wezolimo, Ezomhlaba Nezokuthuthukiswa Kwezindawo Zasemakhaya.
English:
I rise to address hon members during this important month of July, the month that we take highly as the month that gives us pride as South African people where we dedicate this month to Tata Mandela, our first democratically elected President of South Africa. I believe that all of us seated here we recognise and appreciate the work that Tata Mandela did before he became the President and the time he was President. Tata Mandela is synonymous with the fight against injustices and also inequality. He dedicated his life to
create a better life for the people of this country across all the racial lines. I believe that when we celebrate him this month, we will have to look back and say, how much have we done to come together as South Africans and fought the scourge of poverty, inequality and unemployment.
Because he would stand here today and say to us, "I said to you that we must reconcile." It doesn't take one party to lend a hand of reconciliation, it takes all the parties to give a hand and say, we are reconciled. And, as I am standing here, I am seeing a nation that is one- sided, where African people who have been wronged, they lend a hand of saying, let us have peace, let us reconcile. The other hand tried to explain why it has to be like that and should continue like that. I believe that Tata Mandela would not agree with us and we need to change the attitude and the way we do things so that we better the lives of our people. I believe that Tata Mandela used the public service as an instrument to transform society. He believed that the resources of the state have to be used to uplift the ordinary members of society out of abject poverty. I want to quote him:
Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man- made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the action of
human beings. Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is the protection of the fundamental right, the right to dignity and a decent life.
As I stand here before this House and before these hon members, we have been talking about the level of unemployment and the figures that we have been debating and arguing about and that also we should have been an understanding that it reflects on the issue of food insecurity. I think we have to agree on this one, to say, whilst we are saying that we want to grow the economy through the agricultural sector but at the same time we should agree that there is a need for alignment of how we are going to deal with the programmes that we have. We have to deal with the issue of saying, how can we ensure that our community out there are not going to bed without eating anything which is the food security programme that we need to look at, and also to clarify ourselves and our communities on the importance of engaging in agricultural activities in their homes so that they do not starve whilst they have a small piece of land outside of their houses. That is why in KwaZulu-Natal we have One Home One Garden programme which is meant to say that there is no house that cannot have a space at least to plant two lines of spinach, two lines of cabbage, tomatoes and others so that you have something to eat before you go to bed. These programmes must have an
impact on our societies. And I believe that, whilst we are saying that it is a start and we are moving on, the agricultural sector has not only proven to be labour absorptive but also has the potential to be expanded to strategically position KwaZulu-Natal as a leading supplier of agricultural products for domestic consumption and for export. The spatial distribution of Agricultural Colleges covers all the agro-ecological zones of our nation and is also fairly distributed in most provinces.
We have graduates that have graduated in agriculture as hon member Bebee indicated earlier on and I am not going to expand on that one and I am going to move on. The escalating fuel prices have also caused a drastic increase in food prices. These higher prices, together with high interest rates, have reduced the purchasing power of households and have exposed millions of people to food insecurity. In view of this, we undertake to work with the national government to ensure support to both fully fledged commercial and emerging farmers. I would like to say that, as KwaZulu- Natal, recently, last month, we co-ordinated all small-scale farmers to say that, when you produce, this where you can go and sell your food. And also, we have made it our responsibility that we are going to ensure that we support all the districts that have implemented the first food markets so that those people can sell their produce to
those markets and we are going to ensure that happens and people ... the value chain is being linked and aligned and is making a difference in the province and also in the country. Because when KwaZulu-Natal is striving in the agricultural sector then the nation will also strive. I think that also we want to welcome the gesture by the hon Minister that you are going to support the colleges and I think that we must also say that; we have two colleges but we are saying further that we must utilise them also to have nurseries that are going to produce seeds so that we do not go out all the time and buy seed and find that it is very expensive and then we do not see the importance of that. But the impact is not seen as well if we are doing that because we are paying more and we are unable then to produce as expected.
As KwaZulu-Natal, we have a plan and we are pleased to say that our premier is supporting our plan of saying how best can we revitalise our agricultural sector and rural development in our province. And I am sure that the Minister will know that even Isilo Samabandla has also pledged that the Ingonyama Trust land will also be utilised and the within tribal chiefs, they have pledged that they are going to give us, at least in each traditional council, 100 hectares as a start so that we start saying that to the communities out there in rural areas that, "this is the place, go and plough and do that
together." I believe that you are also going to support us. I know, hon Minister, you talked of the issues that pertain to the fight that is going on in our province between our farmers and also those farm workers and also between the Communal Property Associations CPAs, trusts and the traditional leaders, I believe that your intervention, as you have started, will need a result and also the change in the policy that will assist in training these CPAs and also train the trusts and the traditional leaders on how they will be utilised and how to work because all of these trusts have not been reviewed and have not held any annual general meetings. And I believe that the policy that you are proposing is going to assist us as well. As KwaZulu-Natal, we are also of a view that working together we can do more because we need each other to be able to pull together.
There is one government in South Africa, even if you want to deny it, in KwaZulu-Natal we cannot do better when other provinces are not doing their part. [Applause.] And also we cannot drag the whole country to be part of KwaZulu-Natal. We are saying that, let us play our part as KwaZulu-Natal but also let us pull together to say, what is the best that we can learn from Mpumalanga and what is the best that we can learn from other provinces and find a shared kind of initiatives and programmes that will prosper the country and take
our country forward. [Applause.] I am saying that because when we are given a responsibility as public representatives; we are expected to do our part. I stand here and say that, if I cannot be honest with the work and am diligent to the work that I am supposed to be doing, why should I be there? As I go towards my conclusion, I know Chair you want to ... it is a maiden speech, I am told from the other ... [Inaudible.] that when you are doing a maiden speech; you are given at least an additional second, but I think we need to have public servants that are committed. Public representatives that are committed because without that we can have any programme and any budget that we can have but if those people that are supposed to implement and those that are supposed to direct the policies are not committed and do not have the will then all what you are doing is wasting time and energy of the nation. The nation looks upon us and they trust us. Why can we not be trusted on the work that we are doing? I am taking that from the word of God in Ruth 1:16 where Ruth says to her mother-in-law, "Don't beg me" Thank you very much. I hope all of us will be Ruth and be Esthers of the day so that we change the lives of our nation. I thank you. KwaZulu-Natal supports the budget. [Applause.]