Mr Chairperson, earlier on in the day we were told that there would be two separate debates, one which would start in the morning and the other in the afternoon. It looks as if there have been changes. I will try to juggle the two policy speeches, and hope that hon members will not be bored. We will try to be very exciting. I know this House is one of those Houses that is very intimate in the way in which it interacts with us as Ministers. Therefore all of us always look forward to it when we are invited to the NCOP.
The President, in his address to Parliament last year, reconfirmed our commitment to reconstruction and development of our society, a task which can be achieved when we all work together in partnership. He further acknowledged work done in the past five years which, in my view, remains as a foundation for our building blocks as we reconstruct and build South Africa. One of the challenges we therefore all face is to improve the quality of life of all South Africans, particularly for those who were disenfranchised by the apartheid government.
In executing our task, we are always mindful that, as South Africans, we do not move from the principle of working towards a levelled playing field. Through this budget debate, therefore, it is my hope that we will highlight those critical issues at the interface of national and provincial governance that need to be addressed through the allocation of budgetary resources to benefit the entire South African nation.
Today we will debate the Budget Votes of both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Land Affairs. I will start, however, with the Budget Vote on Agriculture, Vote No 3. The challenge for Government in terms of developing South African agriculture remains the need to deracialise the sector and to promote and support economic growth, as well as to ensure that, in our pursuit of these policies, we attain a better life for our people, and continuously nurture our natural resources.
This was well articulated by the ANC in 1994 when we ushered in our new democracy, particularly through the Reconstruction and Development Programme. Various initiatives to respond to the legacy of apartheid were put in place, and now, almost six years later, we are beginning to see the results of those interventions.
One key initiative was the effort to broaden access to agricultural services, particularly for those who did not have it before. As an outcome of that process, we identified the constraints faced by disadvantaged farmers, prioritised their concerns and developed new instruments for information dissemination amongst farmers.
Important in this context of the new South Africa is the range of initiatives aimed at creating a culture of inclusivity in the industry. We now no longer find it strange, as it would have been before, to find black people, young people and women playing an active role in the agricultural economy. On another level, our chaste approach to the conservation of our natural resources has resulted in our people taking responsibility for caring for the soil and water and the biodiversity that we have.
One such programme is our land care programme. The land care programme thus remains a flagship programme for the Ministry. The aim of this programme is to have communities and individuals adopt an ecologically sustainable approach to the management of South Africa's environment and natural resources while improving their livelihood.
This implies that cultivation, livestock grazing and harvesting of natural resources will be managed in such a manner that the degradation of our soil, nutrient loss and loss of components of the vegetation, as well as the increased run-off water, are curtailed. The consequences of this will be the opportunity for smallholder farmers and resource-constrained farmers to improve the quality of these natural resources, and to improve productivity per unit of land.
I must say here that one of the setbacks that we have started to realise, particularly in those provinces that were badly hit by the floods, is that in many instances we are starting to see some degradation and soil erosion. Our challenge, therefore, as part as the reconstruction after the floods, will be to ensure that we put this natural base that we have, the land, to good use and improve it for today's, as well as for tomorrow's, generations.
The consequences of this will be the opportunity for smallholder farmers and resource-constrained farmers to improve the quality of these natural resources and improve productivity per unit of land. Through the implementation of this programme we have also developed synergies with other international partners and citizens. Of note is the relationship we have with the Australian government and its people. We are continually building up institutional capacity at national and provincial levels in order to grow and sustain our land care programme. This is one of the programmes that we are working at together with our provincial departments of agriculture. On the whole, and taking into consideration where we come from, we have made remarkable progress.
The initiative confirms for us the seriousness with which we view the role of agriculture in building a strong economy. The challenge is to work for increases in production and incomes at the farm level in order to provide the necessary stimulus for the development of the economy.
One of the realities of South Africa is that most black farmers, whether small-scale or not, have limited access to land and capital, and have received inadequate or inappropriate research extension and marketing support. This has constrained their ability to grow, and is a direct result of the legacy of apartheid and the history of land dispossession. This, in turn, has resulted in an undue reliance, to a greater or lesser extent, on subsistence production.
The truth of the matter is that black farmers are not exclusively small, neither would it be correct to limit the definition of small-scale or subsistence farmers to those who are black. Small-scale farmers in South Africa, we know, can be anyone, black or white. Given the South African experience of subjectivity linked to the use of the term ``small-scale'', we have resolved to deal with all farmers, recognising that they operate on farms of different sizes.
What is of essence now is that small-scale enterprises can be made commercially viable. What remains is to finalise the characterisation of small, medium and large-scale farming, using the combination of size holding and its capacity to generate income. Those members who are aware of the ecological situation in the country, may find that that which is small in the Northern Cape, may actually not be the same size as one's small- scale farm in KwaZulu-Natal, because of the difference in local vegetation in those areas.
Nonetheless, I wish to reiterate that the challenge facing us in this second democracy with regard to deracialisation of the sector is to ensure that we increase the participation of those who were previously disadvantaged.
In order to achieve our Government's objectives of black empowerment and poverty eradication, policies will therefore address problems faced by black farmers in general, and resource-poor farmers in particular. Together with the MECs of Agriculture and Land Affairs in the various provinces, we agreed on several priorities last year for agriculture. Those priorities include a farmer settlement programme, extension services and improved trade promotion. There are many others.
I would like to say that one of the important priorities we all recognise as essential for agriculture, whether on a small or large scale, is that of human resource development and capacity-building in the form of farmer training, and the development of institutions in order to allow us to improve our advisory services as well as our technological transfer. I must say these issues are also critical if we were to look at the role that our different colleges have to play in the various provinces.
Other priority areas which we as the agricultural leadership in Government will be paying attention to is the development of policies and programmes on food security, as well as on infrastructure development. This will be pursued within the framework of the agricultural growth agenda, as well as in support of the integrated rural development strategy announced by the President in his address to Parliament. This House will realise that one of the constraints that farmers face, whether they be small or large when it comes to infrastructure, is that South Africa's rural roads are not in good shape, and therefore this has an impact not just on how one interests one's input suppliers in those areas, but also on how one accesses markets in return.
It is on this basis that we have explored with Public Works ways in which we can draw on their resources to improve rural roads in order to enable agriculture to thrive in those areas. Working with the provinces and other Government departments as a national department and in order to consolidate those efforts, we will work continually to strengthen co-ordination between national and provincial departments in order to ensure that we treat agriculture as a system, and not as diverse activities. Critical in this process will be bringing the planning and implementation in the restitution and redistribution process in the Department of Land Affairs, and financial support programmes of the Land Bank, the National Marketing Council and the Agricultural Research Council into alignment with our national focus areas.
Furthermore, we will build on existing co-operation arrangements that exist with other departments and provincial departments of agriculture and launch joint programmes in rural areas. Some examples of these are the initiative of restructuring the irrigation systems in the northern and eastern provinces. Linked to this initiative is a rethink about how we as Government can facilitate the development of production and marketing infrastructure, particularly in the ex-homeland areas.
Our view is to change those white elephants into black elephants that can move and walk. I am currently engaged in discussion with other line- function Ministers nationally and with the MECs in the provinces, particularly those of transport and public works, as well as minerals and energy, because as much as infrastructure such as roads is critical, energy sources are also important for agricultural development.
We do realise that our rural community is still dependent on land for production purposes and for food security. Therefore our contribution as a department, when we work with other departments in looking at the rural development strategy, is to define what should be the role of agriculture in this regard. The challenges of rural development are complex, and we have adopted a strong geographic focus in the strategy that we believe should go a long way in unlocking economic potential, supporting social development and creating synergy in Government programmes.
For agriculture, our targeted intervention is in the form of the special food security programme, which is designed to improve household food security among the resource-poor in rural and peri-urban areas.
The special food security programme will, through a series of well-designed pilot activities, demonstrate that the rapid and significant increases in food production and household incomes could be achieved. It will identify additional constraints on increased food production and assist in developing a consolidated approach and investment programme in order to increase national agricultural production.
In direct response to the challenge to the growth of our economy, we held an agricultural indaba in October last year with the aim of establishing an annual forum for dialogue between Government, farmers, labour and other interested stakeholders in order to deliberate on those issues which are critical for the sustainable development of the sector. There was general agreement that the overarching challenge facing us all is that in order to create a sector that is viable, we need to improve the competitiveness in this industry. The intention is to promote economic growth and create more jobs, because failure to do so will result in the destruction of domestic industries by foreign competitors.
We have since engaged with the stakeholders about the constraints on competitiveness, productivity and informal dissemination. One such workshop will take place between our department and the grain producers of South Africa at a meeting on 18 and 19 April. We will be looking closely at the grain industry of South Africa to see, firstly, what issues we need to deal with together; secondly, what constraints we need to remove; and thirdly, what sacrifices we may need to make in order to ensure that this industry becomes competitive.
It is now imperative that the country dedicate enough resources to the gathering and proper analysis of statistics, the search for effective policies and development strategies, the commercialisation of the subsistence sector and interaction with other countries in order to promote and protect our international trade interests. I am raising these things because if we have a long-term view of where we want to take agriculture, competitiveness becomes the key. Also, for competitiveness to occur, it needs to be supported properly by information and proper analysis of our own situation and that of those that we compete with.
Regarding trade facilitation, our enthusiasm to participate in the global market is not without due regard for the inherent dangers presented by unfair domestic support. Export subsidies and denial of access to our products by developed countries remains one of the challenges that we face. Our farmers can be assured of our commitment to protect them from unfair international trading practices, through intelligence-gathering and the institution of countervailing and antidumping measures.
I know that hon members will agree with me that growth must increasingly be based on the ability to export products and compete on the world market. We will therefore continue to engage the World Trade Organisation, the EU partners and other trading partners in order to achieve this. We will commence with efforts to increase the economic integration of the SADC region. To beef up our capacity to transform the industry, we will need to ensure that our resources are allocated in a manner that will ensure that there is capacity for the promotion of a domestic market, management of agricultural statistics, development of defensive trade measures and promotion of international trade.
I also give the assurance that this will be done with the full appreciation of the fact that empowerment of historically disadvantaged citizens remains a continuous thrust of all economic programmes.
In concluding the agricultural policy statement, it is important to stress that our objectives will only be achieved by a comprehensive, well-designed package of policies. A long-term approach for agricultural transformation requires a complete reorientation of skills and service delivery to farmers, including the decentralisation of such services to the level of local government and farmers' organisations. Market orientation became critical in this regard.
However, in order to be effective, strategies to support farmer development not only have to be conceptually sound and noble, but also have to be properly capacitated.
There is therefore a need to continuously reflect on, reprioritise and co- ordinate the budgets and activities of both the national and provincial departments of agriculture and of our parastatal in order to give effect to this strategy. It is my hope, therefore, that in looking at Vote No 3 on Agriculture, we will be able to find synergy in terms of our policies and resource allocation.
Chairperson, I know that in terms of the time allocation, I may be running out of time, but you did tell me that I have two debates to discuss.
I now turn to a very important issue, namely the land issue, which our Government has to deal with under this portfolio. Our promise to the electorate, as we went to the polls in 1999, was that we would recommit ourselves to the transformation agenda of our country. One of the fundamental issues we still need to resolve is the inequities in terms of land distribution and ownership patterns, which reflect our past history as well as legislation under apartheid rule.
The President, in his state-of-the-nation address, identified poverty alleviation, urban renewal and rural development as areas which remain a major challenge for our country as a whole.
The portfolio of Agriculture and Land Affairs is critical to the achievement of the Government's objective of transforming rural lives and landscapes. This is largely because of our role in facilitating access to land.
The land question is thus fundamental to the economic transformation process in South Africa. The legacy of gross inequality in land ownership continues to prevail in South Africa even after five years of democratic rule and the introduction of major land reform programmes.
I must say that, in the past few weeks and days, we have been asked many questions, and even given all sorts of advice on what we should tell the government of Zimbabwe regarding how it should resolve its land reform programme, and many other related issues. For me, one thing that has been missing from the debate is what we should be doing in South Africa.
Many newspapers and different news media have been trying to draw us into this debate on Zimbabwe, but none of them actually spend time reflecting on the South African situation and asking themselves how they can make things better for South Africa.
I am raising this point because I think it is an important matter which we sometimes avoid. If one looks at areas such as Mpumalanga, and the Northern Province in particular, where one still finds persecution of farmworkers and farm dwellers, it becomes very clear that the land question in South Africa is still one of those daunting tasks we face.
HON MEMBERS: Yes!