The Makhathini Flats projects in the northern part of the KZN Province is divided into two sectors, the Makhathini Cotton Ginnery and Makhathini Irrigation Scheme. The Managing Director (MD) of Makhathini Cotton Ginnery (Mr Phenias Gumede) gave a brief background and explained the status of the Ginnery as follows: He reported that the Makhathini Cotton Ginnery was established in 1997 in response to the potential that could be offered by genetically modified (GM) crops. In that year, South Africa passed the Genetically Modified Organisms Act (Act No. 15 of 1997), making it the first nation in Africa to legislate the dissemination of GM technology. In 1998, the transnational biotechnology (biotech) company, Monsanto, completed its government-regulated trials on GM seed and made its patented biotech cotton seed. In 2001, a group of farmers were encouraged by Government to invest in cotton and make use of the Makhathini Cotton Ginnery. In 2003, production reportedly increased from 2 774 to 14 600 bales of cotton lint.