House Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members of this House and guests, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform was established with the sole purpose of co-ordinating different departments as a catalyst for rural development, and it is supposed to adhere to values such as accountability and commitment, as established in its vision and mission statement.

However, I find it very difficult to understand why it is taking so long for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, as well as the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, to display their commitment in ensuring recapitalisation of certain farms which have long been in the hands of beneficiaries. Without help from the department, a lot of the land is unproductive.

A lot of land is sitting idle, attracting land invaders who establish homesteads on it. For example, it is alleged that the people occupying land next to Fatima Mission, under the Ntambanana Local Municipality, are our foreign brothers and sisters. This is because they have been lured by certain individuals who take money from them, under the guise of selling land to them.

Chairperson, as a committee we went on an oversight visit to different provinces, but we have not had the opportunity to revisit these provinces to see whether any development has taken place regarding the committee's recommendations. A case in point is that of Myexe, where water supply for the irrigation of the community garden is a major problem. The structure that we did see in place was a very paltry one, which appeared as if the officials were just putting on a show for our benefit.

I am happy that the Minister has pointed out the issue of the irrigation scheme at Tugela Ferry. But I visited the area in March, only to find that the scheme at that time was not revived. The officials told me that it was because of the changing of tender documents; so, the contractor who was supposed to take that tender and do the job could not be identified.

Chairperson, 10 tractors that were meant to assist in land preparation and planting in Msinga are sitting broken down and idle on office premises. This is a common sight in many other regions, not only Msinga.

The irrigation scheme on the Makhathini Flats has also run into problems; a scheme that was started in 1979 with 600 hectares and now has 3 927 hectares of land, which has been developed. Despite the increase in size and development, the lack of skilled professionals to oversee the project has resulted in it becoming dilapidated, despite promises of increased staff from national and local leadership.

Another challenge for the department is addressing the issues with regard to land claims. There are instances where traditional leaders tried to lodge land claims but were turned away to go and establish trust for the land claimants, and in some cases they were told to allow individual members of the community to lodge land claims by themselves.

In actual fact, in traditional communities all land is held by Amakhosi as trustees for their traditional communities. This right should not have been taken away as a veiled strategy to introduce individual ownership of what is inherently communal land.

Chairperson, I want to point out that in the Ntambanana area, out of nine farms that I have seen, seven of them are state-owned. These farms would have been better off leased, in order to provide employment for the local people, and at the same time bring in some immediate cash for the state from the lease agreements.

The state of vandalism on some of these farms will lead to unnecessary costs when the time comes for the department to start making use of the land. The farms provided employment for approximately 500 people, who support about 5 000 dependants.

The land issue is one of the biggest challenges the department faces, and by now it was supposed to have distributed 30% of the agricultural land back to black farmers. This has not been achieved, and the biggest question is: Out of all the land claims that were lodged, how many have been settled, finalised or are in the process of being finalised?

I am sure that there are farmers who have agreed to sell their farms, but the department does not have funds available to buy these farms, and while waiting, these farmers have stopped working the land. By the time the department pays them, the land will not have been worked for a long time. The beneficiaries will then have to start afresh preparing the land, which would mean that they will need to spend more money before they even start farming on the land.

Sengiphetha, Sihlalo weNdlu, ngicela ukudlulisa la mazwi kumhlonishwa u- Trollip. Mhlonishwa u-Trollip, ngidlulisa izilokotho ezinhle kuwena, sisebenzisana kahle nawe eKomidini lezokuThuthukiswa koMphakathi. Njengalokhu sekuqinisekisiwe ukuthi usuyosebenzela iqembu lakho esifundazweni sase-Eastern Cape, ngithi ndlelanhle, kube yisibusiso kanye nenjabulo ukusebenza nawe mhlekazi. Ngiyathokoza. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)

[In conclusion, House Chairperson, I would like say a few words to the hon Trollip. Hon Trollip, I wish you all the best. We worked well with you in the Committee on Social Development. As it has been confirmed that you are going to work for your party in the Eastern Cape province, I bid you farewell. It has been a blessing and a pleasure to work with you, hon member. I thank you. [Applause.]]