Hon Speaker, since the approval of the Green Paper on Land Reform by Cabinet in August 2011, the department has conducted numerous consultative workshops with a range of stakeholders. The stakeholders consulted include organised agriculture, emerging and commercial farmers, academics, nongovernmental organisations, agribusiness, donors, and other interested parties. The discussions have focused on all the policy proposals contained in the Green Paper.
From these larger consultative processes, a national reference group was established, consisting of representatives from the earlier-mentioned groups. Six work streams aligned to thematic areas of the Green Paper on Land Reform have also been established and are operational. The streams include representatives from the SA Local Government Association, the SA Council of Property Valuers and other government departments. The stakeholders are discussing the proposals in the Green Paper to find the best ways of reversing the legacy of the 1913 Natives, Land Act.
The primary objective is to change the systems, patterns, ownership and control of land and landed assets. Our ultimate objective is to deracialise the rural economy for shared and sustained growth, and create democratic and equitable land allocation and use across gender, race and class. We also want to promote a strict production discipline in order to ensure national food security. That is why we promote the return to the land, so that communities, especially in rural areas, are able to plough and sustain themselves.
Sifuna abantu abasezindaweni zasemakhaya, babuyele emasimini balime ukuze baziphilise. [Ihlombe.] Yingakho ukubuyela komhlaba ebantwini bakuleli lakithi kubaluleke kangaka. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[We want our rural communities to return to the life of cultivating the land and sustaining themselves. [Applause.] That is why land redistribution is so important to us.]
The Green Paper also sets out the objective of graduating black farmers into successful commercial farmers through the Recapitalisation and Development programme. It also calls for the creation of institutions such as the Land Management Commission and the Office of the Valuer-General, which would become the arbiters of the principles of just and equitable land reform.
As you are aware, the National Development Plan also makes proposals for land reform which include the concept of district committees. It is proposed that these committees would identify and select people to be resettled. They would also identify people who demonstrate suitability, passion and commitment to rural development despite the limited space and resources.
The centenary of the Land Act next year will provide an opportunity to galvanise the whole country towards meaningful land reform and redistribution in a manner that promotes redress and reconciliation. The consultations amongst stakeholders and the affected people will continue until the policy processes are finalised. Land remains a central issue in the restoration of the rights and dignity of those who were dispossessed. I thank you, hon Speaker. [Applause.]