Chairperson, it was a slip of the tongue! The FF Plus ingavuya kakubi [can be very happy]. Hy ken net daardie plek van ons in die Noord-Kaap. [He only knows that place of ours in the Northern Cape.]
Rural women, farm dwellers and producers in the former Bantustans must be the beneficiaries of the process of transformation of land ownership patterns and relations, which the ANC has championed. This transformation process is a fundamental element of the national democratic revolution. The starting point is to measure the impact of programmes on opportunities for women, young people, and people living with disabilities.
Our experience of land reform, especially land tenure reform, has shown that it is a complex programme. This is because of the entrenched legacy of colonial and apartheid policies. We need to deal decisively with the legacy of a colonial project that displaced black farmers from their ancestral land.
Many farm dwellers and farm workers living on farms were relegated to that status after their independent access to land was eroded by race-based laws such as the Natives Land Act of 1913. This Act, and many others, forced many independent black farmers off their land and they had to seek wage employment in the emerging urban centres.
In the former Bantustan areas women suffered oppression and discrimination. For example, the Black Areas Land Regulations R188 of 1969 provided that land might be allocated only to a male member of the family. In addition, the Black Administration Act of 1927 regarded women as minors who could not own property in their own right. During this time, many of the tribal authorities continued to treat women as minors.
The process of land tenure reform must recognise or upgrade the informal rights of those who occupy but do not own land. This is an obligation in terms of section 25(6) of the Constitution, which states that a person or community, whose tenure of land is legally insecure as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices, is entitled to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to tenure which is legally secure, or to comparable redress.
This clause does not merely state the rights that citizens have. As I have just said, it speaks to an obligation of the state. It forms part of the Bill of Rights, and section 7(2) of the Constitution states:
The State must respect, protect and promote and fulfil the rights in the Bill of Rights.
The ANC has acknowledged that, despite progressive advances in the legal architecture, much still needs to be done in the area of land tenure security. There are, for example, the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, Act No 62 of 1997, commonly known as Esta, the Land Reform Labour Tenant Act, Act No 3 of 1996, and the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, Act No 19 of 1998.
The 52nd ANC national conference acknowledged that the most critical challenges facing South African society related to unemployment, poverty and inequality. These three challenges were again emphasised by the President of this country on the occasion of the state of the nation address earlier this year.
The majority of people affected by these challenges are women and children. The strategy of the ANC is focusing on the discovery of solutions that aim to take people out of conditions of poverty through long-term and sustainable solutions that empower them economically.
During the 52nd ANC national conference the ANC reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that the allocation of customary land should be democratised in a manner that empowers rural women and supports the building of democratic community structures at village level.
We need a holistic approach when dealing with these and other land tenure- related issues in the communal areas. This is in view of other legislation that has an impact on women's access to land and administration in the former homelands, for example, the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act of 2003 and recently, the Traditional Courts Bill.
We believe that the ongoing work on the Green Paper on Land Reform will provide direction with regard to transformation and land tenure systems.
The fundamental changes in the patterns of land ownership through the programme of land redistribution must include comprehensive support programmes with proper monitoring mechanisms to ensure sustainable improvements in livelihoods for the rural poor, farm workers and small farmers, especially women.
These form the core of the question of agrarian transformation. For the benefit of the vulnerable groups, agrarian transformation should support subsistence food production, expanding the role and productivity of modern smallholder farming.
Let me share with you some of the statistics in regard to the progress made in addressing the needs of women's empowerment in the land reform programme. Between April 2009 and March 2010, 51% of 11 362 land reform beneficiaries were women. In addition, in April 2010 to January 2011, 48% of 1 582 beneficiaries of the programme were women. [Interjections.] With regard to restitution, between April 2010 and January 2011, 51% of the 8 658 households that benefited were female-headed.
We welcome the Recapitalisation and Development Programme, which is aimed at bringing many of the distressed land reform farms into full production. It is critical that components of this programme should look into the institution and how internal arrangements and processes empower rural women in regard to allocation and control of resources.
We commend the department and the Ministry for the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, and for interventions that have begun providing agricultural support services such as equipment, seeds and infrastructure.
!Gi !oes. [Good night.] The ANC supports this budget. [Time expired.]