Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister, and hon members, the Minister's department has a great task. The implementation of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, is seen as the main tool to address the needs of the rural marginalised communities and is a great achievement for the administration. President Zuma and his Cabinet must be applauded for giving the rural people a voice through this innovative programme.
Our government's outcomes approach to addressing the policy priorities of our country is clearly illustrated in Outcome 7 as "vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities with food security for all", which is the responsibility of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. In trying to address this outcome, the department has developed a flagship programme called the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme that is linked to land and agrarian reform, and has been a key spending priority since 2009.
The aim of the CRDP is to alleviate poverty and food insecurity in rural areas by maximising the use of natural resources to create vibrant, equitable and sustainable communities. It addresses the specific needs of rural communities such as running water, sanitation, electricity, housing and development support.
The CRDP was rolled out in 29 wards in the 2009-10 financial year, and has been rolled out to 39 sites in 2010-11, which exceeded the target of 21 wards. Through the CRDP pilot schemes, infrastructure for basic services is currently provided in eight provinces. This is a great achievement!
It is envisaged that during the medium-term period it will be rolled out to all rural municipalities. The target is to reach 180 rural wards by January 2012. Minister, the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs fully supports this programme. Sinqwenela into yokuba niqhube kakuhle kwaye kungabikho nto eniphazamisayo kule nkqubo. [We hope that you will do well and that nothing will disrupt you in this programme.]
Since the inception of the CRDP in August 2009, 9 949 jobs were created and about 472 people have been skilled. In addition, through the newly launched National Rural Youth Service Corps Programme, 7 000 jobs for young people in rural areas have been created. In terms of the New Growth Plan, it is expected that 500 000 jobs will be created in the rural development sector by 2020.
The department expects to create 53 000 jobs in all the CRDP initiatives by 2014. Although this is a tall order, Minister, we know you will be able to deliver. Chairperson, the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs supports this programme fully and wants to congratulate the department for heeding the call for creating jobs.
Furthermore, the department aims to overhaul the land policy and legislation in order to facilitate sustainable land reform. These initiatives are fully supported. Minister, as our people have been landless for far too long. We need to speed up delivery in this regard.
It is clear from the vast mandate of the department that various challenges inhibit the department from implementing its programmes. Comrades, this is the time for proper integration of programmes of various departments so that we can do more together.
From the budget portion the department has been allocated a budget of R8,1 billion in 2011-12 to tackle the pressing need for rural development and land reform. The budget is expected to be used to roll out the CRDP pilots, settle outstanding commitments under the restitution programme and the backlogs on land delivery, which was suspended in the previous financial year due to a lack of funds, as well as to cover the recapitalisation of struggling land reform projects.
The budget is also expected to cover new policy initiatives to be undertaken in the current year, such as the Green Paper and Land Tenure Security Bill. All these budget proposals are fully supported. They address the key issues identified in the strategic plan of the department and support the key policy priorities of government.
There is a 6,3% increase in the overall budget allocation after taking inflation into account for the financial year. The huge increase in the budget allocation for the Land Reform and Rural Development Programme is much welcomed, as it shows that these programmes are being prioritised in the 2011-12 financial year.
The significant increase in the budget allocation for the rural development programme is for the implementation of the CRDP, in particular the National Rural Youth Service Corps Programme. The committee has noted that the budget allocation to the Restitution Programme in 2011-12 has declined, considering the fact that there are already previous commitments as well as court cases that have to be covered under this programme. Government will need to look for additional funds if we want to address the backlogs within the set timeframes.
The Land Reform Programme is responsible for providing sustainable land reform programmes in South Africa. The budget for the Land Reform Programme increases drastically from R2,1 billion in 2010-11, to R4,2 billion in 2011- 12, reflecting a real increase of 88,7%. The increase in the budget allocation of this programme is influenced by the significant real increase of 155,2% for Land Reform.
Chairperson, with regard to the holding account sub-programmes, the huge increase in the Agricultural Land Holding Account sub-programmes shows government's commitment to acquire more land proactively. Our government is sending out the message that we are serious about changing land ownership in South Africa. The budget allocation for both regional and provincial offices also increases significantly by 67,8% and 59,1% respectively, after taking inflation into account.
In the budget allocation for the Land Reform National Office Sub- Programmes, 35% is allocated for the Land Rights Management Facility to provide legal assistance to farm workers and farm dwellers, and for the audit of all state-owned enterprises. This assistance to the farm dwellers and farm workers is fully supported, as this sector of our society is often left vulnerable.
The increase in the budget allocation of the Land Reform regional office covers 61% for the compensation of employees and the remainder is to cater for the recapitalisation and development of distressed land reform projects, as well as to strengthen security of tenure for farm dwellers and labour tenants by providing legal support. With regard to the Land Reform grant budget, 20% will be used as grants to households to acquire land and the remainder will be used for recapitalisation and development of distressed farms.
Chair, the department's Recapitalisation and Development Programme, which is ambitiously targeting 411 projects for this financial year, is commended. This translates to assisting 3 169 beneficiaries within the financial year. This programme is urgently required since many projects that have received support from the various grants disbursed from the department require only a small intervention in order to be successful.
Finally comrades, I would leave you with this quote:
The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme is our national collective strategy in our joint fight against poverty, hunger, unemployment and lack of development in rural areas. It is an embodiment of our unshaken commitment that we shall not rest in our drive to eradicate poverty.
These are the words of our President spoken at the launch of the programme in Giyani, Limpopo on 17 August 2009. Minister, the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs supports Budget Vote No 33 for the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. I thank you. [Applause.]