Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon Members of Parliament, officials from the department, guests, ladies and gentlemen, I stand here to say that as the ANC we support the Budget Vote.
The land question was at the core of our liberation struggle. It is therefore fitting that our land and agrarian policy be designed in a manner that alters the racially based patterns of distribution of land holdings inherited from the colonial and apartheid governments. Moreover, there is a need to go beyond deracialisation of land holding to addressing the structural problems around poverty and inequality.
One of the questions that we need to explore as we intensify the land reform programme, as promised in the ANC manifesto, is the kind of land reform to follow. Should the land reform involve the break-up of some of the large-scale commercial farms into smaller production units allocated to large numbers of rural poor, with the agrarian restructuring conceived as a key measure of poverty reduction? Is a mixed agrarian structure a possibility?
The past 16 years of the implementation of the land reform programme provide us with useful lessons for the future design of processes of agrarian change. To date we have observed that land reform has retained the large-scale commercial farming sector. It has begun to deracialise ownership as a contribution to national reconciliation.
We have observed both the strengths and the weaknesses in land reform. An intervention by the department was to design the Recapitalisation and Redevelopment Programme, where 25% of every Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, allocation has been set aside for development and recapitalisation of projects. In this way, government aims to assist land reform beneficiaries to bring most of the unproductive farms into full production, guarantee food security, create jobs in the agricultural sector, and enable the graduation of some farmers into the commercial mode of production.
On the recapitalisation and redevelopment of land reform projects one needs to be careful about not using the notions of viability and productivity to obstruct the goals of restructuring of the agrarian structure. I emphasise the restructuring of the agrarian structure from the view of the 52nd ANC National Conference resolutions, specifically a clause that reads thus, and I quote:
(To) embark on an integrated programme of rural development, land reform and agrarian change ... Agrarian change with a view to supporting subsistence food production, expanding the role and productivity of modern small-holder farming and maintaining a vibrant and competitive agricultural sector.
Sometimes the debates about viability and productivity are located within the new liberal conceptualisation of land reform that emphasises business profitability rather than other significances of land - source of livelihood for the rural poor and a symbol of dignity. What is required is policy coherence on the vision of land and agrarian reform. The programme of land reform and rural development should be embedded within a wider agrarian reform and as government reviews and develops policies on these aspects, critical choices have to be made.
An exclusive focus on efficiency of production on redistributed farms, and a focus on market forces as the driver of wealth creation, can at times be one of the shortcomings. While those issues are relevant, questions regarding the creation of multiple sources of livelihood for beneficiaries, especially the poor and marginal groups, are also vital. At least a livelihood dimension allows us to transcend the narrow focus on farming and agriculture, and also to see how we can deal with the structural origins of poverty. The programme of agrarian reform should consider its impact on household food security and vulnerability.
The New Growth Path, championed by the Department of Economic Development, highlights the significance of agriculture in the growth of society's productive capacity. The challenge, however, is how to achieve the social efficiency of agricultural growth.
Let us think for a moment about poverty and rural development. Some analysts think of agriculture, small farms, and the nonfarm rural economy as being concerned with livelihoods. On the other hand, rural development is widely concerned with health, education, participation and social protection. It can be argued that it is not an either/or kind of situation. A comprehensive approach is vitally important.
The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, as outlined in the strategic plan, seeks to help rural dwellers with household basic needs of food; job creation; investment in infrastructure such as transport; communication; education; and also developing enterprise growth. It also speaks to the revitalisation of small towns and supporting industrial clusters.
Having established the Social, Technical, Rural Livelihoods and Institutional Facilitation, Strif, Branch in the department, one hopes that the sustainable livelihoods perspectives in rural development that focus on the various assets rural people access, structures and processes which mediate how these assets are transformed into income and other desired outcomes, that is, improved social and economic infrastructure, will be given priority consideration. Considerable funding for these projects is required from within the department, as well as other government departments, which will be co-ordinated.
The focus of the department is agrarian transformation which includes rural and agricultural development that lays a solid foundation for food security, food sovereignty, and economic development.
Let me turn to some of the priority programmes of the department. The first is the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP. The ANC Manifesto spelt out a requirement for, and I quote:
an equitable, sustainable ... growth path that brings decent work and sustainable livelihoods; education; health; safe and secure communities; and rural development;
targeted programmes for the youth, women, workers, rural masses, and people with disabilities;
In view of the above and related pronouncements, the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, in his state of the nation address said "rural development, food security and land reform" are one of the top five priorities of government.
The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, encompasses programmes that ensure links between land and agrarian reform programmes and water allocation. The examples of Muyexe in Limpopo and Riemvasmaak in the Northern Cape provide vivid illustrations of interventions to improve rural lives and provide a better life for all.
However, the challenge is enormous. According to Statistics SA, Chairperson, 68% of the total of 4 227 national wards, in other words, 2 920, have rural characteristics, and that 68% has a total population of over 25,7 million people. These are the people that the programme of government still needs to reach, and government is on track to do just that, but more resources, both financial and human, will be required from the national level for the local levels of government.
It is encouraging to witness a renewed interest in the development of skills among the youth through the National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec. The programme and infrastructure development projects are reported to be the key instruments for job creation in rural areas, especially for the youth. Already, experience from the pilot projects has shown huge success in job creation. However, there is still room for improvement, and we are proud of it.
In line with the provisions of the Constitution, we have made commitments to "get the land back to the people". The project of restitution is underpinned by two central themes, namely redress to victims of land dispossession and trauma caused by dispossession, where some 3,5 million people and their dependants were forcefully removed from their land and the policies of the day sought to maintain white supremacy in South Africa, and the commitment to restorative justice through the return of land to the victims of dispossession, or a comparative redress.
In this respect, there has been a call for a faster pace of resolving land claims, while on the other hand, many of those who now own the land have derailed the process through court processes, escalation of land prices, lengthy negotiation processes and just blatant lack of commitment to the process of national reconciliation through transformation of land holding patterns and property relations.
Chairperson, the impact of forced removals on the social and physical landscape of South Africa is ineradicable. In the countryside one still finds many people who personally experienced the harsh and ruthless apartheid policies that dispossessed them of their land rights and displaced them from the only places they knew as their home. These demands are real and involve real people.
The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights has settled the majority of land claims lodged by various communities, households and individuals in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, Act No 22 of 1994. It is known that the majority of the remaining land claims are complex and involve large amounts of highly developed commercial farms in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The challenge is escalation of prices, reduction of budget allocated for restitution, and community disputes. It is for these reasons that there are backlogs.
However, one should commend the department for putting in place measures to ensure that all land claims are settled within the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, baseline allocated. Going forward from this financial year, there are major implications for the structure of budget allocation and mechanisms for land acquisition for restitution, a subject that the land policy review should address.
The complexity and challenges of restitution have resulted in numerous court cases involving the department. Of all the 316 cases, 47% are in KwaZulu-Natal, 21% in Mpumalanga and 16% in Limpopo. Restitution is a constitutional imperative, and all citizens of this country need to honour this constitutional provision.
With regard to the state land asset register, the auditing of state land and the comprehensive database of land parcels registered in the name of the government of the Republic of South Africa, as reported on 30 March 2011 to the portfolio committee, the department has completed the development of a state land database. Further work required is to verify the database against those managed by Public Works.
One of the things that the Ministry and the department need to clarify is the state land asset register and management of state land, especially the role and functions of the Ingonyama Trust Board, established in terms of the KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Act, Act 3 of 1994 and amended by the KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Amendment Act, Act 9 of 1997. The primary objective of the board is to function as landowner in law of Ingonyama Trust land, which is some 2,7 million hectares.
To quote the 2010 Annual Report of the Ingonyama Trust Board: (it) has long identified itself as a catalyst for development in areas it operates in.
There is a need to explore the role of the Ingonyama Trust Board and the municipalities or other departments, such as this department, which see themselves as catalysts for rural development. The challenges are the issues around putting into effect, into operation, the provisions of the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act, and the board has seen a situation where it, and not the beneficial occupiers, was sent huge rates bills.
With regard to job creation and skills development, the CRDP model is a vehicle that addresses the issues around skills development and job creation. In addition, the objectives of the Recapitalisation and Development Programme include the graduating of emerging farmers to becoming commercial farmers and creating job opportunities in the agricultural sector.
Development in the context of the Recapitalisation and Development Programme entails mentoring, capacity building in its broader sense, and infrastructural development. This will be done through strategic partnership and mentorship. These are the matters that the committee will prioritise for oversight during the MTEF period.
In conclusion, let me draw your attention to the central theme of the World Development Report of 2008. That theme is "Agriculture for Development". There is wide acknowledgement of the renewed interest in agriculture and its centrality as an engine of economic growth. South Africa should consider redefining the imagination of the vision of the future of food, agriculture and agrarian relations. In this process, we must consider possible pathways out of poverty for the many people found in rural areas, including the workers on the commercial farms, as well as those in the former Bantustans. Policy processes under way provide opportunities to strategically design interventions that will make South Africa a better place for all.
As I have said, Chairperson, as the ANC we support this call. I thank you, Chairperson. [Time expired.]