Hon Chairperson, Minister, Deputy Minister, and hon members, in South Africa, as in Morocco, 43% of the country's people live in rural areas. Many of them are generally worst affected by unemployment, poverty, malnutrition, poor education, and a lack of clean drinking water. Refuse removal and modern methods of sewage disposal are seriously lacking. All these factors contribute to the poor health status of the people living in these rural areas.
Rural development cannot occur without good infrastructure: roads, power and telecommunications. The United Nations estimated that having a telephone installed in a rural village increased the economic activity by a factor of 50. In order to address these challenges, sustainable rural development strategies need to be implemented at an accelerated pace.
Rural Development must recognise that people from rural areas are draining into urban areas. A rural development policy cannot happen in isolation from a policy on urban development. I am, however, sure that Minister Trevor Manuel's Planning Commission is giving considerable attention to this matter, as is the Minister of Human Settlements. Rural Development is not applying town planning and it is poorly administered. Government needs to come alongside in these areas.
Government also needs to give incentives to industrialists to move to rural towns, a key driver for manufacturing successful commercial agriculture. In Ugie in the Eastern Cape the plantations have spawned a large manufacturing enterprise in Steinhoff's sawmills and furniture production.
Unfortunately, employment in the agricultural sector is declining year on year. In the past few months a staggering 24 000 jobs were lost in this sector between the fourth quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011. A loss of jobs on this scale has to force government to put the focus on issues of rural development.
In rural areas more households consist of part-time farmers, headed by the elderly and women. They are confronted with severe input constraints and access to subsidies. Women in particular are facing increasing food insecurity. This is compounded by a comparative lack of assets, as well as access to arable land. This lack of the right to own the very land they till must be addressed.
The former Transkei and Ciskei have much unutilised and underutilised land with good soils and high rainfall. South Africa could double its agricultural production if this land were productively farmed. This will not happen until secure leasehold or private ownerships can occur. For structural reasons it has not been possible to turn these areas into high- production areas due to the untenable system of communal tenure. We should look to Rwanda, where land is owned by individuals. There they will take the financial risk to invest in what is required to make farmland fully productive.
To add to the woes of our rural citizens, climate change is already exerting a negative impact on farming. The droughts that occur are prolonged, and when rains come, they cause flooding. The western half of Southern Africa is going to become progressively drier over the coming half- century. What measures will government be taking to help these rural communities deal with these challenges?
Chairperson, Cope believes that support must be given to the rural economy, both in the agricultural sector and any other. In the 2010 state of the nation address, President Zuma said:
Our success in this area will be measured by the increase in the number of small-scale farmers that become economically viable.
Has the government measured up to its own self-imposed criteria? Has the number of small-scale farmers who are viable substantially increased? We need to realise the importance of all three spheres of government and, importantly, we need to start looking at local government.
Land restitution is a lingering problem. Court cases are continuing and delays in settling claims have not been overcome. The restitution programme appears to have run out of steam, and I want to say also out of budget!
To add to government's woes, tender irregularities continue to scandalise the nation and impact negatively on service delivery. The cancellation of a tender by the Agricultural Research Council, ARC, for tractors, due to tender irregularities by government officials, is an indication of the rot at the heart of the system. The question Cope is asking is whether the R100 million already paid for the cancelled project will be recovered? Also, what disciplinary measures were taken against those implicated in this corruption?
Further, as a matter of urgency, can we please ask the Minister to inform the House who the respective owners are of the following farms in the North West, and whether they have any direct links to the department: in the North West, the remainder of the Farm Mellville, that was purchased for R8,5 million; secondly, the remainder of Section 1, 2nd Railway Grant that was purchased for R18,25 million; and, lastly, portions 1 to 5 of the farm Quaggablatt.
To add even more to government's woes, there is the question of posts not being filled and a critical lack of skills manifesting itself elsewhere. Cope is utterly shocked by the revelation of the critical skills in the Office of the Commission on the Restitution of Land Rights, CRLR. The lack of critical skills, as well as the inadequacy of the R3,6 billion allocated to this programme, indicates that the programme, which was to have been completed in 2008, will drag on for years to come. There are still 3 673 claims that need to be researched. Chairperson, I would like to know if it is true that 852 land reform projects are at risk of collapse?
Government is falling far behind its own targets. Whilst it was the objective of the department to create 50 000 jobs in the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, by 2010-11, only 1 619 jobs have been created.
In 2011, the people of Muyexe in Limpopo, Riemvasmaak in the Northern Cape and Diyatalawa in the Free State - the beneficiaries of the much-acclaimed CRDP - have little to celebrate. All these wards are struggling to produce adequate supplies of water, because water reform has not been integrated into land reform. The Minister must indicate whether the department has met its objectives with this pilot project. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]