Deputy Speaker, hon member, it is a commitment in terms of government's programme that we have to ensure that our rural areas, which are underserviced, receive the kind of infrastructure that we think they should have. So, it is a priority commitment of this government to ensure that in any way possible we develop the underdeveloped areas in our country. And certainly the establishment of an effective communications infrastructure is very much a part of that particular plan.
The reality is that we have to do this within the context in which we bring various parties to the table to collaborate with the government. Government on its own is not going to be able to do this. Therefore, we will have to engage the private sector, which has the intellectual capital and the investment resources to come to the party. These series of round tables that we intend to have over the coming weeks will also have that particular item on the agenda for discussion with the private sector. We would invite the top 30 companies in the ICT sector, to discuss with them whether they are open to such an invitation to come into partnership with the department in the reconstruction of this particular sector.
We would also like to establish from them precisely what the nature of the issues are that they would like us to tackle as government to construct this agenda for engagement. One of the matters is precisely what they can provide to assist us in meeting the infrastructure backlogs in our country. Thank you. Particulars regarding any gains made by agricultural sector in relation to jobs shed in 2010
275. Mr L S Ngonyama (Cope) asked the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries:
Whether the agricultural sector has made any meaningful gains in dealing with the problems of 86 000 jobs shed in the third quarter of 2010; if not, why not; if so, (a) what has been the net increase in jobs since 1 January 2010 and (b) what is her department's outlook in this regard for the near future?NO3886E
The MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: Madam Deputy Speaker, hon Minister, yes, the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector, including hunting, has had severe job losses between the first and third quarters of 2010. We are estimating that over 100 000 jobs have been shed in the third quarter of 2010. This can be seen in the context of the continuation of long-term declining trends in employment within primary economic sectors.
However, the agriculture value chain is one of the priority sectors of the current programme of government, both in terms of economic growth and employment creation. With the implementation of agro-processing initiatives proposed under the Industrial Policy Action Plan, as well as plans to elevate agriculture as one of the priority sectors under the New Growth Path, there is potential for the decline in employment trends to be reversed, over the medium to long term.
In conjunction with this, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has made inroads in the marketing of South African products in the Middle East, Far East and on the African continent. We have, furthermore, expanded our access to cheaper finance for both smallholder and commercial farmers. Our development of skills research and development has seen an additional development of the sector, and we hope that this will contribute towards job creation in the future. I thank you.