Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, I thank you for the opportunity for me to attend today. South African agriculture is at a defining moment. We are at a crossroads. While the world is grappling with the threat of food security, we are grappling with the redress of our history through access to land for all our citizens.
The question is this: Can we redress land issues, on the one hand, without eroding our ability to provide food security, on the other? This requires a balancing act between subsistence farmers, new farmers and our commercial sector. This is a tough challenge indeed.
The Minister mentioned several key focus areas in her budget address. This year's budget seeks to speak to seven issues: administration; economic development, markets and trade; food security and agrarian reform; fisheries management; forestry production and resource management; policy, planning and evaluation; and agricultural production, health and food safety. Allow me to make a few remarks touching on some of these.
Deputy Chair, the Minister mentioned internal capacity problems in her department, and I quote from her speech to the National Assembly:
The department has a clear road map for dealing with capacity issues. Vacancies will be filled quicker. The current vacancy rate of 17% will decrease to at least 5% by next year. The priority will be to fill critical senior management positions before the end of this quarter. This includes the position of the director-general of the department.
I want to congratulate the Minister on identifying a well-staffed and well- functioning department as a point of critical importance. The Minister's department has a crucial role to play in supporting agriculture, but also in transforming agriculture. We support her in this quest, and wish her all the best in this regard.
We are optimistic about the Minister's acceptance of equity schemes as a tool for promoting access to land. The Western Cape government believes that equity schemes are the best way to achieve sustainable land reform. Equity schemes can be embarked on without jeopardising food security, as the skills that ensured the success of the original business stay intact. However, we need to be aware of the high transaction costs associated with transforming a one-man business into a multiownership enterprise. These transaction costs are high, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.
There are no known silver bullets to solve our land challenges, and we want to encourage and also support the Minister to proceed with caution.
Rural development is a strategic priority of the national government. Agriculture has the ability to play a leading role in rural development. It makes sense to also support existing agricultural enterprises in our rural areas, as these businesses are, in many instances, the mainstays of our rural towns.
They provide employment opportunities and pay rates and taxes. These agri- businesses are the source of much-needed revenue, for infrastructure, amongst other things. So, Deputy Chair, perhaps a little more support for the wheat farmers will have positive spin-offs for rural development.
However, we can also apply this argument to commercial agriculture as a whole. Support commercial agriculture and you are also promoting rural development. We are, therefore, pleased to hear that the hon Minister has stated today that she will support our farmers. She also stated that we should guard against flooding our markets with products from overseas producers. If we manage this properly, we will make things easier for our up-and-coming, new farmers.
When we say this, we must be honest with each other, because talk is cheap. I want to draw the Minister's attention to the following: In Port Nolloth a mariculture abalone farm of 146 ha was fenced in and not developed further. This is a waste of money.
A second case I would like to point out occurred in Alexander Bay. Just last year, the oyster farm in Alexander Bay, which once had 1,3 million oysters, was stripped by the community property association, the CPA. I anticipate that these cases, and others, will receive the hon Minister's urgent attention.
Rural safety is an area of critical concern. We are, therefore, excited about the Minister's commitment towards addressing this issue. We are looking forward to more concrete measures in this regard. Rural safety can only be achieved if all the role-players - the South African Police, organised agriculture and organised labour - work together. However, all workers, farmworkers and inhabitants of our rural towns have a responsibility in this regard.
Deputy Chairperson, the Western Cape winelands recently hit the headlines in the media regarding mining prospecting applications. This was a badly planned project. As we have been told, outdated maps were used to plot the targeted, so-called prospecting areas. The maps were so outdated that the consultants found a fully developed residential area where the prospecting was to take place.
This is an unprofessional approach and is not acceptable. It causes panic amongst residents, who suddenly hear that prospecting is going to take place right in their back yard.
Let us, as the Western Cape government, be very clear on this issue. I want to assure the hon Minister that we will always protect high-value agricultural land. It is not only mining that is competing for agricultural land.
The ever-increasing need for housing, in especially the city of Cape Town, is also putting pressure on agricultural land in our province. Let us never forget, however, that we also need to eat, and without agricultural land and farmers, we will not have food in this country. I thank you.