Hon Chairperson, the DA supports sustainable and equitable land reform and rural development. We view this as both a moral necessity to correct the imbalances of the past and as a fundamental condition to growing our economy to benefit all South Africans.
We would also like to congratulate the President for recognising the need to address problems in the rural areas by appointing a Minister and setting up a new department to deal specifically with both rural development and land reform. The appointment of Minister Nkwinti shows how crucial this portfolio is. We extend a hand of co-operation to his department, while also assuring him of our critical engagement when things go wrong. We will not be doing this for cheap political point-scoring but in order to ensure that all South Africans enjoy and share the wealth of this country.
The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform faces numerous challenges. It inherits one of the poorly functioning departments under the previous Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs.
The reality is that many landless people feel neglected in the democratic dispensation. Our collective task will be to address, as a matter of urgency, the target of reaching 30% of land redistribution by 2014, which seems unachievable. The previous administration sought to introduce manifestly unconstitutional laws, such as the Expropriation Bill, to accelerate land redistribution, but this was not going to work and would scare off investors.
We need to develop legally justifiable laws that will speed up land reform processes to ensure that new landowners are provided with adequate post- settlement financial and material support. It is indeed an indictment that over 50% of land reform projects are failing because the state does not provide adequate support to the land reform beneficiaries. South Africa cannot afford this when millions of our people face the danger of food shortages and go to bed without food.
We need to accelerate the settlement processes of over 4 000 land restitution claims which still remain unsettled; we need to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks which hinder the settlement process; and we need to upgrade land titles to freehold titles to as many South Africans as is legally and economically feasible. Indeed, it is an anomaly that there are still South Africans who hold their land under the apartheid-type title deeds while we are 15 years into democracy.
The hon Minister must take swift steps to ensure that vacant posts in his department are filled by efficient and properly qualified people. We cannot afford the policy of cadre deployment when our people go hungry and remain landless.
Morena Modulasetulo, set?haba sa ge?o sa dinagamagae se dut?e godimo ga kgatelelo e kgolo ya go hloka thu?o go dinaga t?eo ba di filwego. Dit?haba t?e di nyaka thu?o ya ma?eleng le thlahlo gore ba kgone go t?wet?a temo pele. Nakong ya pu?o ya pele, balemi ba makgowa bao ba filwego dinaga ba be ba thu?wa ka ma?eleng le thekgo ya mahlale a temo. Re le ba DA re ka thabela go bona Tona ya t?a Tlhabologo ya Dinagamagae le Mobu a ?omi?a tsebo yeo ya boradipolase bao ba tlogelago dipolase t?a bona. Re rata go bona tlhabologo ya motheo naga ka bophara.
Re le ba DA, re dumela gore naga ke ya batho bohle, gomme dit?haba t?ohle di swanet?e go hlabollwa ka go lekana. Re re dikgoba t?a thlabologo a di fiwe batho kamoka ba Afrika Borwa.
Dit?haba t?a dinaga magae di lla ka kabo ya ditirelo t?a motheo. Dit?haba t?e di nyaka meetse a go hlweka, ditsela t?e kaone, mohlagase le me?omo. Dit?haba t?e t?a dinagamagae di rata go bona thlabologo dinageng t?a bona. Ke ka fao ba ilego ba t?ea karolo ka bont?hi dikgethong t?a naga. Ga go Mopresidente yo a ka thopago dikgetho ntle le thekgo e kgolo ya badudi ba dinagamagae.
Re le ba DA, re hlompha le go amogela di poelo t?a dikgetho gomme re holofet?a set?haba gore re tla se ?omela ka potego le boikgafo. Re tla dira bonnete bja gore ditshepi?o di phethagale ka go hlokomela gore mmu?o o aba ditirelo go batho bohle ba Afrika Borwa. (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Mr Chairperson, our people in the rural areas are under severe pressure as they do not benefit from the land that was given back to them. These people need financial assistance and training so that they can continue with farming. During the previous regime, white farmers who were given land were supported with training in farming and were assisted financially. As the DA, we will be glad to see the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform using the knowledge and experience of farmers who leave their farms. We would like to see basic development in general.
As the DA, we believe this country is for all people, and therefore all people must be developed equally. We are saying, let all the people of South Africa get opportunities for development.
People in the rural areas are complaining about basic services. These people need clean water, better roads, electricity and job opportunities. They would also like to see development in their villages. That is the reason people took part in large numbers during the general elections. There is no President who can win an election without the tremendous support from the people in the rural areas.
As the DA, we respect and accept the election results and therefore we promise the nation that we will work for them with honesty and determination. We will make it a point that the promises are fulfilled by making sure the government delivers services to all people.]
We will need to develop economies that are integral to development in the rural areas.
Once more, Mr Chairperson, the DA will support the new administration and we will gladly make available all our policy inputs on land reform. We hope that this will be reciprocated with the co-operation it deserves. Our role as the official opposition party will continue, but the interests of South Africa's land reform will inform all our critical engagement with the administration. [Time expired.] [Applause.]