Chairperson, this department is tasked with achieving Outcome 7: Vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities. With 43% of the country's people living in rural areas, many of them are generally worse affected by unemployment, poverty, malnutrition, poor education and the lack of clean drinking water. Refuse removal and modern methods of sewerage disposal are seriously lacking. All these factors contribute to the poor health status of people living in these rural areas. Many households in rural areas are headed by women. Sadly, these households are experiencing a severe inadequacy of access to food.
In rural areas more households consist of part-time workers, headed by the elderly and women. They are confronted with severe input constraints and access to subsidies. These problems are also crying out for our attention.
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 certainly be addressed. Laws and programmes aimed at protecting tenure rights of farm workers and labour tenants are not being vigorously and supportively implemented. Land restitution is still 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. Cope is not in support of this Budget Vote.