NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 592
QUESTION 592 FOR WRITTEN REPLY TO MR R A LEES (DA-KZN) TO ASK THE MINISTER
OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES:
(1) Whether she has been informed of the illegal breaking and/or
ploughing of virgin land that belongs to a certain trust (name
furnished) on 13 October 2012, close to the boundary of the Ezemvelo
KZN Wildlife Nature Reserve; if not, what is the position in this
regard; if so, what action has been taken against those implicated;
(2) whether she has been informed of any other incidents of breaking
and/or ploughing of virgin land which forms part of the said trust
since 1 January 2010; if not, what is the position in this regard; if
so, (a) when and (b) where did these incident occur;
(3) whether any persons were implicated for their involvement in these
incidents; if not, why not; if so, (a) how many persons were
implicated in each incident and (b) what action was taken against
these persons;
(4) what actions will she take to ensure that there will be no further
breaking and/or ploughing of virgin land which forms part of the said
trust? CW775E
Reply
1) No, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) has not
received any information on illegal/breaking of virgin land that belongs
to a certain Trust close to the boundary of the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife
Nature Reserve. The position of the Department in this regard is that if
there is such illegal disturbance/destruction of the Natural Agriculture
resources, whoever has got information on contravention of the
Conservational of Agricultural Resources Act, Act 43 of 1983 (CARA),
should furnish the Department with all the necessary information that
can assit in the investigation and enforcement of the above said Act.
Information that may assist includes; the specific site where illegal
practise is taking place, name of area, name of the Trust and Land
User/s involved and coordinates.
2) No, the Department has not received any information regarding any other
incidents of illegal/breaking or ploughing of virgin lan which forms
part of the Trust in question since January 2010. The DAFF has Resource
Audit office in each Province that such cases may be dealt with in terms
of CARA.
3) No, the DAFF Resource Audit as a normal practice, in the event that such
case is reported with full details would provide a directive to comply
with CARA regulations.
4) Once full information is provided regarding the CARA enquiry the
Resource Auditors of the Department investigate the case to ensure
compliance and enforcement of CARA, Act 40 of 1983. In dealing with any
illegal breaking/cultivation of virgin land, the Department follows the
following procedure:
a. Engage Provincial Department of Agriculture (Soil Industrial
Technicians)
b. Conduct site inspection in terms of Conservation of Agricultural
Resources Act, Act 43 of 1983 9CARA), to validate the case.
c. Communicate the outcome of the inspection to the landuser/owner of
the property and actions to be undertaken with consequences
connected therewith.
d. Issue a directive with time frames regarding the indentified
contraventions.
e. Monitor compliance with the issued directive and in case of non-
compliance legal proceedings can be instituted against the
offender.
As a proactive measure for the cultivation of virgin land application
process in terms of the Act 43, or 1983 (sec .6.2. (a-b) and 3 (a-c) read
with Regulation 2 (1-4) , the applicant apply to DAFF in handling
cultivation of virgin land applications as follows;
a) Land users or owners collect application forms from Provincial
Department of Agriculture (Extension office)
b) Completed application forms lodged to the Extension office and District
Environmental Office three months prior to the intended cultivation date.
c) Soil Industrial Technicians makes any further necessary assessments.
d) Completed application with all the required documents submitted to DAFF:
LUSM regional office for processing.
e) Executive Officer assess the application or asks for any additional
information/ further necessary soil surveys to be conducted before
processing the application.
f) Executive Officer issues the virgin land application permit or declines
the application and send it back to the Provincial Department of
Agriculture (Soil Industrial Technicians) and Land user owner.