Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers present here, hon members, director-generals, officials from the department, viewers and listeners at home, and distinguished guests, allow me to say that I am, indeed, grateful to participate in this debate on Budget Votes No 26 and 33.
Agriculture, Land and Rural Development are interrelated and interdependent. There is no way that you can farm if you do not have the land. It is therefore true that today we are seeing the two departments putting before this august House their Budget Votes.
The history of social and economic development of South Africa is characterised by contradictions. It is a history filled with bitterness, where in the same country there are developed and underdeveloped areas. It is the country that was created deliberately by the system; a bitter history of land dispossession; and forceful removals. As we celebrate 20 years of democracy, we can subtract 20 years from over 350 years, and there will be a good story to tell. For such a short period, there is a lot that this ANC-led government has done for the entire citizenry of this country.
Those who should celebrate the most, in particular, are the white women, because for a very long time they were under a oppressive patriarchal system, denying them access to property and lending by financial institutions. Today, in this democratic South Africa, they are enjoying the fruits of the struggle.
Chairperson, allow me to get into the subject matter of today by saying, ever since the inception of the ANC, its vision, policies and programmes have always been consistent in addressing the political and socioeconomic issues that have been haunting South Africans for so long. The adoption of the Africans' Claims on 16 December 1943 was very emphatic of the land questions and mobilised progressive members of society by the ANC in the Congress of the People in 1955. That congress emerged with the paper that entered history as the Freedom Charter. It is emphatic of the issue of the land, that people should have their land. We are therefore embracing and welcoming the window period that has been opened for those who were done severe injustice by the dispossessions and forced removals, so that they may be able to start claiming their land. We are really welcoming that.
Ka re jalo ke tsena mo go tsa temothuo ke re Tona ya Temothuo, re a go leboga. Re leboga fa o gata e bile o arabela lonaka le le neng la peperetswa ke Moporesidente wa naga ya Aforikaborwa, e leng Rre J Z Zuma, ya gore re lebelele e le nngwe fela ya dikgwetlho tse tharo e leng botlhoki. Re sa ntse re na le batlhoki ba ba bidiwang badidi ba nta e e motopo, mme re na le setlhotshwana sa banna le basadi ba ba maragorago le borradimpa. O ribogolotse lenane la Phakisa, a boa a re itlhaganeleng. Re tshwanetse go siana gore re bone matshelo a batho a a tokafala; re gate ka moribo. Ke a itumela ka gonne kwa temothuong ke bona ka setlhopha sa lona gore ga go tshamekiwe. O teng o na le Rre Bheki Cele. Ke a itse gore go itlhaganela ke dilo tsa gagwe. Re a go siana kwa dipolaseng.
Komiti ya kgetho e a re e nesetsa pula ditekanyetsokabo tseno, ka bobedi jwa tsona. Re le ANC re a di amogela. Seo re se gatelelang ke gore a go nne le tekatekano mo Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme, Casp. Re a itse gore ... (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[Having said that, I will now focus on agriculture and would like to thank the Minister of Agriculture for addressing one of the three challenges that were outlined by the President of the country, Mr J Z Zuma, which is poverty. We still have impoverished people who live in dire conditions and thereon are the other hand, a small group of people who are filthy rich.
He unveiled Operation Phakisa, which means "Hurry up" - and we have to speed things up in order to make the lives of our people better - we must move in one rhythm. I am excited to see Mr Bheki Cele in the agriculture group, which means there won't be any playing around as making things happen fast is his forte. We are going to speed things up on the farms.
The select committee supports both budget votes and the ANC welcomes them. All that we emphasise is that there should be equality in the Comprehensive Agricultural Programme, CASP. We know that ...]
... all our provinces are more rural. The allocations should be equitable, as the Minister has already alluded to.
Re a re a porofense nngwe le nngwe e lebelelwe ka leitlho le le nt?hot?ho. Re le komiti ya kgetho, di teng tse re di lebeletseng, segolosegolo e leng baofisiri ba tlaleletso. Re a re a baofisiri ba tlaleletso ba ke ba atamele kwa baleming, ba tswe mo gare ga diofisi le dithai ba tsamae. A e nne karolo e e leng gore ba tshwanetse go e lebelela ka leitlho le le nt?hot?ho.
Kgang ya metsi re e lebile ka leitlho le lengwe re le komiti ya kgetho. Fa re lebelela, matamo le dikanala tse di leng teng tse, di sa ntse di tswela mosola fela bao mo malobeng di ne di ntse di ba tswela mosola. (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[Let each province be placed under surveillance. Some are under the surveillance eye of the select committee, especially additional officers. They should leave their ties and offices, come and work closer to the farmers, and look into it with much interest.
The other area that we are looking into, as the select committee, is water. From our point of view, the dams and the canals that were there a long time ago still benefit those who historically benefitted from them.]
If one can cite an example, let us take the Irrigation Board of Hartebeespoort in the Brits area, where we have two streams, the Eastern Canal and the Western Canal. The infrastructure has been there for a long time, and even today it is still benefitting those who historically benefitted from it. We are making an earnest appeal, as the select committee, that infrastructure should be redirected to the people for agriculture to be more successful. The emerging small farmers cannot emerge perpetually. The small farmers are commercial farmers in the making.
As the select committee, we also support the Bills that Minister Nkwinti has alluded to.
Re a re a di potlakise gore mafatshe a boele go beng ba ona. Re boa gape re re go Makhoisan, monna yole yo o neng a tla fano a be a jwala tshingwana e re leng gaufi le yona fa, a le fitlhetse mo Kapa mono, ke nako ya gore le itlhagise. Fa go na le bokgoni jwa go tsenya kopo ya Motse Kapa, ke nako. [Legofi.] Go a bontsha gore tsela e e tswang mo Motse Kapa e ya e leba kwa Namibia, ke moo borraalonamogolo ba tlogetseng motlhala wa lona teng. Moo le senyeditsweng teng, re a re a go baakanngwe. Re a leboga. Pula a e ne! [Legofi.] (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)
[Let them speed them up so that the land can go back to the rightful owners. We also appeal to the Khoisan: That man who came and planted the garden that we are next to, found you in Cape Town. If there is a possibility of submitting a claim for Cape Town, this is the time. [Applause.] The road from Cape Town to Namibia shows that it is where your great grandfathers left their mark. We say that where you have been wronged; let it be corrected. Thank you. [Applause.]]