Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers present here, hon Members of the NCOP, officials, our partners in Rural Development and Land Reform, distinguished guests, fellow South Africans, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Let me begin by re-emphasising what was said by the President of the ANC in January 2014, on the 22nd anniversary of the ANC, and I quote: The ANC, together with the communities, will work towards poverty eradication in rural areas. Accordingly, the current rural development policies suggest an instrument and approaches for effective rural poverty eradication, and further to mobilise and organise rural communities against the roots of racialised and gender-based rural poverty.
Twenty years since the advent of democracy, a lot has been achieved towards reversing the negative legacy of the 1913 Natives Land Act. The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform introduced the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, CRDP, in July 2009. Since then, the programme has been implemented in all provinces. The CRDP rolls out in three phases, which run both sequentially and simultaneously. Phase one deals with meeting basic human needs with infrastructure as a key driver, including food security; Phase two focuses on rural enterprise development; and Phase three relates to rural industries, supported by local markets and credit facilities.
The CRDP vision of creating vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities is beginning to be evident in some of the earlier villages where CRDP was implemented, like Diyatalawa in the Free State, which was developed as the first rural green village. Since the start of the CRDP in the area various interventions dealing with the three phases of the CRDP have been implemented ranging from improving housing, access to water, sanitation and energy. This has been coupled with enterprise development, which includes the development of 100 ha under irrigation, the provision of dairy infrastructure and the improvement of the livestock programme.
All of the above have contributed significantly to the change in people's lives. Other communities where a marked improvement has been noted include Masia in Limpopo; Mvezo, Ludondolo and Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape; Witzenburg in the Western Cape; Devon and Sokhulumi in Gauteng; Riemvasmaak in the Northern Cape; Msinga, Uthungulu and Mansomini in KwaZulu-Natal; Virginia in the Free State; Dabulamanzi bordering the North West province and the Free State; Mayflower, Donkerhoek and Mhlongamvula in Mpumalanga, to name but a few.
As we begin to move South Africa forward together, we have taken cognisance of the fact that comprehensive development is not an event, but rather a process that requires a consolidated long-term plan that covers all the areas that impact the lives of our rural people. This holistic change is well captured in the strategy of agrarian transformation, which refers to the rapid and fundamental change in the relations of land, livestock, cropping and community.
This means that agrarian transformation is not just a reform, but about social, technical, economic, political, cultural, organisational and institutional issues. Hence, in areas like Diyatalawa and Muyexe, which were the first pilots, the department is still working with those communities to ensure that radical socioeconomic change continues.
In the current financial year, amongst others, we will be focusing on improving rural road access across the country. In this regard in Diyatalawa, we have in the first quarter completed a 22 m bridge at a cost of R21 million and we are also actively involved in paving 8,5 km of internal access roads in Muyexe at a cost of R23 million.
The department has over the past term been partnering with various research institutions to find new technologies that could be utilised to develop rural areas. For example, we are partnering with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, and we will this year test the implementation of ultra-thin concrete road technology in the Eastern Cape. This is a very labour-intensive technique that could provide us with an opportunity to improve access in rural areas at a lower cost, while still contributing to job creation.
Furthermore, we are exploring the use of technology to assist in recycling projects that could serve as an enterprise model. One such initiative that we are looking into is where tyres from mines and other sources can be used to generate fuel and recycled into tiles for roofs or even paving. In this financial year, we will invest R12 million in this research.
Meeting basic human needs is the first phase of the CRDP. The department has been working closely with the Department of Co-operative Governance and rural municipalities to ensure improved access by rural households. In this financial year 8 000 households will be assisted at a cost of R126 million to access basic services. All of the aforementioned interventions will be linked directly to the Medium-Term Strategic Framework, MTSF, target of increased access to basic infrastructure and services.
Revitalisation of rural towns is key to ensuring that rural urban links are created for sustainable economic transformation of the rural space. We are pleased to announce that the department will be managing the implementation of the Neighbourhood Development Partnership grant in support of rural municipalities. This is being done through an agreement with National Treasury and it is anticipated that over the next 18 months this programme will be transferred fully to the department, which would give us the ability to expand the work that we have started with in the 27 priority rural districts.
Over the past year the department has been supporting various women's co- operatives to expand their arts and crafts enterprises. On 19 July, this month, we hosted a rural women's conference to initiate a process towards organising 93 arts and crafts co-operative enterprises with a membership of 1 088 rural women, into a co-operative financial institution, the precursor to an arts and crafts co-operative bank.
The department has, in the MTSF, committed to supporting smallholder farmer development. One of the programmes launched by the Minister is the Animal and Veld Management Programme, AVMP. Furthermore, the livestock auction that was started at Msinga in KwaZulu-Natal will be rolled out to the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape. As part of the AVMP, we have been working with the Woolgrowers Association of SA towards meeting the target of introducing, in the current MTSF period, 70 000 rams to improve wool production in the North West, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. In the Eastern Cape alone the department and the SA Woolgrowers Association will be supporting, in the next three years, over 17 000 wool producers in 334 villages.
We are providing support to rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo to improve participation in the essential oils and perfume manufacturing industries. The department will invest approximately R380 million to support formal and informal rural enterprises in the selected commodities and value chains and rural industrial development.
His Excellency the President, in his state of the nation address, placed emphasis on skills development. In this regard, the department will enhance the implementation of the National Rural Youth Service Corps programme with the main objective of recruiting and developing rural youth to become agents of change in rural areas.
To date a total of 13 894 rural youth have been recruited and more than 5 000 of these youth have been trained in various construction disciplines, including building of community housing, paving, welding, and electrical engineering. During this financial year we will be recruiting young people to ensure that 50 000 of them will be participating by the year 2019.
As the department, we have selected a few projects that are going to be launched within these 100 days. One of these projects is the Tugela Bridge, which will cost us R30 million - this will be started during this financial year; the Masia Multipurpose Centre, which will be constructed and completed in September 2014 at a cost of R29,5 million; the Beaufort West Youth Hub, which will cost us R50 million; the iSchool Africa Rural Development Programme, for which we are partnering with stakeholders in the private sector, will also be launched in August, next month. Through this programme, we are going to reach 61 schools in rural areas, with participation by 40 000 learners.
The Tugela Ferry Irrigation Scheme is the one that will be creating jobs in this area. It is a project through which, during the first quarter of this financial year, we shall have revitalised infrastructure, which includes 1 000 ha along the Tugela River. This project will cost us R40 million.
The Msinga auction facility, including an administrative block, will be completed in September 2014 and will contribute towards the Animal and Veld Management Programme that is being implemented in these areas.
The Thaba Nchu College in the Free State has been identified to serve as headquarters for the National Rural Youth Service Corps. It will serve to accommodate youth during recruitment, induction, medical assessment, and skills development. It will become the base from which the entire programme will be co-ordinated for the country. To reorientate the mindset of young people in the country the facility will become the final resting place of the 1913 Natives Land Act exhibition.
We will also launch the customary feeding project under the red meat production improvement initiative with the National Agricultural Marketing Council, NAMC, in the Gxwal'ubomvu village in Tsomo, Chris Hani District Municipality. Just over 1 000 cattle-farming households are participating. This project will be expanded to involve 3 000 cattle-owning rural households and rolled out to the Northern Cape and the Free State.
In conclusion, we are certain that, through the CRDP, working together, we are surely moving rural South Africans forward towards a sustainable, vibrant and equitable future. I thank you. [Applause.]