Hon Chairperson, hon Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Mr Zokwana, hon Minister Mr Nkwinti, Deputy Minister Mr Cele, Deputy Minister Ms Mashego-Dlamini and Deputy Minister Mr Skwatsha, chairpersons of select committees, hon members of the National Council of Provinces, ladies and gentlemen in the gallery, good day.
It is a great pleasure for me to address this House on various issues relating to how we are accelerating socioeconomic transformation and agrarian reform at national and provincial levels with the intention of bringing a better life to all. South Africa, our beloved land of green valleys and smiling hills, forests of tall trees and short shrubs, is richly endowed with some of the finest shoals of fish, and fauna and flora. It belongs to all those who live in it.
In the past decades we have introduced a raft of programmes in order to address the devastating effects of apartheid colonialism and create a society that is based on the equalisation of opportunities for all.
One of the leading lights of our transformation has been Tata Nelson Mandela, whose efforts at bringing justice, food security and fighting poverty, deprivation, unemployment and underdevelopment are well known the world over. This being Mandela Month, it is befitting during august occasions of this pedigree to draw from the thoughts of this great South African on the issue of land restitution and reform. Tata Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela said:
Our Land Reform Programme helps redress the injustices of apartheid. It fosters national reconciliation and stability. It underpins economic growth and improves household welfare and food security.
Furthermore, the Freedom Charter states that:
The land shall be shared among those who work it. Restrictions of land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all land redivided amongst those who work it to banish famine and land hunger ... People shall not be robbed of their cattle, and forced labour shall be abolished.
We are not instant communists or fly-by-night Marxist-Leninists, who cloak anarchic intentions with revolutionary disclosure. Pragmatism is what informed and drove the tripartite alliance from its inception. Nowhere in the Freedom Charter is it stated that there would be land without compensation. For as long as we are in power, we will never reinvent the legacy of land dispossession. No ferocious mudslinging will distort and taint our movement's proud record as custodians of human rights. [Applause.]
Regardless of class, gender or race, the 82 million hectares of the country's agricultural land must be equitably and fairly allocated to all people. Land is neither expandable nor elastic. We have to make ends meet with what we have.
At national level, through Fetsa Tlala, an estimated 1 million hectares will be cultivated by 2019, creating much needed 300 000 jobs. Working together, we are doing more in tackling food insecurity and chronic hunger. It is not only in our country where food production is a major challenge. The African Union has also declared the year 2014 as the Year of Agriculture and Food Security. It is back to the ploughing fields for 53 countries because winning nations plant what they eat and eat what they plant. Agriculture is the lifeblood of the human race. This fact of life has been duly recognised by our National Treasury.
In the recent Budget Speech, the Ministry gave financial support to the National Development Plan's aim of creating 1 million jobs in this sector by 2030, by allocating more than R7 billion to conditional grants in the provinces for the purpose of supporting about 435 000 subsistence farmers and 54 500 smallholder farmers in order to improve extension services.
The Comprehensive Agriculture Support Programme, which receives R1,6 billion per year, aims to increase farm output for the beneficiaries of land reform. All these efforts are aimed at reversing the harmful effects of the Natives Land Act of 1913 and other associated aspects of the legacy of apartheid colonialism.
In our province we have a good story to tell in terms of what we have done so far. We are not ashamed to trumpet our achievements and blow our horns with confidence. On land restitution and reform, nearly 5 000 farms have been transferred to black people, benefitting over 200 000 families, while almost 80 000 land claims totalling 3,4 million hectares have been settled and this benefitted an estimated 1,8 million people.
Since 2009, a total of 648 food insecure households were assisted with seeds, laying hens and poultry feed. Over the past 20 years R116 million was disbursed to assist a total of 1 776 emerging farmers' projects with seedlings, fertilisers, animal production stock, animal feed and medication.
With regard to the Animal Veld Management Programme, AVMP, this intervention aims to promote decongestion of communal land and also identify farms that will be used to accommodate black farmers who have demonstrated their farming entrepreneurial skills and talents. An estimated R400 million has been set aside to fund projects that will advance this initiative. I wanted to respond to one of my learned friends who spoke about Mogalakwena. Unfortunately I don't see him in this House. [Interjections.]