Hon Chairperson, hon President, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members of the House, I would like to start by congratulating Minister Joemat-Pettersson on her appointment as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, as well as the Deputy Minister on his appointment. Unfortunately, I see that they are not present. I would have liked to congratulate them in person.
Meneer die President, dit was met teleurstelling, maar sekerlik nie onverwags nie, dat die landbou nie deur u as van besondere belang vir die land se ekonomiese groei en stabiliteit uitgesonder was in u staatsrede nie. Die belangrikheid van die landbousektor as voedsel- en veselverskaffer, as werkgewer en verdiener van buitelandse valuta was in die verlede nooit deur die ANC as sulks erken nie. Die gesegde lui dat enige land wat sy landbou misken uiteindelik tot mislukking gedoem is. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Mr President, it was with disappointment, but certainly not unexpected, that in your state of the nation address agriculture was not distinguished as being of particular importance for our country's economic growth and stability. The importance of the agricultural sector as food and fibre supplier, as employer and earner of foreign exchange was never recognised as such by the ANC in the past. The saying goes that any country that overlooks its agriculture is eventually doomed to fail.]
The DA supports a united, profitable, sustainable and thriving agricultural sector in South Africa. We believe it is critical for our food security and that South Africa needs to be the food exporter that it once was. Apart from ensuring South Africa's food security, the primary agricultural sector employs a workforce of 796 000 workers or 8,8% of the total workforce in South Africa. Unfortunately, this is down from 1,2 million workers a decade ago.
It is in this context that we fully support the Department of Agriculture when, in October last year, it unveiled its plans to increase the country's agriculture production by 10% to 15% over the next two years.
However, with the regulatory position of the previous governments, I'm afraid to say it will not be achieved. As a result of its confrontational stance to commercial agriculture, we have seen a huge disinvestment and decline in employment in this important sector. The threats from government to do away with the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle and the now shelved Expropriation Bill certainly also contributed to the decline in investor confidence. We cannot afford to repeat these mistakes.
The challenges that we now face to restore confidence and improve production are the following. Government must have a clear regulatory framework based on the free-market system to regulate and enhance investment in the sector. This will include that all land redistribution under our land reform programmes is carried out at market-related prices and that there is an unequivocal adoption of the willing-seller principle by our government.
We must overhaul the failure of our land reform programmes by ensuring that the new land beneficiaries have adequate post-settlement financial and other support. We need to identify people with an interest in farming; we need to train them and have proper mentorship programmes with former landowners in place to ensure a smooth skills transfer.
Sadly, the department's extension services have completely collapsed. They need to be rejuvenated as a matter of urgency. New farm owners should have freehold title ownership to unlock the economic potential of their assets, especially in communal rural areas. Market access is of vital importance for small-scale producers to secure adequate and fair prices for their products. We will have to look into it to make it possible. More money will have to be put into research and development, as well as into the use of biotechnology to its fullest possible extent to increase production.
Another critical issue which will have to be addressed is the vast impact of climate change on agriculture. We will have to focus on strategies to mitigate its adverse effect and impact on especially water availability and adapted plant biodiversity. In conjunction with other departments, resources need to be allocated to infrastructure development, such as roads, rail and communication in order for our products to reach their markets on time. Proper management of natural disasters is critical for the long-term sustainability of this sector. We need to accelerate the promulgation of a disaster management Act.
Currently, the management of disaster strikes is ad hoc and takes far too long to be implemented. We need to revisit our trade and tariff policy in order to align it with agreements and the policy space allowed for in the Doha Round of the WTO agreement in order to make sure that our local production remains competitive and profitable. Lastly, the high crime rate in rural areas should, as a matter of urgency, be addressed by ensuring that effective sector policing is in place and that proper policing in our local police stations is secured.
In conclusion, the DA looks forward to a more co-operative relationship with the Minister and her department in order to take agriculture development, food security and our country forward. I thank you. [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF WOMEN, YOUTH, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Chairperson, hon President Jacob Zuma, hon Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, the Chief Whips, hon Members of Parliament, distinguished guests, comrades and friends, I bid all a very good day and wish to thank the Speaker for inviting me to participate in this parliamentary debate on an important issue related to women.
I am indeed honoured to have been appointed as the Minister who will oversee delivery against the women's agenda. Therefore, this debate is of significant importance to the Ministry, government and society as a whole.
Allow me to begin by congratulating His Excellency, President Zuma, on his address to the nation. We are truly motivated by the plans put forward by His Excellency and want to place on record the serious commitment of the Ministry for Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities towards meeting these goals, and ensuring that the targeted and vulnerable are indeed protected, promoted, empowered, advanced and developed.
I am most encouraged by the President's pronouncements that the fight against poverty, together with government's aim to reduce job losses, is a cornerstone of government's focus. The President's statement that workers who would ordinarily be facing retrenchment due to economic difficulty, would be kept in employment for a period of time and be reskilled, is extremely important for women. You would know, Mr President, that whenever there are retrenchments, women are the first to go.
I am also encouraged by the announcement of the fast-tracking of phase two of the Expanded Public Works Programme, given its significance for women employment and economic development, and towards improving the quality of life in all our communities. The creation of decent work will be at the centre of our economic policies, together with our efforts to promote a more inclusive economy and correct the imbalances of the past. This transformation, the President proclaimed, will be undertaken in support of women, youth and people with disabilities.
Our historical backgrounds take us back to resolution 109 - on the establishment of a women's ministry - adopted at the fifty-second conference of the ANC in December 2007. I quote:
In considering the matter of establishing a women's ministry, the commission recommended that a thorough assessment be undertaken by the ANC to analyse current instruments and their relevance, strategies, areas of focus and programmes on the matter of women and the impact these programmes made. These assessments would then provide comprehensive recommendations on the form and content of whatever institutional mechanisms will be put in place in pursuit of women's emancipation and gender matters.
The resolution further noted that the ANC has led South Africa in ensuring that the empowerment of women is brought to the centre of development.
South Africa has addressed the issues of women empowerment through all government departments and by monitoring through the gender machinery at the national level.
Fighting poverty is a key objective of the ANC and poverty affects women disproportionately. There is a need to consider the impact of all government policies on women and for the co-ordination of the necessary redress.
The resolution further noted that the ANC's objective is to halve poverty by 2014 and work towards the eradication of poverty. Further investigation is necessary on appropriate government structures to address issues affecting women and the increasing feminisation of poverty in South Africa and globally.
The most specific key areas of the Ministry are to establish the empowerment fund for women as well as the skills development fund for people with disabilities. These will be tools to alleviate poverty with much emphasis on rural areas. As I have indicated, the empowerment fund for women will be launched together with the skills development fund later in the year.
Today's debate among the Members of Parliament - on strengthening the position of women as pillars of the economy and drivers of social transformation - assures me that women's issues are being prioritised by national Parliament. I therefore urge all members to fully participate and engage in this debate.
I am emphasising the practical interventions aimed at addressing and changing the patriarchal notion that only men must be at the centre of the economy. Our ability to limit the negative effects of patriarchy is key to social transformation which will positively impact on women's economic participation, development and empowerment.
We also remain cognisant that, in South Africa, racism combines with patriarchy to subvert women's economic efforts. Thus, the path to women's economic empowerment lies in the ability of men and women to agree on changing the social frameworks that subjugate women in relation to men and to address discrimination in all its forms: racial, sexist and disability. I quote Cornell, who made this statement in 2005.
While we acknowledge that the economic empowerment of women has been a government priority since 1994, this inclusive approach has had a limited impact on women's lives, although broad economic measures taken over the last 15 years include the following: implementing the social safety net, reducing inequality, eliminating poverty, supporting job creation, encouraging small and medium enterprises, setting up strong competition policies, opening markets, promoting skills development and land reform.
We remain concerned with the slow pace of economic empowerment of women. In this regard, I am therefore inclined to state that the government's antipoverty strategy and measures to eradicate poverty should be at the centre of the fight. The creation of economic opportunities and enabling and empowering communities and individuals to access these opportunities remain critical to the process of strengthening women's positions, particularly in ensuring that we move more of the second economy into the first economy.
The success of the antipoverty strategy emphasises economic growth, and must be embedded in uprooting those obstacles that constrain women's participation in economic advancements and development. This will ensure that women become the pillars of the economy, thereby exerting a positive effect on social transformation in general.
Women's roles in the family and community generally tend to limit their participation in the economy, especially in big business and the private sector. What we need to concentrate on is ensuring that women are given increasing opportunities to take up positions in decision-making and managerial levels. This will most certainly contribute to the economy, and that includes the Western Cape.
In order to promote women's active participation, we have to begin to look at workplace policies that will promote an environment conducive to their advancement. In this light I refer to policies that would assist in reconciling family and work life, such as crches and child-care facilities, the introduction of flexitime at the workplace, elimination of sexual stereotyping and sexual harassment, favourable leave policies - including maternity and paternity leave, as well as fostering equal sharing of responsibilities between men and women at the household level, including time spent on household and family tasks.
I also want to propose that we consider strengthening mechanisms of co- ordination and collaboration with business, labour and the private sector, in order to unlock the enormous resources that these sectors have to promote women's impact on improving the quality of life of their families and communities and thus acting as drivers for social transformation. Their roles as mothers, wives and caregivers become vital in this process. Economically empowered women will therefore impact positively as drivers of such transformation.
The pronouncement furthers the revolution waged by the governing party for the full liberation of women in our society. The ANC has always waged war against the suppression and subjugation of women. True liberation of our country will not be complete if women are left out of economic development. In this I fully concur with the late President Samora Machel in his belief that women's liberation is a fundamental necessity for the revolution.
I would like to propose the following under the leadership of the ANC-led government, so that we can reverse what we have inherited in the last decades: I propose that we encourage the participation of rural women in rural employment. This is a critical factor for labour force restructuring in our country. I propose that we facilitate and fast-track the achievement of parity in representivity in the private and public sectors.
We will process and pass the draft 50/50 Bill to ensure equal representation and participation at all levels of our society. [Applause.] We will ensure that the Public Service reaches its target of having women in 50% of executive and senior management positions by 2010. We will fast- track the substantive increase in the quantity of women in all these executive positions, and I dare say that includes the Western Cape.
We will increase efforts to move women from unpaid work to paid work and towards greater ownership of land and control over its use and produce, including empowerment of women in rural areas through skills development initiatives.
We should continue building on existing programmes of government that have the possibility of wide impact and replicability while initiating and developing selected new programmes. Particularly with regard to low-income women, we need to facilitate women's equal access to resources, employment, markets and trade. We need to provide business services, training and access to markets, and information and technology. We need to strengthen women's economic capacity and commercial networks. We need to eliminate occupational segregation and all forms of employment discrimination, promote harmonisation of work and family responsibility for women and men. We need to eliminate the differences in remuneration between women and men where they are manifested, in order to achieve equal pay for work of equal value. We need to promote the development of nondiscriminatory methods of evaluating work and women's inclusion in wage negotiations.