House Chair, hon members, I would like to preface the tabling of this report with three brief remarks focusing on the dynamic of oversight advancing participatory democracy and pertinent lessons from this oversight visit.
The health of our democracy depends on the health of all its constituent organs, public or social sector, Parliament and executive and the state or the administration.
These sectors each have their own organs that further unable functionality and the delivery of their mandate. Parliament through the portfolio committee extends its mandate of holding the executive and the administration accountable. Oversight provides the portfolio committee the opportunity to experience first hand the conditions of our people and the state of service delivery. Through providing access to individuals, communities and community structures the oversight visit gave expression to participatory democracy.
The reality on the ground is harsh and our people are really suffering in listening to our people on the ground during this oversight visit we realised that the experience that they have emanate from three primary problems, the lack of excess to information about government programmes, the lack of capacity of government departments to effectively implement and the lack of coordination between government departments.
I may also add to these contending or competing community factions for limited government resources hence it is important to ensure that CPA's are run effectively and
democratically for the benefit of all its beneficiaries. These issues we need to address in all earnestness if we are to delivery on our mandate and make a difference in building a better life for all our people.
The report that we are tabling contains some disturbing findings, but please allow me hon Chairperson to highlight two or three of these issues - firstly let me say that the agricultural sector is closely related to our goals of fighting poverty, inequality and ensuring food security for our poor rural communities. It is therefore vital that the transformation of this sector be accorded the priority that it deserves. Some statistics reflects that as much as 80% of agricultural land in Africa emanates from small farmers and hence the critical demand of empower more of our historically disadvantaged to start their own self subsistence and commercial farming and they grow their participation in the agricultural sector.
This must be a top priority especially for the deep rural communities for whom poverty is the reality that they stare in the face of on a daily basis and by so doing we
are then able to advance our agrarian revolution programmes and dismantling agricultural monopolies. Secondly, we must rethink the way in which we approach the land reform and I want to cite an example of the case we encountered on this visit.
One of the beneficiaries of our one hectare one household initiative who stays so far from his allocated land that is almost self-defeating we must ensure that beneficiaries of land reform and related programmes are enable to make a success of their endeavours. The manner in which we are allocating financial resources land and agricultural infrastructural must be done conveniently in order to ensure the productively of the enterprises. Thirdly - the last issue I want to highlight relates to poverty and rural development. We cannot after twenty five years into democracy still perpetuate special developmental paradigm that operates like our separate development schemes of apartheid.
The rural-urban divide resource allocations and access to enabling support programmes are mountains that rural communities and individuals have to scale. We must do
more to breakdown this paradigm as we are all equal before the law.
Hon Chairperson, on that note I thank you and welcome the report of our Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development oversight to KwaZulu-Natal province.
There was no debate.
The Chief Whip of the Majority Party moved: That the Report be adopted.
Declarations of vote: