House Chairperson, in this day and age there is no place for state-owned farms; communities should be the beneficiaries of these farms. The hon House Chair, who is seated across there, hon Thoko Didiza, was the Minister of Agriculture, so is well aware of a very fertile region in KwaZulu-Natal, the Makhathini Flats.
She is very well aware of the Natal Trust Fund, which had ownership and control of thousands of hectares of prime sugarcane land in KwaZulu-Natal. Some of that land still exists today. I think it is quite correct for the hon members to say these farms need to be handed over to communities. But when these farms are handed over to communities, communities need to be empowered with funds and technical resources.
In many of these land reform cases what happens is that the farms are given to the beneficiaries. We then come here and brag about the fact that 30% of the land has now been given to new entrant farmers, but there is no support which is being given to them. These farmers do not even have a tractor or a plough to do anything on those farms. Unless we support them adequately, we are going to be standing here 10 years from now saying, we don't have capable black farmers.
So, the state must dispose of these farms but make sure that adequate support is given to the beneficiaries who have been waiting for this land for many years.
Like I say, the Natal Trust Fund and the sugarcane lands are still in the hands of people that it should not be. We need to ensure that the department plays its adequate role in this regard. Thank you.