Chairperson, hon members, hon Minister, I also extend my congratulations to the Minister on her appointment as Minister of Agriculture. Coming from the Northern Cape - a province we share - shows that she knows her business, because she was nominated as number one MEC for Agriculture in South Africa for the past two years. I also extend my congratulations to the other Ministers on their appointments to their respective positions.
I am honoured to be part of a developmental state that is committed to work with and for its people to do more and create a better life.
Nietzsche said, "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how."
In terms of the agricultural programmes, we must give our people hope to live a purposeful and dignified life.
Agricultural land and agrarian reform have an historical significance in the struggle for freedom and find expression in the Freedom Charter, which says the people shall share in the country's wealth, and the land shall be shared among those who work on it.
The Freedom Charter became, not only in principle but also in practice, the charter of the people, the content of which has its source in their homes, in the factories, in the mines and in rural services. Hon Sinclair, hon De Beer - the other De Beer - and hon Bloem are not here; you must listen. One of the key performance areas and priorities must be to transform rural livelihoods to enable smallscale farmers to use land more productively. Improved support to farmers is important, but access to long-term finance is a critical ingredient.
Tans is die grootste uitdaging om nuwe landbouers se boerderye lewensvatbaar te maak as hulle op nuwe grond gevestig word. Dit is dus noodsaaklik dat daar 'n deeglike ondersoek gelas moet word om vas te stel waarom sekere boere wat deur die staat op grond gevestig is onsuksesvol was. Deeglike opleiding van sulke nuwe landbouers is deel van die antwoord.
Ek stel voor dat landbouhorskole, in die Noord-Kaap spesifiek, maar ook landwyd - soos die Hor Landbouskool Noord-Kaapland in Jan Kempdorp en Horskool Martin Oosthuizen in Kakamas - plus die navorsingsinstellings in die gebiede, doeltreffend aangewend word om nuwe landbouers op te lei.
Al die nodige opleidingsgeriewe en landbougereedskap is daar om ons landbouers vaardig te maak, vaardigheidsontwikkeling te gee, en ook om kommersile landbouers op te lei.
Landbouondersteuningsdienste beslaan die grootste deel van die departement se begroting en het toegeneem sedert die vorige finansile jaar. Die doel van hierdie program is om nuwe landbouers toegang tot die landbousektor te gee. Verskerpte monitering ten opsigte van die besteding van die fondse sal toegepas moet word. Tydens die begrotingsvoorlegging is aangedui dat R60 miljoen uit die CASP-fondse nie bestee is nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[At present the biggest challenge is to make farming by new farmers feasible once they have been settled on new land. It is therefore essential that a thorough investigation is undertaken to establish why certain farmers who were given land by the state were unsuccessful. Thorough training of such new farmers is part of the solution.
I propose that, especially in the Northern Cape, but also throughout the country, agricultural high schools - like the Northern Cape Agricultural High School in Jan Kempdorp and the Martin Oosthuizen High School in Kakamas - together with research institutions in the areas, be used appropriately to train new farmers.
All the necessary training facilities and agricultural implements are available to produce skilled farmers, to offer skills development, and also to train commercial farmers.
Agricultural support services make up the biggest part of the department's budget and has increased since the previous financial year. The purpose of this programme is to provide access for new farmers to the agricultural sector. More stringent monitoring, with regard to the spending of the funds, will have to be exercised. During the submission of the budget it was indicated that R60 million from the Casp funds were not spent.]
The departments of Social Services, Health and Education give bursaries to students to study in those fields. What assistance, in terms of bursaries, is given to students to study - not only at university, but also at the FET colleges - in the field of agriculture, in the context of government's policy to empower our young people, to give them access to opportunities to improve themselves in order to enter the economy?
The Kalahari Kid project is a project in the Northern Cape and an excellent way to get our new farmers into farming with goats in order to produce good quality red meat. They must grow and expand their business to not only supply the domestic market, but also to export to eastern countries like the Emirates, China, India, Bangladesh and Malaysia, etc.
We call on the department to inform this House on the progress made in this regard, not only in the Northern Cape, but across the whole of South Africa.
We note the objectives of the Land and Agrarian Reform Project to redistribute five million hectares of white-owned agricultural land to 10 000 new agricultural producers. The question is: How is the department going to do this and what are the contingency plans to keep these new farmers on the land?
We thank the department for its financial assistance to the Vaalharts Revitalisation Programme, will run over several years. We are also thankful for the assistance of the present Minister who was then the MEC for Agriculture in the Northern Cape who assisted us with that programme. This committee and this House will monitor that project.
We request the hon Minister to ensure that the irrigation scheme starting from Groblershoop to Kakamas also be added to this programme. It is not just about the commercial farmers, but also about the new farmers and farmworkers who are responsible for producing vegetables and fruit for markets. It has an economic effect on all people along the irrigation scheme.
I believe that the lower part of the Orange River can be utilised better, from Vioolsdrift to the mouth of the river into the Atlantic Ocean. At Alexander Bay is a dairy which, many years ago, excelled in producing milk, yoghurt, cheese and butter. Today, the milk cows have been reduced because of a lack of food. No crops are produced on the banks of the river at Alexander Bay. The point is not the dairy. The point is that the extension officers did not do their work. The department will have to monitor the work done by these extension officers in each province because it affects the progress we want at grassroots level.
We call on the department to engage seriously in aquaculture farming with fresh fish. This is a food commodity that is ideal for our poor people as it is rich in protein and cheaper than chicken.
The hon Minister indicated that attention would be paid to our fishermen and quotas issued to them, specifically in the Northern Cape at Hondeklip Bay and Port Nolloth. Presently these fishermen are registered as indigents. There are 39 of them in the Kammiesberg and Richtersveld municipality. I was part of the registration process.
I believe the same situation can be found at towns along the South African coast. If fishing quotas are a problem, then bring these fishermen without quotas into mariculture, seeing that the mariculture plant at Port Nolloth is not progressing as it is supposed to. This is also an opportunity to utilise Casp funds for this purpose.
Hon De Beer, the fishing population is declining. That is why you see less activity. [Interjections.]
There was a conference in Libya a few days ago. If you had listened to the radio and television or read the newspapers you would have seen this. This department, with the departments in African countries, will have to look holistically at the fishing industry in terms of who is going to fish where. That is the point.
Dit gaan nie net oor die le geboue nie. [It's not just about the vacant buildings.]
We believe in "one household, one vegetable garden" giving our people access to good food.
The department has to ask itself: what can we do better and how can we work smarter? The department will have to align its strategic plan and budget to address its priorities as well as to finalise the BEE strategy.
The department will have to anticipate challenges over the next 15 to 30 years. There must be better co-ordination between the national and provincial departments.
We wish the new Minister well in her position as Minister. This House and its committees will perform its oversight role vigorously so as to get service delivery at grassroots level. The ANC supports this budget. Thank you.