Hon Chairperson, hon Minister Nkwinti and Deputy Minister, hon Minister of Agriculture and the Deputy Minister, colleagues ... Inkatha ihlala iyinhle nje! [... the IFP is always good!]
The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform has recently reopened land claims in order to rectify its shortcomings of the past. Therefore, to us as the IFP, this matter is given direction in respect of rectifying the wrongs of the past. However, the next five years will tell if the matter will be handled differently from what has taken place for the past 15 years.
We also hope that the department will open offices, especially mobile ones, in our most rural areas as well, so the there will be easy access to land claim application forms. Be that as it may, land issues are important issues. Almost every black person in this country has been affected directly or indirectly by the issue of land.
Though it is tasked with rural development, the residents in rural areas do not want their areas to be urbanised; they just need assistance in ensuring that they can sustain themselves. Our poor and most vulnerable, the majority of whom reside in our communities, continue to live in conditions that are unfit for them. They have no electricity; they have to walk long distances to fetch water from the rivers, and live in dwellings that are largely unsafe and should, in fact, be condemned.
The departmental planning and implementation in terms of rural development remains weak. We will support efforts geared toward the revitalisation of the agriculture industry to give rise to job creation, poverty eradication, hunger alleviation, nation-building, and social cohesion. The department is strategically well-positioned to be a worthy vehicle in which we can travel to get self-sustaining communities.
The agriculture departments in the provinces are failing the rural communities, hon Minister. The structure of the department gives the impression that it does not care. Very little assistance goes to rural communities. The provision of tractors and other farming equipment, tools and hardware to promote successful subsistence farming practices within rural areas in order to ensure food security is not taking place properly.
Either no personnel are provided to assist rural farmers in implementing advanced farming mechanisms or those that are provided are not fully serving the communities. Fields are not fenced and so farmers' fields double as land and also as grazing, which defeats the purpose of farming entirely.
This department must not go to rural areas just for votes or to host an event. The IFP believes in the philosophy of self-help and self-reliance, and the rural communities must be assisted to stand on their own two feet. The department must also assist emerging farmers with further training and access to farm equipment.
We further believe that the introduction of agricultural subjects in schools must be given strong emphasis. Obligatory subjects must be introduced in schools, vocational training must be increased and agricultural vocation must be expanded in all schools in the country. Lastly, hon Ministers ...
... siyacela nje ukuthi ukuze lezi zindaba zemihlaba zizwakale kahle emakhaya sondelani eduze kwamakhosi uma nikhuluma izindaba zomhlaba. Amakhosi angama-custodian omhlaba ngakho-ke kuyaqhatha uma amakhosi ezosala eceleni bese kuqhamuka abanye abantu sebehamba phambili ezindabeni zomhlaba. Kanti uma ningasondelana namakhosi, hhawu niyobona kuyohamba kahle. Ngiyathokoza, Sihlalo ohloniphekile. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[... we request that in order for the people from the areas to understand these land issues well they need to work together with the chiefs when they speak about these issues. The chiefs are the custodians of land, therefore, it creates a feeling that they're being undermined if they are sidelined and somebody else is seen to be in the forefront as far as land issues are concerned. But, everything would come together nicely if you could work with the chiefs. Thank you, hon Chairperson.]