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Madam Speaker,
Deputy President
Honourable members;

Looking back at the past five years is like a reminder of where we come from, where we are today and where we want to be and thus, we take stock of the journey travelled so far which is full of memories of joy and sadness.

What we have confirmed is that the transformation agenda still needs to be fulfilled in order to lead a South African society, which we will all be proud of. In essence we are saying the reconstruction and development programme remains a compass to guide us.

In preparation for the second phase of our democratic government, we as political parties mobilised our people around specific mandates of what we will do in order for them to have a better life. As always the people made their choice. They chose the African National Congress. Madam Speaker, it was clear from the choice of the electorate that they are saying - the foundation you have laid convinces us that you will fulfil our hopes and dreams for a better life. In the same breath they are also saying, - we trust you will be able to meet the challenges that lie ahead of you. Our response as ANC, has been positive, we said yes we shall do so in partnership with you in the spirit of FARANANI.

Clearly the interaction our Ministry has held with the various stakeholders since June last year, has reflected this spirit of partnership.

Today at the start of what I hope will be a constructive political debate on the Agricultural and the Land Affairs budget for the financial year 2000 to 2001. This afternoon we have two budget votes to debate on. The first part of my input will be on AGRICULTURE.

I have had the privilege in the first democratic government to serve as Deputy Minister of Agriculture - an opportunity that I hope will serve as a basic building block to the challenges before me in my new capacity as the Minister for Agriculture and Land affairs. I am now charged with the responsibility to deliver land for development and change the structure of land ownership in South Africa. At the same time I have the responsibility to provide leadership for a national governance service in support of sustained agricultural economic growth, equity and social development.

Agricultural challenges

The challenges for government in terms of developing South African Agriculture remains the need to deracialise the sector, promote and support economic growth and ensure that in our pursuit of these policies, we attain a better life for our people and continuously nurture our natural resources. This was articulated by the African National Congress in 1994, when we ushered in our first democracy. Various initiatives to respond to the legacy of apartheid were put in place and now almost six years after, we begin to see the results of those interventions.

One key initiative was the effort to broaden access to agricultural services particularly for those who did not have it before. As an outcome of that process we have identified the constraints faced by previously disadvantaged farmers, prioritised their concerns and developed new instruments for information dissemination among farmers. Key to the new South Africa was the range of initiatives aimed at creating a culture of inclusivity in the industry. We now no longer find it strange to find black people, young people and women taking an active role in the agricultural economy.

Another major initiative was the deregulation of our agricultural markets and the removal of the control boards. This has positioned us well for participating as a country in the global markets, while at the same time raised new challenges about the necessary elements for a truly competitive economy. At another level our changed approach to conservation of our natural resources has resulted in our people taking responsibility for caring for the soil, water and bio-diversity that we have. On the whole and taking into consideration where we come from - we are now placed as a fully-fledged member of the international community.

Defining our target groups

Madam speaker, this experience has confirmed for all, that agriculture has a central role to play in building a strong economy whilst contributing to increased incomes and employment opportunities for the poor. The strategic emphasis on rural development further challenges us as a sector to work for increases in production and incomes at the farm level in order to provide the necessary stimulus for the development of the economy. We believe, that of critical significance is the benefit that should come when, when the increases are generated by resource limited, small scale and black farmers.

Honourable members, I think it is necessary to dwell for a moment on the concept of small-scale agriculture in South Africa. Past experience has shown that the term -small scale is laden with subjectivity and has been associated for a long time with non-productive and non-commercially viable agriculture. The truth of the matter is that black farmers are not exclusively small nor would it be correct to limit the definition of small-scale to those who are black. Small-scale farmers in South Africa can be anyone - black or white. What is of essence now is that small-scale enterprises can be commercially viable.

One of the realities of South Africa however, is that most black farmers whether small scale or not, have limited access to land and capital, and have received inadequate or inappropriate research, extension and marketing support. This has limited their ability to grow and is a direct result of the legacy of apartheid and the history of land dispossession. This in turn has resulted in an undue reliance to a greater or lesser extent on subsistence production. As if to add insult to injury, this sad state of affairs is used by some to justify the perpetual exclusion of black farmers from large scale and intensive commercial agriculture.

Given this South African experience, we have resolved to deal with all farmers recognising that they operate on different farm sizes. What remains is to finalise the characterisation of small, medium and large scale farms using the combination of size of holding, and it's capacity to generate income. Nonetheless - I wish to reiterate that the challenge facing us in this second democracy with regard to deracialisation of the sector is to ensure that we increase the participation of those who were previously disadvantaged. In order to achieve government's objective of black economic empowerment.

Improving Competitiveness

In October last year, we held an Agricultural Indaba with the aim to establishing an annual forum for dialogue between government, farmers, labour [Even the unemployed attended the meeting.], to deliberate on those issues which are critical for the sustainable development of agriculture. There was general agreement that in order to achieve economic growth and development, we would need to address various challenges such as improving the competitiveness of industries in the sector; implementing farmer settlement, dynamizing our trade promotion and ensuring the creation of jobs in the agricultural sector.

In order to ensure that we attain these objectives, we will dedicate resources towards the gathering and proper analysis of statistics, the search for effective policies and development strategies, the commercialisation of the subsistence sector, as well as interaction with other countries to promote and protect our international trade interests.

Promoting trade

We will continue to engage the WTO, the EU and other trading partners to achieve our trade interests. We will commence with efforts to increase the economic integration of the Southern African region. To be successful in this we need to ensure our resources are allocated in order to ensure there is capacity for the promotion of domestic markets, management of agricultural statistics, the development of defensive trade measures and the promotion of international trade.

I know that the house will agree with me that growth must increasingly be based on the ability to export and compete on the world market in products. I will also give the assurance that this will be done wish the full appreciation of the fact that empowerment of the historically disadvantaged citizens has to be a continuous thrust of all economic programmes.

Facilitating job creation

Maximising employment in agriculture remains a key focus for this government. Our implementation of the job summit commitments, resulted in 3046 jobs created. One example of the positive effects of our liming programme is in the Carolina District of the Mpumalanga. By providing technical advise and resources to improve the quality of the soils [reverse the acidity] the farmers in the areas doubled their yields of maize. In this financial year we will focus on supporting agricultural job creation through labour intensive initiatives within the Land Care projects such as the livestock development programme among sheep farmers in the Eastern Cape.

Linked to this is a re-thinking about how we as government can facilitate the development of production, and marketing infrastructure particularly in the ex-homeland areas. I have been engaged in discussions with the Minister of Public Works to identify concrete initiatives where public infrastructure is developed or rehabilitated with the deliberate objective of facilitating agricultural economic development.

Providing Support services

However, none of these noble ideals can be realised if our farmers do not have access to the appropriate information and services. All around us are rapid developments in the application of information technology that requires that we in agriculture also move with the times. The content of the information however, remains a long-term challenge. I am pleased to announce that the Department is in the process of setting up an early warning and information system for food security and natural disasters as part of our national information system. To sustain this we need to attract and retain adequate numbers of statisticians, economists and the linked professions within government.

Agricultural research results are critical for farmer development. We have noted the concerns raised in our budget review by members of the Portfolio Committee. These matters will be taken up in our interaction with the Ministry of Science and Technology. However, in the mean time the current budget will be directed to programmes that seek to improve technology transfer, training and extension. Furthermore, we have identified specific products largely indigenous in nature to support their use by small-scale producers. [hemp, amadumbe and izindlubu].

Support services can only succeed against a background of adequate basic infrastructure. Infrastructure provision focusing on water, energy, transport, storage and communications should be recognised as the basis economic activity and pursued as such. Farmers know that you cannot expect to reap where you have not sown. It is only proper that the nation should show its appreciation of this wisdom by ensuring that the budget provides for the necessary investments in the future of the industry.

Implementing the special programme for Food security

Enhancing household food security remains a priority. All our policies, including those guiding land reform, international trade, and rural development must result in greater availability and accessibility of food at the household level. Our policy has shifted from that of national self-sufficiency to household food security in accordance with our commitment to the elimination of hunger and malnutrition among all members of our communities.

I am pleased to announce that as government, in partnership with the Food and Agricultural Organisation, we are implementing a Programme for Food Security with two main components - irrigation rehabilitation and diversification - which will improve the production capacity of the subsistence and resource limited farmers in the Northern Province, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

LAND AFFAIRS

Madam speaker - Honourable Members, the land question in South Africa remains one of our daunting challenges. In the past five years, we have laid the basis both in terms of legal instruments as well as programmes for addressing the legacy of our past.

In presenting the Budget Vote of the Department of Land Affairs I would like to indicate the achievements that have been made, the challenges that continue to confront us and the programmes and budgetary implications of dealing with these.

Achievements

Delivery under the redistribution program has shown steady progress. There has been an exponential increase in the number of settled claims from 41 claims in March 1999 to 1651 claims at the end of February 2000, with the target of settling 3000 claims at the end of march 2000.

With regard to the Tenure programme a legislative reform programme initiated which includes:

* The Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act 3 of 1996, providing security of tenure to labour tenants;
* The interim Protection of Informal Land rights Act, 31 of 1996, protecting the interests of people who have informal rights to land;
* The communal Property Association Act 28 of 1996, providing a legal mechanism to accommodate the needs of those people who wish to hold land collectively;
* Amendments to the Upgrading of Land tenure rights Act 112 of 1991, bringing it into line with government policy on the conversion of rights in land; and
* Adjudication of overlapping and conflicting tenure rights.

Policy development and research started on ways to ensure that tribally and group-held land that is currently held in trust by the state is transferred to the ownership of the communities and tribes in a manner compatible with the Constitution.

In the light of this, the Department remains committed to redressing the imbalances created by our history. We are doubling our efforts and shifting focus in other areas to ensure that our land reform programme becomes a reality to our land reform beneficiaries.

The above achievements were made against the following challenges that continue to confront the department::-

* a full realisation of land reform policy objectives as envisaged in the RDP document;
* to increase the choice, suitability and quality of land parcels acquired for the beneficiaries of the land reform programme; and
* restructuring of the grant system to contribute to the development of black commercial farmers.

Our direction in the mid-term will seek to address the following:

Recommitting ourselves to the government objectives set in the RDP document;

To make available up to 15% of agricultural state land to black farmers as part of the effort to address the current imbalances in the agricultural commercial sector;

To accelerate the integration of the work of the two Departments.

In this year we shall present to the House the piece of legislation that seeks to rationalise and consolidate all matters relating to land administration and tenure.

In view of lessons learnt, decisions were taken to limit the size of projects. In implementation terms this meant that from 1998 all projects which were considered to be outside the then stipulated guidelines were sent back to the provinces for redesign or downsizing.

This explains the drop in our capital expenditure pattern from R170.24 million in 1999 to R144.00 million in 2000.

The expenditure in terms of our land reform transfers in 1998/99 stood at 241.33 million.

The moratorium that was announced in July 1999 only applied to new projects and those that were in the pipeline continued to be considered in the normal way. The moratorium on new projects has now been lifted and all new projects are to comply with the new guidelines.

The new guidelines seek to enhance delivery and provide tighter focus on products that will assist in the achievement of overall land reform objectives.

We are mindful of the fact that progress in the delivery has not been as speedily as previously anticipated. To date the total share of farmland redistributed is less than 1%. Of the total amount redistributed about 43% is by way of Commonage projects. Of this amount, 36% is by way of Commonage projects within the Northern Cape alone.

We remain concerned with the current levels of delivery and will continue to scrutinise and seek innovative measures that will assist in speeding delivery.

To this end an additional new supply-led system will be piloted with a more proactive approach to managing the allocation of land coupled with a more strategic use of grounds to support the governments integrated rural development strategy.

Further, the current grant system known as the settlement/ land acquisition grant (SLAG) is to be replaced by the land reform grant with specific categories of grant purpose. For example:

The department of housing will administer grants principally for residential housing/settlement.
Grants for residential settlement and livelihood programme and safety net will be treated separately from grants to assist in establishing market-based agriculture.

The financial or credit facilities that we have in Land Bank and Khula Investment are prepared to accommodate all people of different income levels who are willing to enter commercial agriculture.

Commonage

Poor municipalities where commonages do not exist will be prioritised for resource allocation. This will be accompanied by a clear definition of roles and responsibilities of the municipalities to ensure both success and growth of commonage projects.

Additional land or commonage will be granted to the overcrowded rural areas where farming is constrained by land shortages. This will relieve pressure on the land and enhance production.

Restitution

The process needs to be speeded up so that larger volumes of claims are finalised. In support of the process, preliminary budgets of R149.5 million for 2001 and R187.9 million for 2002 have been made available. R100.0 million is due to be spent in 2000.

The priorities for the next two years are as follows:

* Speed up the settlement of restitution claims.
* Review the current method of calculating monetary value.
* Reduce administrative costs to closer collaboration with other relevant departments.
* Refocusing of efforts in settlements of rural claims.
* Restructuring in the restitution process to enable the speeding up of claims.

Tenure reform

* Consolidating and rationalising the Land Administration System
* Transfer of Land to tribes and communities

State land management

State agricultural land will be administered by the Provincial Department of Agriculture through a Power of Attorney to be given to the MECs responsible for agriculture. The previously disadvantaged peoples, groups, communities or tribes will be targeted to benefit from the disposal of state land.

Focusing on women and future farmers

During the next five years we will implement a farmer settlement programme that will specifically target young people and women as beneficiaries. We will bring the planning and implementation of the resettlement programme within the restitution and redistribution progress in the department of Land Affairs, and ensure that these are synchronised with the services and support programmes provided by the Provincial Departments of Agriculture, the Land Bank, the National Agricultural Marketing Council, and the Agricultural Research Council.

Human resource development and capacity building in the form of farmer training, the development of institutions, improved extension services and easier access to finance will continue to be undertaken. Efforts will be made to strengthen co-ordination of co-operative governance between national and provincial departments in this regard.

Conclusion

The budget must at the end maintain a balanced compromise between these programmes and resource allocation in a manner that allows decisive government intervention in addressing the inequalities of the past.

We have to ensure that development of our rural communities served by land reform happens where people are.

We believe then that the 2000/20001-budget allocation will allow the department to meet its current commitments and objectives.

Issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Affairs

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