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(MESSAGE READ BY THE EASTERN CAPE MEC FOR AGRICULTURE AND LAND AFFAIRS, MR MAX MAMASE)

It has been my sincere wish to be present at your Award Ceremony where you are recognising your best producers and I am truly sorry that I cannot be with you today on this important occasion.

The concerns you have raised with government in your annual report has come to my attention and I would like to use this opportunity to respond to them.

Land Reform

To address your first concern on land reform, in terms of our new land reform sub programme, the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD), it is stipulated that when a land reform beneficiary wants to be assisted by government to purchase land, he or she must first agree to the sale price of the land with the land owner. The Department of Land Affairs will then assist beneficiaries with valuation.

The issue of productive value or market related value is an issue that has been debated endlessly without visible and useful outcome. I therefore advise that focus should be directed on the price agreed between the seller and buyer with state assistance to the latter regarding valuation.

The State can only expropriate land in line with the Constitution, that is in the interest of the public and not because land is unused or is held for speculation purposes. There are other mechanisms to discourage holding land for speculation and leaving land unused.

SARS and local government deal with the issue of land tax and its collection. Decisions to exempt land reform beneficiaries from such tax can be made by the SARS in conjunction with concerned local governments.

The Department of Land Affairs is currently in the advanced stage of finalising the Land Rights Bill legislation on the administration of land held in trust by the State. Our Land Rights Bill will therefore cover the administration of grazing land. Let me also bring it to your attention that emergent farmers that are using communal land are also assisted in terms of LRAD.

Access to finance

It is normally difficult and not advisable to dictate interest rates to lending institutions. However, the Land Bank has worked out products (the bronze, silver and gold) that are favourable to the emergent farmers. Plans are also underway to involve the Land Bank in the administration of the LRAD grants.

Rural infrastructure

Government has committed itself through the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy to improve infrastructure in rural areas. The question that I am asking is, are farmers in those areas ready to maintain and secure that infrastructure? Perhaps NERPO should start being exemplary to show that their farmers are capable of maintaining and securing their fences and other related infrastructure, so that government should be encouraged to spend on this venture.

Access to agricultural information

On access to information, work has already been done in terms of improving the extension service and the strategy will be implemented soon.

Agricultural research

It is up to the farmers to approach the ARC for agricultural research assistance. The Ministry has already done its work in this regard to make sure that the ARC is accessible to emergent farmers. I urge you to approach this institution so that our work should not be in vain.

Animal health

The foot and mouth disease outbreaks in South Africa since September 2000 in KwaZulu-Natal and thereafter in Mpumalanga and the Northern Province, although well contained and brought under control, cost us dearly. An amount of R44 million was spent on direct costs but we have lost a substantial amount in the loss of export markets. To regain our credibility, asks for the cooperation of all livestock owners.

Animal disease control is not only the responsibility of the Government but also that of each individual farmer - whether he or she has only one goat or 500 cattle - the responsibility remains the same.

The threatening outbreak of the disease in Zimbabwe demands the cooperation and commitment of all farmers in the border areas to prevent the disease from entering our country. Keep a watchful eye over your neighbour - if he or she does anything to put your animals and your livelihood at risk, do not refrain from bringing it under the attention of officials from the provincial agriculture departments.

Foot and mouth disease is only one disease threatening our livestock, but there are many others. We have made a substantial amount available to erect, upgrade and repair dipping tanks to combat tick-borne diseases. This however calls for full cooperation from farming communities.

You must take ownership of these facilities and help to ensure that they remain in a good working order to serve the purpose, for which they are erected - i.e. to help to safeguard the health of your animals and thereby facilitate your contribution to household security.

My Department has promulgated a new Act to address the shortages of the past to enable access to safe and wholesome meat. The sentiment of the new Meat Safety Act is to facilitate the entrance of entrepreneurs into the commercial slaughter of animals with the aim to enhance meat safety standards.

We have taken hands with the meat industry to accelerate the skills development for slaughter processes and widen the scope of people to be trained as meat inspectors. Our ideal is to have meat inspection services available wherever animals are slaughtered for human consumption - whether it be for a funeral, wedding or for the butchery down the corner.

Owners of small abattoirs and butcheries should make use of these opportunities to get trained in meat inspection, slaughter techniques and meat hygiene. They are in the end to ensure a safe product to their customers.

It is also disturbing that we often only become aware of the needs of livestock owners when a crisis arises. The foot and mouth disease outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal revealed several shortcomings in our service delivery that we are committed to rectify.

It is however, also the responsibility of livestock farmers to bring these shortcomings under our attention as and when they arise but also to be innovative to address the problems that are in their means to solve themselves.

Stock theft

Once the Animal Identification Bill is past by parliament, it will assist in preventing stock theft. This is however not the only measure that we want to put in place. The SAPS is also involved in intensifying measures to prevent stock theft.

Institutional capacity

Currently the Department of Agriculture does not have facilities or programmes for organisational development. The commodity trusts that were set up after deregulation such as the Meat Industry Trust, were set up among other things, to give support for institutional capacity building. In this regard, I would advice that NERPO approach the Meat Industry Trust for this function.

I wish you well in your deliberation during the last days of your AGM and hope that you will continue to engage us and to inform us of your concerns and progress that we need to be part of, as you continue to expand and develop your industries.

I thank you

Issued by the Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs, 3 September 2001