Hansard: NA: Mini-Plenary 2
House: National Assembly
Date of Meeting: 01 Mar 2024
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Minutes
UNREVISED HANSARD
MINI PLENARY - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (VIRTUAL) FRIDAY, 1 MARCH 2024
PROCEEDINGS OF MINIPLENARY SESSION – NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Watch video here: NA: Mini-Plenary 2
Members of the mini-plenary session met on the virtual platform at 10:00.
The Acting Chairperson Mr S O R Mahumapelo took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayer or meditation.
VIRTUAL SITTING RULES
(Announcement)
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Hon members, before we proceed, I would like to bring to your attention that the virtual miniplenary session is deemed to be in the precinct of Parliament and constitutes a meeting of the National Assembly for debating purposes only. In addition to the Rules of virtual sittings, the Rules of the National Assembly including the Rules of debate will apply.
Members enjoy the same powers and privileges that apply in a sitting of the National Assembly. Members should equally note that anything said in the virtual platform is deemed to have been said to the House and maybe ruled upon.
All members who have logged in shall be considered to be present and are requested to mute their microphones and only unmute when they are recognised to speak. This is because the mics are very sensitive and will pick up noise which might disturb the attention of other members.
When recognised to speak, please, unmute your microphone and where connectivity permits, connect your video. Members may make use of the icon on the bar at the bottom of their screens which has an option that allows a member to put up his or her to raise points of order.
The secretariat will assist me in alerting me of the request of members to speak. When using the virtual system, members are urged to refrain or desist from raising unnecessary points of order or interjections.
Lastly, I wish to remind you that we are meeting in a miniplenary session and therefore any decisions will be taken
in a full plenary session of the National Assembly. The first item on the Order Paper is a subject for discussion in the name of Mr B N Herron on: Addressing the triple crisis of low economic growth, high unemployment and entrenched poverty. The hon Mr B N Herron
ADDRESSING THE TRIPLE CRISIS OF LOW ECONOMIC GROWTH, HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT AND ENTRENCHED POVERTY
(Subject for discussion)
Mr B N HERRON: Chairperson, the foundations of our democracy are wobbling under a triple crisis of low economic growth, high unemployment and entrenched poverty. But we can’t prioritise bracing the foundations because we’re stuck in a perpetual cycle of political contestation. The two most important dates on our annual political calendar, the state of the nation address and national Budget addresses, have over the years become less and less about inclusive justice, and more and more about applying sticky plasters over gaping wounds ahead of the next election. Our hopeful vision of 30 years ago of creating a recalibrated society of equal opportunity and common purpose has been suffocated by inadequate redress and unsustainable inequality.
Government has delivered millions of free homes, but where they have been built on the edges of towns and cities far from job opportunities, mirrors the spatial injustice of the Group Areas Act, and millions more homes are required. We have delivered electricity connections to millions of households, but buying electricity has become increasingly unaffordable to people without livelihoods. We are delivering social grants to nearly half the population, about 26 million people where nine million of whom receive R350 a month which is less than half of the income needed by an adult to feed him or herself.
While constitutionally empowering women, a plague of gender- based violence disempowers them.
In an environment of extreme haveism and have notism, our ruling class has taken on the character of the emperor, in Hans Christian Anderson’s The Emperor’s New Clothes, more focussed on the acquisition of fancy possessions and lifestyles regardless of cost, than on managing affairs of the state at the expense of prioritising real transformation and real redress. The state’s bumbling instead of delivering greatly benefits the official opposition which isn’t interested in transformation and redress, but is heavily invested in proving that the ruling party is incompetent and corrupt because it is led by blacks. Like hamsters on an exercise wheel, we’ve become hooked on a perpetual cycle of elections, national and provincial, local, and the ruling party making promises, pointing fingers and moving onto the next election with little energy left for matters such as addressing inequality.
The only way to release South Africans from the poverty trap is by growing our economy and creating jobs, we need at least 5% - 6% economic growth to create employment that will meaningfully reduce extreme poverty. What we’re getting is 1% on average in the medium-term. According to the African Development Bank’s Economic Outlook 2023, the continent can expect 4,3% growth this year, with 22 nations surpassing 5% growth. But not in Southern Africa. Growth in Southern Africa is projected to decelerate by 1,1% points, from an estimated 2,7% in 2022 to 1,6% in 2023. The projected sharp decline in 2023 largely reflects continued growth weakness in South Africa, the region’s largest economy and trading partner.
South Africa’s economic growth rate trails behind its population growth rate that recorded a massive 19,8% point increase between 2011 and 2022, from 51,7 million persons in 2011 to 60 million persons in 2022. With an election three months away, however, we skip over these things because there’s more important stuff, like pointing fingers at each other and engaging in identity politics.
We need reliable electricity and functioning transport networks and digital communications connections, and we need to invest in infrastructure. Fourteen years ago, in the 2010 New Growth Path Framework, we identified ramping up public investment in infrastructure as a growth opportunity. The 2010 framework argued that investment in infrastructure was identified a force multiplier. It said it was a trigger to build a local supplier industry for the manufacture of the components for the build-programme. The framework also identified priority areas to create jobs. The green economy was projected to create 300 000 jobs over a decade and I identified agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism.
This year we’re discussing the self-same things.
The New Growth Path framework followed other plans starting with the Reconstruction and Development Plan, RDP, then the Growth, Employment and Redistribution, Gear, plan, then the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South, Asgisa. The failure of our government to create jobs is directly linked to the failure to implement these economic growth plans in an integrated and comprehensive way. We can neirther accept the extremely high unemployment rates, especially youth unemployment as normal nor that our economy will muddle along growing at only 1,1% per annum.
Instead of building a healthy and values-based postapartheid democracy, our management of the economy is prolonging and perpetuating apartheid injustices that are fundamentally unsustainable. Even if we triple our projected economic growth rate South Africa will not eliminate or meaningfully reduce its unemployment crisis over the next decade and a half. This is a matter of fact that cannot be wished away.
At 3% economic growth over the next 13 years, we will gain 6,5 million jobs by 2037, but the number of unemployed people would remain more or less constant at more than 8 million. The truth is that while we work on turning the economy around, millions of people will remain trapped in unemployment and poverty. The state has to prioritise the provision of food and dignity to the masses of people who are suffering without work and with rapidly diminishing hope for a better future.
The R350 monthly social relief of distress grant, SRD, grant that more than eight million citizens receive from the state is barely better than nothing. It must be converted into a basic income grant of around R1 000 per month placing the poorest South Africans who would receive this above the food poverty line and just below the lower bound poverty line.
The correct question is not, do we have the money, but it is, what wasteful items in the Budget can be scrapped so that we do have the money? An expanded cash transfer system is the only realistically effective way in the coming years to ensure South Africa meets its section 27 constitutional obligations to progressively realise socioeconomic rights. South Africa urgently requires the implementation of a coherent pragmatic economic approach that embraces the needs of business, but also the needs of the millions who remain on the margins where apartheid chucked them. The country cannot afford to continue deferring this conversation until after the next election.
Thank you.
Ms B S MASANGO: Chairperson, today’s topic sums up the ANC government’s scorecard for the last five years. For the debate to be held on the last days of the term, it is clear that the next government ought to prepare itself to address these challenges. The DA is up to the challenge, given its policies
that have been translated into the manifesto that we launched recently.
Having made clarion calls that have deliberately been ignored by the ANC government, it goes without saying that the DA will have to implement its rescue plan by creating 2 million new jobs, and thereby restoring dignity and protecting lives and livelihoods to millions of households that have been languishing in poverty for some time now.
The escalating levels of poverty have turned graduates into beggars as their hope of living prosperous lives diminishes with every business that is closing due to load shedding.
Working age South Africans have joined the Social Relief of Distress, SRD Grant queues just to put food on their families’ table. While the grants have been a lifeline for many, the system is so riddled with glitches, fraud and corruption that many have fallen between the cracks, making the little income to be unreliable and unpredictable, causing untold misery for already poor and vulnerable South Africans.
Applicants are taken through long, arduous processes while scammers get away with thousands of rands worth of grant money. In the meantime, poverty deepens to unprecedented
levels. We are now at a 30 million mark of people who live in dire poverty in South Africa. That is half the population of South Africa, most of whom are young people.
Chairperson, it is for this reason that the DA has at its core of its rescue plan the following: Creating 2 million new jobs. Ending load shedding and water shedding. Halving the rate of violent crimes. Crushing corruption by abolishing cadre deployment in favour of merit-based appointments. Lifting
6 million people out of poverty. Tripling the number of Grade
4 learners who can read for meaning. Ensuring equality health care for all, irrespective of economic status.
Chairperson, these are guaranteed to push poverty away and usher in a working economy, open doors to employment and restore much needed dignity to South Africans, who have until now been languishing in the periphery of South Africa’s economy. As a caring government with an impeccable track record, the DA is up to the challenge of joining likeminded South Africans in rescuing South Africa from the miry clay that the ANC has relegated them to, while a few cadre deployment elite have been widening the gap of inequality to the detriment of many South Africans who want to work and
improve their lives, but are struggling to survive under the ANC government.
Chairperson, why is the poverty of South Africans used as a political game by ANC leadership, that goes around telling people that their grants won’t be paid when the ANC is no longer in government? How far is the ANC prepared to go in peddling blatant lies in order to garner ill-gotten votes? Why is people’s poverty that has been caused by the uncaring ANC turned into a political blackmail, just to remain in power and deepen levels of poverty further? What happened to delivering services to all South Africans who work so hard to earn the tax that they pay for these services?
A quick reminder to all South Africans, grants are a constitutional right to ensure that no one is left to starve to death in this country. They are not a favour from any political party. Chairperson, I would like to conclude with the words of the DA’s federal leader John Steenhuisen, when releasing the ANC cadre deployment document and I quote:
The big dot that is going to be joined in this election is that the state capture would not have been able to take place had it not been enabled by cadre deployment, because
you had to put cadres into the positions before you could then capture the state. Let’s stop pretending that this is a victimless crime. The victims are 30 million people trapped in in poverty. The victims are people living in insecurity. The victims are the people struggling to put food on their table.
South Africans, let us rescue South Africa by voting for the DA in the upcoming elections. Thank you, Chairperson.
Mr M MANYI: Chairperson, the DA is interesting here that they have their own cadre deployment, yet they are criticising others. But ...
IsiZulu:
... asikho lapho.
English:
Addressing the multifaceted crisis of low economic growth, high unemployment and entrenched poverty in South Africa demands a new understanding of the macroeconomic structure. Right now, we’re busy painting the walls, changing the colours of the walls instead of dealing with the foundation.
While various perspectives exist, the EFF highlights a fundamental issue, South Africa’s membership in the Commonwealth. We argue, perpetuates a pseudo sovereign status. We cannot say that we are free as long as we are members of that thing. The essence of the EFF’s critique lies in the continued export of our raw materials to Europe and other global markets. A characteristic of a neoliberal economic framework. This export-oriented approach we contend, undermines the nation’s economic sovereignty and perpetuates a cycle of dependency on external markets.
Chairperson, it’s embarrassing that South Africa cannot manufacture even a toothpick, not even a matchstick. Really now? To break free from this paradigm, the EFF’s advocates for a shift towards beneficiation of South Africa’s abandoned mineral resources are keen to the successful model employed in the wine industry, with grapes for instance. By adding value to raw materials domestically, South Africa could capture a larger share of the value chain, thereby fostering economic growth, job creation and sustainable development. Central to the EFF’s mission is a vision of promoting a massive industrialisation.
Instead of relying on imported finished goods, we argue as the EFF that, for the development of a robust manufacturing sector capable of meeting domestic demand, while also competing in international markets. This approach not only reduces the lions on imports but fosters innovation, technology transfer and skills development laying groundwork for long-term prosperity.
The EFF’s proposals offer a compelling vision for economic transformation, whose implementation requires careful consideration of various factors. For instance, a transitioning or beneficiation focused economy demands significant investment in infrastructure, technology, and human capital. Hence in the EFF’s manifesto we strongly vouch for building the entire capacity of the states.
The EFF’s policy positions are formulated to address potential challenges such as market distortions, environmental concerns and global trade dynamics. For instance, whilst we advocate for coal-fired power stations for our primary base load for generation, given our 200 years of coal reserves.
We also advocate for clean bend technology, nuclear gas and renewables as top up, not vice versa. We can’t have a
situation where we rely on renewables as a primary source. Additionally, fostering industrialisation necessitates a conducive regulatory environment and access to finance. Hence we are dealing with the issues of a State Bank, which by the way the EFF has submitted at the Private Members Bill way back in 2018, and support for small and medium enterprises to thrive so that we have a multiplied effect on the economy.
Collaborative efforts between the government, private sector and civil society are essential to overcome barriers and ensure the inclusive and sustainable development envisioned by the EFF.
In conclusion Chairperson, while they EFF’s critique of South Africa’s economic structure offers valuable insights, it cannot be realised if the captured ANC is still in power. The removal of the ANC from the steering wheel is central to the prosperity of South Africa. The ANC is ready in the clutches of the imperialists. The imperialists want their pound of flesh back from the ANC, and so the ANC must do the right thing and just move off.
By leveraging the nation’s resources and fostering industrialisation under the principled leadership of the EFF, South Africa can chart a path towards prosperity, job
creation, eradication of poverty and economic sovereignty. So, we therefore call on South Africans to do the right thing on
29 May and install a government that has got a purposeful approach. A government that is ready to deliver for the people of South Africa, and that government is an EFF government.
The EFF government has already shown what it can do in Ekurhuleni, where we have made sure that even the issues of the spillage of sewages is a thing of the past. We can do that for that for the rest of the country. I mean, in places where the ANC still governs, we have a serious spillage of sewage everywhere, potholes everywhere, which is indicative of a tired government.
We really want to say to the ANC, it must accept that it is fatigued as a government. It is tired, it must move. So, for us this year 2024 for is indeed our 1994. We say to the young people out there, EFF is here for you. The EFF is not going to be asking you whether you were in in Angola, in Kabwe or in Muruguru. The EFF is going to make sure that all the people of South Africa ... [Interjections] ... and then we ... [Inaudible] ... make a contribution. Thank you.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE: Part of the reason I'm dressed like this is because I’m from a funeral around here in Tshwane and Soshanguve. What the DA is claiming to be promising South Africans is already being experienced by people in Tshwane.
There is terrible service delivery in these areas.
Since the ANC government came into power, we have made a huge contribution in changing the lives of South Africans and we remain committed to economic growth in order to reduce unemployment as well as poverty. Economic growth is very important but economic growth must be inclusive. We've seen it during apartheid, during colonialism in which we had economic growth, but that economic growth excluded black people, women and under developing rural areas. Since the ANC came into power, we have done a lot in contributing towards dealing with unemployment and poverty notwithstanding some of the challenges in so far as unemployment is concerned.
So, indeed economic growth encompasses the combination of growing our gross domestic product, GDP per capita with increasing levels of employment, expansion of productive activities and increased economic opportunities, particularly for the previously disadvantaged.
Hon members, the creation of decent work remains the most effective approach to addressing the problem of income, inequality and poverty. Government is working with Sector Education and Training Authority, Seta’s industry, TVET institutions to match skills market to the labour market needs and indeed, the economy needs massive investment to grow and create more jobs.
As this ANC government, we will continue to promote development, while increasing investment in activities that create jobs. The ANC government policy framework supports investment and development in productive sectors of the economy by amongst other things, eliminating barriers to entry, improving skills, encouraging localisation which is important for industrialisation, but also increasing our exports.
Hon Manyi, for any economy to grow, it must export and be competitive. It must make sure that it produces manufactured goods not only the raw materials, in order to export and earn foreign currencies to trade with the rest of the world. The government's economic reconstruction and recovery plan places job creation and preservation at its centre.
Hon members, the position of the ANC led government as stated in the economic reconstruction and recovery plan is to support the drive for industrial growth and to put manufacturing localisation and beneficiation at the centre. One of the key focused areas of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, ERRP is infrastructure led growth, which is at the centre of the approach to foster socio economic growth.
The ANC government’s approach focuses both on economic and social infrastructure as a key instrument to transform the lives of our people. Chairperson, the core of economic growth is sound macroeconomic framework, structural reform, as well as the capacity.
A sound macro framework that stabilizes our public finances and maintains low and stable inflation is critical. The stability of prices is desirable for many reasons. Unstable inflation brings a lot of uncertainty to economic agents.
Uncertainty about where the prices of goods and services will be in future makes it more difficult for people to make sound economic decisions. Savers, old age, pensioners and workers benefit from low and stable prices as this minimizes the loss in purchasing power brought by inflation. Low and stable inflation makes our exports more competitive, particularly
exports in which we've added value manufacturing or manufactured goods, makes our exports more competitive, which contributes towards the economic growth.
One of the key constraints for economic growth has been the supply side constraint, the supply of electricity, water, energy. Through Operations Vulindlela, we have been undertaking structural reforms to deal with the supply side constraints in our economy. There are reforms in the energy, freight, water, telecommunication sectors. And indeed, this is beginning to show some improvement as far as our economy is concerned and creating an enabling timent for job creation.
The electricity sector is being reformed and stabilised. Power cuts are expected to reduce during 2024 due to improved generation at Eskom plants and private sector capacity coming online. Partnerships with the private sector are being expanded in the transport sector. Transnet is finalising a partnership with a private sector company to upgrade the portion of the Durban port which handled 46% of the country’s port traffic.
The government's approach to improving economic growth prospect includes, but not limited to, reducing red tape,
bolstering investor confidence, restricting monopolistic practices, ensuring policies certainty in critical sectors of our economy and a drive in investment within the public- private partnership. The ANC Government remains committed to responsible macroeconomic management of the economy, which includes transparent monetary policy, prudent fiscal policy and a flexible exchange rate regime.
This facilitates maintaining low borrowing rates, entice capital inflow into our economy and enables the government to allocate a significant portion of the budget to social spending items such as health, education and social relief of the distress grant. As colleagues would know that the ANC government spent more than 60% of its budget on the social wage to support the poor.
As announced at the Budget Speech, the R350 targeted to the unemployed has been extended while considering social security policy reforms as well as the funding model. To date, the ANC government through the Jobs Fund, has fully allocated the initial investment of R9 billion to the portfolio of job creation intervention. The Youth Employment Service is creating between 2 000 - 3 000 high quality jobs for youth per month, predominantly in the private sector. Since its
inception, the Youth Employment Service, Yes and its partners have injected more than R6,8 billion into the economy through the Youth Employment Service.
Hon members, we have also announced in the budget that the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative will continue to create more jobs as it has already created about 1,7 million job opportunities, of which 1,1 million are from the Department of Education and 83% of the participants are youth and 66% are women.
Hon members, we are seized with the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. We are not where we want to be, and indeed we are making inroads. This ANC is government making inroads in tending the tide and we will continue to do more as we will make sure that we grow our economy. Our manifesto as the ANC is very clear that we will amongst other things, prioritise industrialisation to grow our economy and tackle unemployment and poverty. Thank you, hon Chair, for your indulgence. Thank you very much.
Mr S L NGCOBO: Hon Chairperson, my apologies as I am not going to switch on my video because of load shedding. South Africa grapples with an acute and challenging crisis of youth
unemployment necessitating immediate and substantive solutions for our collective advancements and sustained progress.
Africa is a most industrialised economy, yet it is one with the highest unemployment rate in the world. It is a joke, a very sad one to say the least, to think of the vast potential that the youth of this country hold yet the government fail them at every turn. To realise South Africa’s youth potential however requires a concerted effort from government, civil society and private sector. Young people need to take their future and that of this country in their own hands, and the government need to deliver on their policies and programmes which are aimed at addressing the challenges the youth specifically face. Improving our education and skills development initiatives need to be a priority for all of us.
South Africa’s GDP need to grow by 6% per year to start creating enough jobs just for the 700 000 people who enter the workforce every year according to the financial analyst. Large numbers of young South Africans graduates are sitting at home and jobless, and if they are employed it is nothing but menial jobs for no prospect of a future and self-actualisation. South Africa finds itself navigating treacherous waters. The rating agencies’ concerns about normal instability within the
governing party and its adverse effect on the economy and other things are evident.
As the nation grapples with these challenges, we must challenge knowledge a passing need for political stability, regulatory certainty to create and appealing environment for investment. The impact of the ruling party’s instability resonates through our daily lives affecting every South African. It is a stuck reality that demands our attention and effort to find solutions. Tragically, under the ANC leadership South Africa’s economy has stagnated its investment due to mismanagement of state-owned enterprises and corruption has resulted in significant losses.
As we approach the upcoming elections, I implore the youth of our nation to thoughtfully consider the vision they hold for the future. It is imperative to reflect upon whether the prevailing norm align with their aspirations, and if not to envisage a future that resonate more authentically with their individual and collective ideas. The IFP is ready to govern this country. Thank you very much.
Mr F J MULDER: Hon House Chair, the combination of low economic growth, high unemployment and entrenched poverty in
South Africa creates a vicious cycle that hinders progress and traps many citizens in difficult circumstances. Low economic growth translates to lower average incomes, limiting access to basic necessities like food, shelter and healthcare. This reduces overall well-being and quality of life. When businesses experience uncertainty and limited consumer spending due to low economic growth, they are less likely to invest in expansion or new ventures. This further hinders job creation and economic development.
Increased poverty and unemployment put pressure on government resources, making it challenging to adequately fund crucial public services like education, health care and social safety nets. Low economic growth often disproportionately affects the poorest segments of society, while the wealthy might be more insulated from its effects.
Afrikaans:
Voorsitter, daar word te dikwels in die Huis deur die regerende party slegs na die negatiewe gevolge van apartheid en kolonialisme verwys as die enigste oorsaak van armoede en ongelykheid.
English:
The injustices of the past ...
Afrikaans:
... het ’n gerieflike blaamverskuiwing geword om die onvermoë van die ANC regering om die land se ekonomie te laat groei te verbloem.
English:
The detrimental effect of poor governance, corruption and state capture on the economy is also to be blamed.
Widespread corruption and lack of accountability deter foreign and domestic investment, as businesses fear instability and unfair practices. This translates into fewer opportunities and reduced economic activity.
Chair, let’s talk about solutions. In addressing this complex web of issues, government should launch more effective initiatives to attract investment, support small businesses and stimulate economic activity in key sectors.
Individuals should be equipped with marketable skills that improves their employability and helps them access better paying jobs which is currently still lacking.
Approximately 18 million South Africans receive a form of social grant every month. This includes various grants such as child support grant, disability grant, old age rant, war veteran grant and foster care grant. While the challenges are significant, concerted efforts from government, businesses, civil society and individuals are crucial to creating sustainable solutions and breaking the cycle of poverty and unemployment.
Chair, 1,4% of South Africans pay 59% of income tax, 770 companies pay 66% of corporate tax and the number of the population that pays personal income tax stagnated at
7,4 million individuals. The fact that only 12 % of the South African population pays personal income tax, is exactly where we should start.
By decentralising the economy and stimulating local economies in communities more people in communities will be able to earn an income, grow the local economies and higher the personal tax base of the government.
Afrikaans:
Te veel energie word deur die ANC spandeer om die ideologie te bevorder ten koste van vaardigheidsontwikkeling en
werkskepping. Tyd sal leer dat die ANC Suid-Afrika se ekonomie met swak regeringsbeleid oor die rand van die afgrond bestuur en dat die nalatenskap daarvan Suid-Afrikaners in armoede dompel. Die ANC het tydens sy beurt van regeer die afgelope
30 jaar misluk en moet op 29 Mei 2024 met ’n veelparty koalisie regering waarvan die FF Plus deel sal wees om die agteruitgang te stuit, vervang word. Dankie Voorsitter.
Mr C N MALEMATJA: House Chair, the South African economy is almost twice large as it was three decades ago and the best democracy. As individual we are on verge better off by 1 1/2 times by monetary measure when we are measured by the human development index which add health and education status. We have advanced from a medium to high human development index profile.
The ANC-led government has made South Africa a better place and has improved the lives of the vast majority of our people. The last five years has been particularly difficult and full of unexpected events. Key amongst these was, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic which had such profound impact on our world. After emerging from the pandemic, we had the unrest which costed the economy over R50 billion as we were putting measures in place to place our economy on a path of recovery
from the conflict in Ukraine. With some again wanting to divide the world into cold war like the US and others.
We also saw the reality of climate change infrequent occurrence of extreme weather events in our country and elsewhere. All this impacted our society, the cost of living and the economy. The inability of our economy to grow has ... [Inaudible.] ... respond to the structural unemployment, the interdependence of the world to make us all vulnerable to external shocks that determine the growth level of any economy and the industrial policy played an important role in dealing with the COVID-19 turndown and other shocks.
The state rolled out R500 billion package in response to the pandemic which both cushioned the producer and the employer against some of these costs and maintained even build capacity to future growth. Through our reimagined industrial strategy
... [Inaudible.] ... by the implementation of the Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan, ERRP, we have been able to navigate unprecedented challenges faced in our democratic breakthrough.
Comrade Chair, on the implementation of industrial policy, under the automotive plan there is a commitment to increase
the local content of South African assembled motor vehicles from the current 39% to 60%. The electric vehicle White Paper was published for expanded output from its local supplier in the Tshwane ... [Inaudible.] ... during 2023. Ford manufactures the Ford Ranger at the Silverton assembly plant in Pretoria which exports over 100 markets globally. With a significant portion of this market being in the United Kingdom and European Union member states. Ford announced that Silverton assembly plant will expand its production to include the ... [Inaudible.] ... in hybrid electric vehicle in Ranger programme.
Production is expected to commence during the third quarter of 2024. To accommodate this expansion, Ford has invested an additional R5,2 billion to ensure consistency in building world class vehicle. Stellantis, the world fourth automakers signed a memorandum of understanding, MOU, with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, DTIC, to consider building a new auto factory with R3,1 billion investments in the Coega Specific Economic Zone.
Once complete, Chair, this would bring the Peugeot vehicle production in South Africa. This local production output will further increase job creation in aftermarket motor sale of
small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, in the automotive sector. If we do not correct these people will think that we have abandoned this important sector. Critical interventions were also made in the commuter rail sector where the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa, restored 15 railway corridors and will restore another 16 in this financial year. Thus far, it is recovering 26 corridors. This means that 31 out of 40 railway corridors will be restored by the end of the financial year.
Prasa is developing 81 railway stations and has made sure that the work commences on time and there is timeframe to conclude that. The modernisation of commuter rail is occurring through Prasa receiving 51 train sets and we are receiving another 146 train sets. Chairperson, R18 billion has been spent on the development of the railway infrastructure that resulted in
6 000 jobs created through the railway infrastructure development.
Hon Chair, the Welisizwe Bridge Programme has been in KwaZulu- Natal as a starting point. It has benefited the people of KwaZulu-Natal and it continued to benefit other provinces such as the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
As we speak, 12 bridges have been completed in KwaZulu-Natal.
In a mountainous area where people were not having access, the ANC-led government has managed to ensure that these bridges are there. There is no longer issue of not having access to other areas.
The programme is not only making access possible to other communities, it also increases job creation. It is also creating several working opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme. Several skills like welding, groundwork and soil rotation are transferred to the workers. Each bridge site has seven soldiers ready there to deal with the mafias who want to disrupt development. Over all that, we have ... [Inaudible.] ... who are transferring the skills to our people so that when the whole project is gone they are able to live on their own.
Over the medium-term 48 bridges will be built in rural provinces at a cost of R3,3 billion. A total of 6 200 opportunities will be created in each financial year. I approach the conclusion, we must at all times heed the advice of Amilcar Cabral: Tell no lies and claim no easy victories. We have heard serious setbacks during this administration that constrain our ability to grow. Let us continue to vote the ANC. The ANC leads, the ANC deliver. Thank you, Chair.
Mr S M JAFTA: Chair, the triple challenges of poverty, low economic growth and inequality have been made worse by the gross debt which rose to 77,7% last year. Our debt servicing costs are at 21,1% of revenue. This goes out on our spending on health, education and policy. There have been many economic models canvased by economists to grow the South African economy.
The fact of the matter is that the South African economy is not growing. Despite our youthful population the economy is failing to create jobs for the youth. Hon members, there have been few suggestions we have proposed in order to ignite sustainable economic growth. Some of the suggestions are shared by Duma Gqubule, they include introducing the unemployment basic income grant. We know that expenditure creates its own income and this grant is projected to generate 96% of the income to pay for itself.
There is an urgent need to adopt an import substitution strategy and agency. This must be geared towards diversifying our export commodities and building local capacity. We endorse the suggestion that there must be an amalgamation of the Presidential Employment Stimulus, the Expanded Public Works Programme and the community work programme. The idea behind
this is obvious. It is to streamline resources and hatch a single employment agency that is well co-ordinated, effective and all-encompassing.
Hon members, we must list some of our state-owned enterprises, SOEs, to raise liquidity. There is also no justifiable reason to continue bailing out failing entities. The results of these bailouts have chocked our economic growth and eroded our spending in infrastructure and health. There must be a deliberate move to tap into foreign exchange contingency result during emergencies and only in exceptional cases.
We, however, caution that this must not be used willy-nilly. There is no denying that our economy has not been growing. We must inject growth-enhancing measures and improve the lives of our people. I thank you, hon Chair.
Mr M BAGRAIM: Acting House Chairman, I appreciate that. On this day, we note the increase of the national minimum wage. Unfortunately, it’s done exactly the opposite. It has given the message to employers that that’s the actual wage and, in fact, half the employers in the country don’t even pay the national minimum wage, it’s been a disaster. Higher unemployment is an understatement. It’s a disgrace. We are
sitting at 40% unemployment and it’s getting worse. We are the worst in the world, notably youth unemployment is over 70% and these figures are made so much worse in the previously disadvantaged areas. The people who are suffering are mostly black women and youth. The governing party I am seeing for the past 30 years has done everything in its power to retard job creation.
Every year at the state of the nation address we hear lofty promises and fairy tales, Malice in Wonderland. Each year each ANC president merely mouths the same policies and structures, somehow believing that this will create different results and turn around the employment disaster. It takes an absolute fool to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. For the past 10 years, almost 10 years, I’ve been extremely busy on a daily basis, five days a week, 12 months a year, receiving desperate pleas from unfortunate and heartbroken South Africans about their unpaid Unemployment Insurance Fund monies. We must note that one swallow does not a summer make. I do not have to stand here and present to you a lousy two dozen since swallows in order to show the desperation of South Africans who are job hunting.
I can present, however, the unfortunate true situation of over
10 000 South Africans who written to me personally. They are desperate and they are mere dropping the ocean of approximately eight million South Africans who are unemployed, very sad souls at the behest of the ANC. We, as the citizens of South Africa, cannot afford to have the same again for the next five years. Unfortunately, we are seeing a real disaster. As an ANC governing party, they’ve done everything to try and destroy job creation. The hard work of the Western province government and the City of Cape Town have shown how a DA governing administration can halve the unemployment. Unemployment in the Western province by the behest of the DA has brought down the unemployment to 20% as opposed to 40% nationally. There’s no magic in this exercise. Unemployment in South Africa can be ... [Inaudible.] ... like the DA has shown. A Democratic Alliance government in the Western province has run the hard yards. Red tape has been tackled in the business community, especially the small business community have been encouraged to invest in their own businesses and create employment.
The Multi-Party Charter led by the DA will ensure that real issues are tackled. It’s not an easy route to travel. We must tackle the real issues, such as we have shown that can be done
under the DA administration instead of trying to get South Africans to focus on geopolitics like the ANC is trying to do. They’re focusing on geopolitics elsewhere. We, as the DA are carefully looking at how we can bring national unemployment down to the 20% like it has been done in the Western province and how we can tackle the scourge of unemployment, so, hopefully below 10%.
We are fully aware that job creation is the cornerstone of change. The DA fully understands that small businesses will be the engine room for the majority of jobs as the next few years, under the Municipal Planning Commission, MPC, administration as led by the DA. What is clear is that small businesses have to be encouraged to employ. This encouragement protect place almost immediately if small businesses are uncoupled from the bargaining councils and are released from onerous and destructive labour regulations. It is folly to have 11 pieces of labour legislation with literally thousands of regulations hampering each and every small business. Even the previous Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, put out the desperate plea to uncouple small businesses from the bargaining councils and big business. This plea fell on deaf ears in this very House and raised the eye of the trade union members who are fully employed.
President Ramaphosa promised two years ago that there would be an investigation into legislation that hamper job creation.
This is one of those empty promises which never came to pass and has been in the ANC ranks. Just another chapter of never and neverlands, Malice in Wonderland. The DA has ... thank you, Acting House Chairman. [Time expired.]
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Thank you very much. We are now migrating to hon Tseki of the ANC. Therefore, just to bring to your attention, hon Tseki, that you will be having 11 minutes because your fellow hon member who is in the first line of defence, hon Malematja, saved you one minute. Over to you, hon Tseki.
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): We are now migrating to hon Tseki of the ANC. Just to bring to your attention, hon Tseki, you will be having 11 minutes because your fellow hon member who is in the first line of defence, hon Malematja, saved you one minute. Over to you, hon Tseki.
Sesotho:
Mong M A TSEKI: Kgomo tseo, le manamane a tsona!
English:
This debate takes place during the month of March when we celebrate human rights by commemorating many brave lives we lost for the attainment of this freedom and democracy. This commemoration is vital in foregrounding our democracy as a country that has more than 300 years of history, that is oppressive and injustice. How I wish that the Palestinians could be celebrating these milestones that South Africans are celebrating today, against the onslaught of DA and ACDP who are not seeing the genocide that is taking place in Palestine. We are calling on all the world’s society to rally behind South Africa to bring justice in Palestine.
Since the advent of democracy and freedom 30 years ago, the ANC-led government has been swimming against the tide of the legacy of the previous regime which had systematically and structurally entrenched themselves against the African majority. One of the fundamental achievements of this government is our Constitution which is founded on the principle of democracy, justice, equity, diversity, tolerance and respect. It is through the backdrop of his principle that the ANC government has been striving to transform our society to realize the principles of a democratic, non-racial, non- sexist, united and prosperous society, in which we are
determined to continue driving this transformation agenda beyond the 29 May 2024.
In this regard, there has been massive redistribution undertaken since 1994. The advancement of the basic services to this end, 3,2 million free houses have been built and allocated between 1994 and 2019. From the period of 2019, the ANC-led government has been building houses at the integrated housing development programs and delivered about more than
8 000 social housing units in the identified zone, more than
19 000 affordable first home finance houses, more than 198 RDP houses and service stands of close to 200 000. This happened just between 2014 and 2024.
In addition, government has handed over more than 100 000 title deeds to the households. Advancement has also been made in the health sector by passing the National Health Insurance in Parliament. The National Health Insurance is transformative. It’s a step towards realization of the universal health coverage which factors such as how much you earn and where you stay. It is not going to be a factor to determine the kind of healthcare you receive. These are testaments that this government is resolved to create an equitable and a just society.
Furthermore, headway has been made in ensuring that the health sector has necessary resources to render healthcare in different provinces of our society. We have built 16 000 clinics, 18 hospitals between 1994 and 2014. We have built 149 clinics and 38 hospitals. In particular, we are so pleased about the latest hospital that has been built in KwaMashu Pixley Ka-Isaka Seme, launched by the President of our country. As well as the construction of the Central Academic Hospital in Polokwane, which is going to be completed in 2026.
This tremendous development also occurred in the background of the government’s provision of free primary healthcare services. Such includes, family planning, HIV, tuberculosis, diagnosis treatment and support, as well as the mental and reproductive services, amongst others. This has an incredible impact in improving the health outcome and extending the life expectancy of our people.
One of the cornerstones of every nation’s development is transformation by opening the doors of learning. In this regard, nearly nine out of 10 public schools are no-fee schools. With millions of learners receiving meal from school feeding scheme. This government has also established the
National Students Financial Aid Scheme which is provided for needed support to millions of students in our country.
It is particularly encouraging that the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation is committed through the Tvet colleges to continue increasing learning programs required for occupations of higher demand with enrolment of close to 500 000 students in all programs for the academic year of 2024. This is progress. This is ANC. It is vital that this continues to close the skills gap in the market by equipping people with knowledge and skills required by various industries.
Such interventions are instrumental in empowering the people to provide for themselves and family, thus breaking away the state dependency and breaking the cycle of poverty and being able to positively contribute to the economy. That’s building a multiplier effect to Tintswalo, to Nthabiseng, and to Themba. Ours is to graduate everyone that is receiving social grants to be independent.
The ANC government, through the Department of Social Development, has made significant progress in mitigating poverty through social grant system, which benefits
marginalized, vulnerable groups, and society such as the children, orphans, persons with disability, and pensioners. More recently, over 8 million unemployed young people are receiving the SRD grant. In that same breath, it is noted that South Africans do not want to be dependent to the state.
Rather, they want to strive, to seek employment opportunities, and to live an independent and product lives.
As part of the ANC-led government, we are committed in addressing unemployment. The National Treasury during 2024 budget speech announced another R61 billion will be allocated to employment programs over the medium term. And 7,4 billion allocated to the Presidential Employment Initiative, which has created more than 1,7 work opportunities and livelihoods for the young people.
We commend our government under the challenges they face on daily basis for being reflective and bold in identifying the weakness and taking corrective measures in addressing them. In particular, when you look at the issues of corruption, the
ANC-led government remained committed to working with all stakeholders in building an efficient and effective institution rooted in the integrity, transparency, and
accountability. Our President, Cyril Ramaphosa, at the ANC manifestos launch, said the following:
We still have many more hills to climb. We will climb them together, leaving no one behind.
To transform our society, we are saying this government has allocated almost 60%, as the Deputy Minister have already said to social wage, which reflects it’s a caring government. We are dealing with the agenda of the day that talks about the cycle of poverty.
It is quite interesting today to hear that the DA is the leader of the Multi Charter, whereas every other political party in that grouping, that of moon shooting, they are claiming to be leaders. I wish the IFP was going to be given an opportunity for them to respond on who is the leader of the Multi Charter as the DA is claiming. What EFF is saying, EFF always make these sounding revolutionary statements that have no effect. The resolution of the Reserve Bank and transformation of the Reserve Bank is the resolution that the ANC has taken before even EFF was born. So, they can’t come here and educate us about the Reserve Bank. We are the ones
that are looking at the conditions on the material on the ground to make sure that we transform the Reserve Bank.
Look at what the Minister has done in taking R180 billion to deal with the issue of debt in our country. Chair, the last question I would always like to ask to the FF Plus is that what is their intervention ... [Time expired.]
Sesotho:
Aowa! Re a leboha.
English:
Long live Palestine! Long live!
AN HON MEMBER: The ANC must fall!
Mr B N HERRON: Chair, thank you to the Deputy Minister and all the members for participating in this very important debate about a crisis in our country ...
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Hon Herron, sorry. There is some echo, and you sound a bit far like you are in a hole or something. Just do something about it.
Mr B N HERRON: Oh! But there is an echo in this room. Can you hear me now?
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Well, proceed. Its three minutes.
Mr B N HERRON: Thank you, Chair, and thank you to all the members and the Deputy Minister for responding and engaging in this debate. Chair, you would recall at the beginning of the debate I said that we were stuck in a perpetual cycle of political contestation like hamsters on the exercise wheel ... [Inaudible.] ... perpetual cycle of election. Many of the contributions today have proved that point. We have the ANC, the DA, the EEF, the FF Plus, all looking at elections and their manifestos rather than engaging in the critical crisis that our people are facing.
I’d like to thank the Deputy Minister for referring to the reconstruction and recovery plan. We agree with the key components of the plan, the industrial growth part, the infrastructure part, ... for economic and social infrastructure. But the key question about this plan is how effective is it if we are only projecting a 1,1% growth in the medium term? What are the blockages to this plan and to our
country achieving the same kind of growth that our peers on the African continent are experiencing? Is it the implementation? Is it the economic structural blockages that we’ve talked about for years, or is it simply the wrong plan?
We really need to implement one economic growth plan that integrates infrastructure, the priority sectors of mining, manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and the green economy. We need to look at financing small businesses and we do need to wrap up the Public Employment Programmes. The infrastructure is a force multiplier. The National Infrastructure Plan gazetted in 2022 ... [Inaudible.] ... the construction industry is declining. The construction sector will tell you that for every job in the construction site, seven are created in the supply chain.
The World Bank says that if we were to achieve the same level of entrepreneurialism as our peer countries, we would hike our unemployment rate. But we are focused on red tape instead of the true obstacles to entrepreneurism, and that is finance.
Finally, on the question of public employment program, we have the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, the Community Work Programme, CWP, the Youth Employment Service, Yes, the
Presidential Employment Programme, well, EPWP is not really an employment initiative program, it’s really a poverty alleviation program, but these should be restructured into one compelling and effective plan that will address unemployment.
And finally, I would just like to address the basic income grant. There can be nothing. There can be more frontline in terms of service delivery than making a cash transfer to poor people. By looking at allocated efficiency in our budgeting process, we can test all government programs and projects against the impact of a basic income grant and then that way we will find the funds.
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Okay, thank you very much, hon member. I hope you are done.
Debate concluded.
CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF LAND REFORM AND AGRARIAN TRANSFORMATION IN SUPPORTING SMALL AND MEDIUM-SCALE BLACK FARMERS TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY AND GROWTH IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
(Subject for Discussion)
Dr M M E THLAPE: Chairperson, hon members, agriculture is one of the most strategic and critical sectors for economic development in South Africa. It creates job opportunities, especially for the low- to semi-skilled people in areas who otherwise would have limited opportunities. According to Statistics SA agricultural sector employed an average Of
843 177 people per annum, between 2018 and 2022. This represents 5,4% of total employment.
The sector is undeniably vitally significant and plays a pivotal role in job creation, rural development and foreign earnings. Today’s debate reminds us about the duality of South Africa’s agrarian structure. Large scale commercial agriculture, whose performance compares favourably with the best in the world, contrasts sharply with small-scale and medium-scale holder agriculture.
Literature research shows that large-scale commercial agriculture is well integrated, highly capitalised sector, producing around 95% of agriculture allowed goods on an 87% of total agricultural land. The smaller holder sector, comparatively struggling and characterized by low productivity in contrast, consists of around 4 million block farmers,
farming in former homeland areas on 13% of agricultural land of South Africa.
It is a direct result of historical patterns of dispossession and impoverishment which systematically eroded historically successful and land-based production systems and livelihoods in South Africa. It is the state of our agrarian structure.
Section 25(5)(6)(7) of the Constitution sets a legislative framework for transformation in property relations to address the skilled patterns of land ownership.
However, we should take into consideration that agrarian reform has a wider meaning than just reform. It covers not only a redistribution of land, but also, the provision of infrastructure, services and sometimes a whole program of redistributive and democratic reforms, involving transformation of the social relations of property, production and power.
Ultimately, the policy intent of the ANC-led government is to attain an integrated South Africa’s agricultural system, which is more diverse and demographically representative of the national population. Hence, the government’s intervention through land reform.
Hon members, the ANC-led government introduced a program of Land Reform to address the racially based imbalances in agriculture, including skilled patterns of land ownership and providing for secure tenure for all, including small holders mostly found in former homelands, where they were relegated to where the apartheid regime.
Until March 2020, the ANC-led government, transferred a total of 9,2 million hectares to black people under the Land Reform program. About 5,2 million hectares were transferred through the Land Distribution program, while 2,3 million hectares was acquired through the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, Plas. The remainder of the 9 million hectares has been acquired in terms of the Land Restitution and Tenure Security strategy.
Among the beneficiaries of Land Reform are small holder farmers who play a significant role in South Africa’s agricultural landscape. Notwithstanding the challenges they face, small-scale farmers can potentially drive positive change in the country’s economy. There are approximately
2 million small-scale farmers. I do note that there is an ongoing debate in the academia about the numbers and sources of data. What is not disputed is a contribution in driving
economic growth, reducing poverty and promoting sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
According to the Bureau for Food and Agriculture, agricultural gross domestic product grew by 4,2% in the second quarter of 2023, making it the fastest growing sector in South Africa.
This success, through the contribution of agricultural sector in our GDP, as a country, is evident in the 27 000 jobs that were created in the first quarter of 2023 for this sector, with some 985 000 people employed in the sector.
Policy consistency has allowed investors to maintain their investment in this sector, also with continuous innovations that have been implemented directly, aimed at supporting farmers. The main objective, besides the correction of historical injustice of addressing dispossession was to engage in land reform for the purposes of alleviating poverty, increasing economic growth and development through agricultural sector, and thereby create food security.
Hon members, the challenges for small holders are well documented and understood. Both, the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture and the Parliamentary High-Level Panel, on assessment of key legislation and
fundamental transformation, makes a compelling case in their diagnosis of challenges and policy proposals. For an example, small holders face limited access to markets, financial constraints and inadequate infrastructure.
On support mechanism to ensure that small holder farmers contribute to food security and growth, a number of interventions has been implemented to support producers, so that they contribute to food security and economic growth. To name a few specific projects, one finds Comprehensive Agricultural Support Program that discusses Micro Agricultural Financial Institutions of South Africa, Mafisa, Recapitalisation and Development Program and, most recently, the Land Development Support Program.
All these initiatives have immensely contributed access to finance to small rural farmers. The department, through partnering with Agri-Business Facility launch, ABF launch, the special Covid-19 fund for the purpose of providing agricultural inputs to small-scale households and subsistence farmers. We had about 152 000 input vouchers, which were issued to farmers across the country.
We also partnered with the Solidarity and traditional leaders, which saw the possibility of implementing the Presidential Employment Stimulus Initiative, which was targeted to revitalise agriculture in rural towns, townships, peri-urban and tribal areas focusing on essential food security, crops and animals.
Out of this initiative, we saw approximately 365 000 hectares which were planted in an effort to eradicate poverty and hunger towards our people. In terms of market access, projects like Small Holder Horticulture Empowerment Promotion, as well as the National Rhythmic Development Program have facilitated market access for small scale farmers, enabling them to reach broader markets and generate higher incomes.
House Chairperson. smallholder farmers are a priority for government. This is evidenced by them occupying central role in key policy documents, such as the National Development Plan and, most recently, the Agricultural and Agro-Processing Masterplans, AAMP, to name just a few. The Mission 2030 of the NDP aims at inclusive rural economy, wherein, and I quote:
Rural communities should have great opportunities to participate fully in economic, social and political life
of the country. People should have access to highly quality based services to enable them to be well nourished, healthy and inclusively skilled. Rural economies will be supported by agriculture and, where possible, by mining, tourism, agro processing and fisheries. Better integration of the country’s rural areas was achieved through successful land reform, job creation and poverty alleviation.
The NDP identified the following as key catalytic interventions, including expansion of irrigated agriculture, supplemented by dry land production where feasible. It also sees agriculture as having the potential to create close to
1 million new jobs by 2030, a significant contribution to the overall employment target.
The New Growth Path sought to shift the economy towards strong, sustained and inclusive economic growth, focusing on the productive sectors. The NDP set targets increasing the small holder sector by 300 000 households. This target finds expression in Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan, which aims to provide, among others, comprehensive formal assistance, development finance, agricultural research and development and extension services. It also aims to increase
the share of black ownership and the contribution of small- scale producers in the country by 2030. The Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan has six pillars: One, resolving policy ambiguities and creating an investment-friendly climate; creating enabling infrastructure; providing comprehensive farmer support, development finance, research and development and extension services; ensuring food security; expanded production and employment creating; enabling market expansion; involving markets access and trade facilitation; and lastly, developing localised foods, import replacement and expanded agro-processing.
Let me turn to share some progress made with regard to these policy propositions. In terms of Pillar 1, members will remember that the objective to attain recorded land rights and strengthen internal security for farmers, in order to reduce policy ambiguity and promote investor-friendly environment is well underway.
Today, Parliament has passed Deeds Registries Amendment Bill to provide for recording of land tenure rights. This Bill will assist to create tenure security of communal areas to benefit small- and medium-scale farmers in these areas. Members of the committee know that the lease term under the Agricultural Land
Holding Account, Alha, have been changed, from three years to
35 years, in order to facilitate long-term leases.
The idea to create partnerships for funding to benefit small holders has progressed with the introduction of blended finance as a progressive move. Under Pillar 3, government seeks to expand access to affordable and efficient agricultural financing for all farmers, implement the blended finance instruments, by upscaling existing initiative on blended finance model.
In this regard, those of us in the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture have received reports, and witnessed during oversight visit, land reform projects being linked to commodity organisations for technical support. The funding mechanisms in terms of Ilima-Letsema, Agri-BEE and other forms of support are being made available.
During the oversight visit to Mpumalanga, the committee observed how the state has strengthen the financial infrastructure to communal areas, evidenced by livestock dipping, at Salumbiza Dip Tank within the food and mouth protection zone, at Salumbiza Thulamahashe Farmer support units and storage and processing facilities.
On 7 March 2023, during the portfolio committee meeting, the department reported that, in March 2021, Minister Thoko Didiza and Minister Ibrahim Patel relaunched the blended finance through the Industrial Development Corporation, creating a
R1 billion grant fund over five years, to support high value export-oriented crops, vertically integrated livestock and agro-processing and forestry value chain, in line with Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan. At the end of December 2022, the IDC supported 19 transactions to the value of R1,124 billion, of which 399 ... [Inaudible.] ... is 1 207 permanent jobs.
Nine of the transactions approved are poultry farm expansion, with another recycle of 333 000 birds per cycle. In the same meeting, it was reported that DALRR, which is the department, is implementing Phase 2 of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Initiative to support subsistence producers with agricultural production voucher, to retain self-employment and strengthen the local food chain.
Hon Chairperson, again, the oversight visits to Mpumalanga showcase some of the success stories, from Percy Thembekile Mavuso in Barberton and Beauty Mokwena in Hazyview, for example. In conclusion, this does not suggest that there are
no challenges. The reports of the portfolio committee, after a thorough diagnosis of challenges and exploring possible pathways towards the desired end, makes a number of recommendations, which the Minister has responded to and addressed some of the shortcomings identified by the committee. I thank you, Chair.
Mr N P MASIPA: House Chairperson ...
Sepedi:
... re manyami go ba pele ga maAfrika Borwa go tla go bolela ka diphetogo goba tiona dipoelo tia yona peakanyoleswa ya naga mo Afrika Borwa. Ge re tsitsinkela gore naa e bang mmuio wa ANC o dirile eng go leka go tliia diphetogo mo nageng go fediia tlala le go godiia ekonomi, go a nyamiia e le ruri. E re ke tsopole gannyane go tiwa letlakaleng la dipoelo tia mmuio wo wa ANC wa bomenetia pele ke tsena go mokgatlo wa puio yeo e hlwekilego ya lerato le tsebo ye botse wa DA. Diphetogo tieo di lego gona dinagamagaeng le temong ke tlala le tlhokego ya meiomo le kgolo ya bomenemene bja mmuio wa ANC. Tshokolo ya batho ba magaeng le balemi ba bathobaso e kweia bohloko.
Mme yo mongwe go la Kapa Bohlabela o feditie a ipolaile, a fetia bolaya le masea a gagwe a mabedi - madi ao a senago
molato - e le ka lebaka la tlala yeo e tliiitiwego ke tlhokego ya dijo le moiomo. Pele mmuio ya ANC e tiea puio ka 1994, batho ba Ga-Matlala kua Tibane le Juno le ba Moletii, ba be ba ioma mafelong a go swana le Chloe Sisal le dipolaseng tia go swana le Ga-Mmerebere. Ga bjale, batho ba gaborena ba ka gare ga ditlala, tlhokego ya meetse, mohlagase le meiomo.
Ditihelete tieo mmuio wa ANC o di ntihitiego go hlabolla tia temo le dinagamagae di feletie diatleng tia mahodu a mmuio wa ANC – bona bomphenyaiilo.
Go bontiha gore mmuio wo wa ANC ga o na kwelobohloko le gatee. Bana ba gaborena ba ... [Tsenoganong.] ... Sekolo se se Phagamego sa Harry Oppenheimer sa tia Temo, ba ka gare ga thuto ya tia temo
MODULASETULO WA NAKWANA: (Rre S O R Mahumapelo): Motl. Masipa, ne kere o e tshware ga nnyane. Motl. Tseki...
Sepedi:
Mna M A TSEKI: Ntate Masipa o re pele ga 1994 batho ba Ga- Matlala ba be ba ioma ...
English:
Does he mean that people should go back to apartheid for them to be able to be employed?
The ACTING CHAIRPERSON: (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): That one is not a point of order but a question.
Mr M A TSEKI: Maybe I should have asked if he can take a question.
MODULASETULO WA NAKWANA: (Rre S O R Mahumapelo): A o ka tsaya potso Ntate Masipa?
Sepedi:
Mna M A TSEKE: Ke tla e tiea ge ke feditie polelo ya ka, Modulasetulo.
MODULASETULO WA NAKWANA: (Rre S O R Mahumapelo): Oho! Fa o setse o feditse?
Sepedi:
Mna N P MASIPA: Ge ke setie ke feditie.
MODULASETULO WA NAKWANA: (Rre S O R Mahumapelo): Go siame, tswela pele Ntate.
Sepedi:
Mna A TSEKI: Mara o nkwele.
Afrikaans:
Suid-Afrikaners, julle weet wat ons weet. Die DA kry die dinge gedoen.
English:
House Chairperson, where the DA governs, we get things done. In 2023, the DA government in the Western Cape had commissioned land reform study to evaluate the departmental support for land reform. Unlike the ANC-led government’s report on land reform that gathered dust for a year before it was released, the Western Cape government released its report immediately.
The ANC has dismally failed South Africans on land reform, and this has left many in limbo as they still have no place to call their own. Allow me to focus on the country’s leader in governance. The Democratic Alliance government in the Western Cape, “Hallelujah.”
The DA government conducted a land reform evaluation to assess the following three things: the current status of land reform,
farming businesses, the success of land reform farming businesses using the 39 departmental success indicators. It evaluated the Post-Settlement Support Programme.
The results of the Western Cape Land Reform study found that more than 66% indicated that their management was good, 93% indicated that their businesses were viable and more than 75% were reinvesting in the business, 84% of businesses are registered, from them, 89% are tax compliance, 79% pay minimum wage and 66% pay the unemployment insurance fund, UIF, while 89% of registered businesses generally keep financial records and 70% produced monthly statement.
The land is mostly leased or held with a long-term use right 54% and more than 75% felt that the insecure land right impacted negatively on their farming. The quality of extensions scored very high at 79%. We don’t tell more lies and claim an easy victory like our ANC opponents, hence our manifesto pledge to create 2 million jobs.
Sepedi:
Ga bjalo ke mahlomolapelo ka lebaka la bona bomphenyaiilo. Sekolo sela ga se na leruo la go ruta bana gabotse ka tia temo ya leruo. Go tia dienywa le gona ke dipiheiamare, bana ba rena
ba fetia sekolo ba hloka thuto yeo e feletiego ya tia temo yeo e ba swanetiego. Maloba ge ke be ke dira yona tekolo (oversight), ke humane dikolobe tie petiana mo sekolong, di otile la go hlomola le moloi pelo, okare e sa le di eja ngwaga wo o fetilego. Potiiio ke gore naa bana ba rena ba ithuta eng ka fase wa mmuio wo wa ANC wa mahodu, wa go hloka kwelobohloko, wa mamenemene a go jabetia le tiona diruiwa le diphoofolo.
Mahodu a ANC a bolaile tiwelopele le ekonomi dinagamagaeng. Mahodu a diruiwa wona, ga re sa bolela! Balemi ba loba dimilionemilione tia diranta ngwaga ka ngwaga.
Setswana:
MODULASETULO WA NAKWANA: (Rre S O R Mahumapelo): Ke a leboga motl. Masipa. O ne o rile o tla tsaya potso ya ga motl. Tseki. Motl. Tseki, e reng potso? Go siame, ga a teng.
English:
Mr N P MASIPA: Chairperson, my time is up I won’t take the question.
The ACTING CHAIRPERSON: (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Thank you, hon Masipa.
Ms M S LETLAPE: Chairperson, we have gathered here to discuss a very long topic: “Critical Assessment of Land Reform and Agricultural Transformation” to support small and medium scale black farmers to ensure food security and growth in the agricultural sector. I speak of a long title because just a few days ago we were talking about smallholder farmers and how the government has failed to provide them with financial support and how it has imposed restrictions that prevent black people in particular from farming in rural areas, partly because of the limited availability of water and other resources.
The ANC and its member Dr Thlape have chosen this long title to deceive or mislead the public and conceal the truth. And what is the truth about that? The truth starts with the question of what went wrong in South Africa’s post-apartheid land reform programme and how the mistakes can be fixed. The ANC had announced that it would redistribute 30% of agricultural land by 1999 and this target was not met.
Instead, it was postponed several times until it was abandoned altogether in 2014. Thirty years after the transition to democracy and the start of land reform, there are many lessons to reflect on, and these lessons are evident in the
catastrophic failures of land reform under the ANC-led government.
House Chairperson, we all agree that land theft of over nearly
350 years of South African history saw the loss of key productive resources by indigenous populations and erosion of their rights to land and natural resource and rendered landlessness in their own country.
The vision of land reform emphasises its multiple objectives of eliminating land dispossession and injustice, creating a more equitable distribution of land, reducing poverty and promoting economic growth, ensuring secure tenure, establishing sound land administration and contributing to national reconciliation. What has the democratic government done to achieve these goals and address the historical theft and the reality of landlessness of the black population? It has done absolutely nothing.
In the context of a number of contributions to what the hon Dr Thlape abstractly presents as a newly discovered topic of discussion, Professor Ben Cousins asks a pertinent question about land reform in South Africa.
Is it sinking, and can it be saved?
The answer to this question is found in the situation on two fronts. Firstly, the post land settlement crisis and the lack of support for those who benefited from land reform, be it through restitution, land ownership or land redistribution.
Secondly, to a lot of arable land, farm is farmland is still concentrated in the hands, control and ownership of white people. With about 4% of farmland only being transferred to black people.
All patterns of land ownership and special inequalities defined by race are to this very day, hardwired into the South African capitalist economy from its very beginning, largely because of colonial land, dispossession, and partly as the basis for a cheap labour regime and unsecured labour tendencies system rooted in “baaskap skop en donner” supremacist mentality.
This mentality hasn’t changed, it still defines power and labour relations in most commercial farms in the country. House Chairperson, the conclusion to what this debate calls support of medium and small-scale farmers to secure and to
ensure food security and growth in the agricultural sector is that until land is adequately and successfully transferred by means of expropriation without compensation to the state custodianship, there is but no reason to debate this topic.
Because this topic is brought in by the ANC’s caucus just as a by the way, with lack of implementation to the core.
We reject this debate as cheap talk and a waste of time. We call on South Africans to reject the ANC and all the right- wing political parties which are masquerading as true and rea spokespersons of the people until the land is brought back to the real owners. We cannot sit here and speak about land redistribution and restitution with no solid plan on how, the majority of people of South Africa are going to get land and with no restrictions and with no conditions on how this land is going to be given to our people. Thank you very much, Chair.
Ms T BREEDT: Chairperson, on a point of order: I think you have forgotten about the FF Plus. We usually speak before the ANC’s next speaker.
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): For the next 10 minutes is the ANC Member of Parliament, Mahlo.
Ms N P MAHLO: Hon Chair, all protocol observed, today, in this august House I am going to critically assess the land reform and agrarian transformation to support the small- and medium- scale black farmers in ensuring food security and growth in the agricultural sector. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development is committed to be a driver of the National Development Plan, especially the mandate of chapter 6 of the NDP where we envision the integrated and inclusive economy that involves the expansion of agricultural activities, the need for effective land reform and the promotion of sustainable rural development. The economic reconstruction and recovery plan seeKs agriculture and land reform to ensure domestic production to create food security.
The department under the ANC-led government seeks to achieve economic transformation and job creation in South Africa.
Sepedi:
Le se ke la ba la tihoiwa ke ba ba maburu ba go bolaya batho.
English:
With the focus on economic transformation and job creation, we will be able to deal with matters of reducing poverty.
Sepedi:
Ga go na ye nngwe, ke mokgatlo wo wa ANC woo o tlogo dira tie kamoka.
English:
And matters of reducing inequality and creating employment by allocating adequate resources and necessary skills to address the persistent challenges associated with agriculture, land reform and rural development in South Africa. Land reform also addresses persistent historic economic inclusion of the majority of black people of our country. In order to increase growth and development across the country, we need to reduce pressure on urban areas through the land reform agricultural development. It is important that we improve agricultural production, accelerate land reform and finalise land restitution claims, revitalising essential agricultural infrastructure, increasing this research and development capacity to improve agricultural value chain, the safety and quality of agricultural products.
There have been some challenges when we speak of matters relating to land but ...
Sepedi:
... re se ke ra lebala gore ...
English:
... there has been a progress. If we look at the land s restitution, there was a total number of 83 067 claims that have been settled between 1995 and 2023, leaving just only
5 407 outstanding claims to be settled. About 2,3 million people have benefited from the land restitution where the total amount of R25 billion was spent on restitution of the land equal to 3 972 331 hectares. We must not forget that.
There was also an amount of R22,5 billion, which was provided as financial compensation to beneficiaries who wanted financial compensation in the place of land. Also, in the period between 2019 and 2023, there was a total of 1 494 claims which were settled and were largely influenced through Kuyasa strategy. We had this strategy which ensures that commission was adequately provided to restore all land rights for the claims lodged before 1998 deadline and improve stakeholder and claimant management communication channels and overall customer satisfaction.
In order to sustain agriculture, we need to continuously improve agricultural production in South Africa and revitalise
infrastructure and support farmers with decision-making by providing them with the information on effective sustainable farming practices based on current research. There must be a clear link between small- and medium-scale black farmers and new market which are essential for economic transformation and job creation for purposes of growth and development to our rural areas like Bochum - you see - in our country.
We need to make sure that the success in the agricultural sector in the past five years and the coming five years is visible. All of us ...
Sepedi:
... re le badudi ba Afrika Borwa, re tlogele go iupana ka menwana ...
English:
... for the purposes of our people - in terms of food security, job creation and growth of small- and medium-scale black farmers is important. This must be achieved through a greater equal amount of income. Wealth and earning opportunities and commercial agricultural must have a positive effect on the poor and disadvantaged areas of our country. The agricultural sector has been one of the best performing sectors in the country.
Sepedi:
Ga go na yo a sa tsebego gore Tona ya rena o a ioma.
English:
We also take into consideration the issue of Ukraine and Russian conflict ...
Sepedi:
... yeo e lego gona go na kua; yeo e lego gore ...
English:
... it is impacting on the trade of production of agriculture. We must also take into consideration that, with all that the sector had a ... [Inaudible.] ... growth of 13,1% in the year 2020 and showed enormous flexibility during this tough time of the economy, where it was about 88,3% year in and year out in 2022. This growth also had full effects on the interlinked industries such as the agricultural machinery industry. For instance, the combined harvesters’ sales amount to 268 units in the same period, which is an increase of 46% from 2022.
According to the quarterly economic brief published in March 2022 - if we go through that one - the agricultural sector
growth was 12,2% and contributed to 0,3 percentage points to our GDP growth. This growth was driven by increased production of animal products. According to the Bureau of Food and Agriculture, GDP grows by 4,2 in the second quarter of 2023, making it the fastest growing sector in South Africa’s economy.
In order for the country to utilise the current industrial program to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic devastation plan, we need to identify areas that have a potential to act as a growth point. But also, as we identify those areas that have opportunity for promoting growth, we need to have a certain fundamental basis that need to be applied in all nine provinces of South Africa to ensure wide- ranging of inclusive growth in our economy.
As the government of the ANC, we have engaged in research and we are also in partnership with the Department of Education, including our universities, to align ourselves with the industrial programmes and labour markets in the country. The ANC-led government has a plan to move to modernise network industry, to encourage competitiveness and inclusive growth, identifies industry like transport, energy ...
Sepedi:
... le ba meetse ...
English:
... and telecommunication. Growth in the agricultural sector for small- and medium-scale black farmeris usually affected by access to finance.
Sepedi:
Re a tseba kamoka ga rena gore Panka ya Naga e ioma bjang.
English:
It is crucial to understand that finance is needed for the purchasing of essential inputs in production and infrastructure. Usually small- and medium-scale black farmers fall short when it comes to equipments and land.
Sepedi:
Naga yeo e lego gore boMasipa ba gana ka yona.
English:
They don’t want to vote with us. Production process regarding package and distribution of their produce is also needed. or
Finance is indeed needed as I’ve already mentioned, also the licensing ... [Time expired.]
In conclusion ...
Sepedi:
... ke feditie ke nnete ...
English:
... the ANC is always there for the people of South Africa.
Sepedi:
Masipa a tlogele go botia batho maaka a re mmuio wa gagwe o a kgona. Ke bona babolai; ba bolaya batho ... [Nako e fedile.] Ke a leboga, Modulasetulo.
Ms T BREEDT: Chairperson, land is used as a populist political weapon by the ANC and this debate will be no different. The ANC is going to perpetuate the myth that owning land creates wealth, and that land needs to be taken away from whites in favour of blacks in the name of land reform. But what the ANC will not tell you, is that they have failed dismally in all things land related.
The figures are quite astounding, and on 01 October 2020 Minister Didiza admitted the following: More than 90% of land reform projects have failed. Only 6% of agricultural land procured by the state had been transferred to private ownership; and that almost 900 farms which belong to the state and extend over some 700 000 hectares are underused or not used at all.
South Africa cannot allow arable fertile land to become unproductive because our population increases every year and quite soon, approximately 70% of our population will be urbanised and will need food on a daily basis. Food security is a cornerstone of stability and the manner in which the ANC is dealing with agriculture is not contributing to our food security.
But it gets worse, even the ANC’s own studies have found that they have failed black farmers. The high-level panel under the guidance of former President Kgalema Motlanthe had identified corruption, the channelling of resources to elites and the lack of support to land reform beneficiaries as the main reasons for the failure of various land reform programmes.
As I cannot sum it up better that Ernst van Zyl, head of public relations at AfriForum during an oral presentation in 2023, allow me to quote him. Detailed surveys and the government’s own reports and surveys clearly indicate that land reform is not only a failure but not even a priority of the people at grass roots.
The vast majority of people in South Africa regard the need for land reform as a very low priority.
According to extensive polling the number of South Africans who believe that more land reform will improve their lives currently stands at a mere 1%.
He further continues that, it would appear, according to the results of extensive polling, that the promise of land to the masses is but a mere ruse the ANC has been using for the past
30 years in order to slowly but surely implement its own brand of communism. The ANC is setting the poverty-stricken citizens of South Africa up for failure by promising them land without providing them with the necessary skills to use the land they were given.
It could further be stated that the ANC could only be doing this in order to swoop in on the chaos that they have created themselves and declare themselves the heroes, by stating that the only way to salvage the land reform disaster is by nationalising the failed land resulting in the state becoming the sole custodians of the it. Very devious indeed.
But let’s move on to the controversial land claims. The 1998 land claims have yet to be settled. Let me be clear, land claims must be finalised as soon as possible because it creates uncertainty which hinders development in the agricultural sector.
Furthermore, the beneficiaries of both land claims and land reform projects must be in possession of the title deeds of their land. This will stop the ANC from misusing land for their electioneering and contribute to private property rights. The government’s involvement in these projects must also be kept to a minimum and partnerships between emerging farmers and commercial farmers should rather be established.
The ANC has failed the country and its farmers. On 29 May we have the opportunity to vote them out. Let’s rebuild South Africa and vote FF Plus. I thank you.
Mr N CAPA: Hon House Chair and hon and hon members, the ANC government understands what food security is as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO of the United Nations, which says there will be food security, I quote:
When all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
Hon Chair, the dimensions of this food security are that there must be food availability.
IsiZulu:
Ukudla kubekhona.
English:
There must be food access and that individuals must have adequate access to resources. There must be also utilisation through the diet, clean water.
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Order hon Capa. As you go on we can hardly see you. We see your head,
not even the forehead. The forehead is there now. That is okay, you can proceed now.
Mr N CAPA: Hon Chair, I was saying the dimensions of this for food security are that there will be availability, there will be access, there will be utilisation and that there must be stability in the sense that food must be always accessible. In South Africa, poverty and food insecurity is a product and legacy of centuries of colonial and apartheid policies. Such policies created the current dual agricultural economy, which is manifested by the fact that and characterised by the existence of a well-developed agricultural sector, alongside the underdeveloped small scale and subsistence agricultural production.
Some people in here want us to believe as they are naive that we expected to believe that this situation changed on the morning of 28 April 1994. They don’t know that it was only the time that mandate was given to the ANC to change the situation by the oppressed people of South Africa, so that it can change their lives. Those who were on the ballot paper to oppose such change, are also in this House again to oppose such principles of change, that aim to address the inhumanities created by the
colonial and apartheid government. The policies that were created and created inequality.
Hon Chair, in order to address the food insecurity created by the apartheid policies, the ANC government had to develop policy interventions that will address the injustices of the past that created the present food insecurity. I know that ...
IsiXhosa:
... aba bantu baphikisana nathi amaxesha onke abafuni ukuba sithethe ...
English:
... about the injustices of the past. They always want to behave as if nothing has happened in the past. Nothing that was created to create the present situation. Hon Chair, it must be remembered that, since the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, it is only in 1994 that the ANC had to put focus on food security.
IsiXhosa:
Uze ucinge ke iminyaka ukusuka kowe-1910 bephethe. Nalapho siyabaxolela kuba basicinezela iminyaka emininzi phambi koko.
English:
It is just to compromise. The policy ...
IsiXhosa:
... esithetha ngayo ...
English:
... is further enshrined in the Constitution of 1996. It says:
The state must take reasonably measures within its available resources to achieve the progressive realisation of the right to sufficient food.
This is what the ANC government has decided to engage in to fulfil all those things that are in the Constitution. The fact that South Africa today is a net exporter of food indicates that the country is food secure at national level. Yet at the same time, the reality is that there are challenges that are faced by the ANC government, as the situation is that at household level, we have food insecurity. That is why the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has the mandate to ensure food security in our country. This process of land reform so that people must have land and
access to land, is deliberately designed to ensure that there is food security.
Since the advent of democracy in 1994, the government has progressively engaged in the fight against poverty, and therefore making policies that are supporting the production of food in South Africa. This process is being undermined by all those who do not like people of South Africa, those who were poor in the past to be rescued. They always ... what now, the battery, it can’t be. They always want ... this thing.
Excuse me Chair, I don’t know what happened with my battery.
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): What’s happening now hon Capa?
Mr N CAPA: My battery is ... [Inaudible.] I don’t know, I will
... [Inaudible.]
The ACTING HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Okay, proceed hon Capa.
Mr N CAPA: Chair, the problem is that my battery is ... [Inaudible.] Hon Chair, this is a responsibility of the ANC government, and we are committed to ensure that the people of
South Africa are rescued. All those who are opposed to the ANC will remain in in that situation. The ANC is going to rescue the people of South Africa from the poverty and doing away with food insecurity. I thank you, Chair.
Ms T M MBABAMA: Chair, land reform in South Africa has largely been implemented by the ruling party under three pillars: redistribution, restitution and tenure security. All three have had their fair share of challenges. Challenges I believe that are directly as a result of cadre deployment, which in turn led to gross incompetence, mismanagement, rampant corruption and political patronage.
Considering that land is an essential component of agricultural practice, it is not surprising that agrarian transformation has not taken place in the past 30 years of ANC rule.
Wandile Sihlobo, in his book A Country of Two Agricultures, opines that the blame for a lack of agrarian reform cannot be placed solely in the historical legacy. Powerful, though its impact still remains, but also lies at the feet of poor government policy, especially in the failure to grow a new generation of commercial black farmers.
House Chair, I will not dwell on challenges to empowering small and medium-scale farmers. But suffice to say that supports to these farmers has been inadequate, to say the least.
What I would like to highlight is the sterling work conducted, but what came to be known as the High Level Panel, led by former President, Kgalema Motlanthe, at the behest of the then Speakers Forum.
In short, the High Level Panel’s mandate entails the identification of existing legislation that enabled the transformational agenda and pursuit of the developmental state as well as laws that impede this goal.
The panel’s work was divided into three main thematic areas: firstly, poverty, unemployment and the equitable distribution of wealth; secondly, land reform, which as we know is restitution, redistribution and security of tenure, and; lastly, social cohesion and nation-building.
The High Level Panel conducted its work with painstaking diligence and its findings, when tabled to Parliament,
confirmed what was already in the public discourse on impediments to land and agrarian reform in our country.
Annika Claassens ... [Inaudible.] ... level panel, did not mince her words when reporting back to the Fifth Parliament on the disasters perpetuated by this current government in the name of land and agrarian reform.
What boggles the mind, Chairperson, is how the comprehensive and mostly relevant recommendations of the ANC’s own High Level Panel were totally ignored by the majority party.
Lip service was paid to the presentation, with Mr Mnguni from the ANC stating that a parliamentary process to look into the holistic work of the High Level Panel would be driven.
Obviously, this never happened.
During the term of Parliament, the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Reform and Rural Development conducted oversight visits in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and other parts of the country.
Observations from this oversight show land reform that is failing. Some of the examples we found were of abandoned
labour tenants from the Zamokuhle Communal Property Association, CPA. Some members of the committee literally cried when they saw what was on the ground.
Spitskop Farm, formerly owned by Mr Khuzwayo, the committee found that it was abandoned and all the equipment bought through the recap grant had disappeared.
Recent impact evaluation conducted by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, DPME, presented to the committee found that the outcomes of land restoration under the restitution programme were disappointing, except for financial compensation, which had positively impacted on the lives of beneficiaries.
Considering how critical land and agrarian reform and its impact to not only food security but the economy as a whole, it is an area that will also need to be prioritized when the DA takes over after the coming elections.
We urge all farmers to go out in their numbers and vote for the DA to rescue South Africa.
Tat’uCapa [Mr Capa], it is the DA that is going to rescue South Africa, not the national ... not the ANC. Enkosi. [Thank you.] [Interjections.]
The ACTING CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Hon members, we are now concluding the debate of the day. And in doing that, we are going to be giving hon Dr M M E Tlhape an opportunity to do so.
Just be aware, hon Tlhape, that your fellow cadre, hon Capa, saved three minutes in his contribution. So, we are now going to be adding that three to you, which means you’ve got nine minutes to conclude the debates of the day.
Dr M M E TLHAPE: Chairperson, it is critical that we accept criticism as the ANC-led government. But we must also build on the gains that have been achieved in the agricultural sector, as alluded to in my interaction of this debate.
As the ANC-led government we have engaged in area-based planning when it comes to land for active land acquisitions strategy, Draft Expropriation Bill, reports on foreign land ownership, we had also to deal with land ceilings and taxes.
Now, hon members, the status quo as advocated by the DA and the FF-Plus will not correct the historical injustice of the past and the original colonial sin of depriving the indigenous majority over their rightful ownership of land.
The ANC also wants land reform to be productive. So, any newel apartheid solution will be rejected by the people themselves.
The EFF, who believe that land reform can just occur without proper planning, will result in the same position as that of the DA and FF-Plus.
Therefore, land reform with integrated support is the only way to correct historical injustice and remove poverty, inequality and employment, and historical economic exclusion.
Now, hon Masipa, I don’t want you to confuse our people or think they are confused. Everything that you have said, our people on the ground know the truth. I have indicated the number of hectares of land that we have given, programmes according to policies that we are implementing to support small-scale and medium-scale holder farmers.
Setswana:
Jaanong, mathata a bogodu jwa leruo ke dilori tsa dikgomo tsa basweu tse re di bonang do tsamaya mo Bokone Bophirima di utswa dikgomo tsa balemirui ba rona ba ba botlana.
English:
Our small-scale farmers are suffering at the hands of white stock thieves in the North West province, and that is the problem.
Now, what is also a reality is that ANC government is responsible for over 61 million of the people in South Africa, including those in the Western Cape.
The money that Western Cape is using ... [Interjections.] ... focusing on the small-scale farmers, is also from the national coffers of the ANC-led government ...
The ACTING CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Just hold on, hon Tlhape. Hon Tlhape, just hold on. There’s a hand ... hon Manyi.
Mr M MANYI: Chairperson, I wanted to check if the speaker is able to take a question on whether she’s aware that the inequality has increased under the ANC?
The ACTING CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Hon Tlhape, are you ready to take any question?
Dr M M E TLHAPE: Chair, I will not take a question at this point.
The ACTING CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Alright. Proceed!
Dr M M E TLHAPE: Now, everything that is being spent in the Western Cape, Chair, ironically is from the coffers of the
ANC-led government. Western Cape is just the province in South Africa like any other province.
Hon Letlape ...
Sesotho:
... ke mohua ka ...
English:
... long title. But I’m happy that at the end you got it right because me and you are agreeing about putting small-scale and medium-scale farmers in the centre of land reform; the
support, that was what is important. You should have just elevated the word support out of the whole sentence.
But let me tell you what is wrong. What is wrong is the EFF doing landgrab on agricultural land. Hence as the ANC-led government we have just passed the Bill on preservation and protection of agricultural land in South Africa.
What has gone wrong is the EFF refusing to agree on Expropriation of Land Without Compensation Bill, and you come here and cry foul that productive land is concentrated in the hands of whites ... [Interjections.] ... Why are you doing that? Why don’t you vote with the ANC?
The ACTING CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): Just hold on, hon Tlhape. There’s no hand here. There’s somebody who is screaming. I can’t see who is the screamer.
Okay. Hon Manyi, is it you who was screaming?
Mr M MANYI: I apologise profusely, Chair. Yes, I screamed. But I apologise. It’s just that I was provoked.
I think it’s ... I don’t want to interrupt the debate of Dr Tlhape, but I think she must not mislead the public and say
... it’s incorrect and it’s actually false to say that we did not support the issue of expropriation without compensation because it’s the ANC that sold out and changed the term to expropriation with ... [Inaudible.] ... compensation, which is something very different. That’s what the EFF did not support.
So, she must not come here and misrepresent the truth. Thank you, Chair.
The ACTING CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): That’s not a point of order, hon Manyi.
Go on, hon Tlhape.
Dr M M E THLAPE: Chairperson, the people of South Africa know who you are at this point in time because expropriation of land without compensation was just one of the mechanisms that would have put more land in the hands of the black majority.
Now, hon Breedt, I have indicated the pillars that would make sure that we restitute, we redistribute and tenor security as
land reform pillars for including more hectares of land to our people.
We have just passed the Deeds Registry Bill, which also seeks to give our people title deeds.
And, hon Mamoloko Kubayi, on her state of the nation address debate indicated that even in informal settlements, once they’ve put services, those people will be eligible for title deeds, including the people in the Reconstruction and Development Programmes, RDPs.
So, it is the ANC-led government that is moving in that direction, and title deeds has never been a programme of the EFF Plus.
Our people will never vote FF-Plus until you deal with the issues of farm evictions.
Hon Mbabama, the department has also given focus, as we speak, to Communal Property Associations, and it has started audits on the matters of CPAs to identify the root causes and come up with solutions that can be implemented. They have started also
with training of CPAs’ executives to empower them with the leadership and governance skills ... [Inaudible.]
Hon Chairperson, I think critically assessing support of small-scale and medium-scale black farmers in ensuring food security and growth in the agricultural sector, the ANC has made strides and we thank you. Thanks, Chair.
The ACTING CHAIRPERSON (Mr S O R Mahumapelo): I want to take this opportunity to thank the hon members for ensuring that the esteemed House does engage robustly on these issues.
We also want to thank the staff from the Office of the Speaker for mastering the art of ensuring that the transmission is seamless and we do not have technical glitches.
South Africans who joined us during the proceedings of the debates on various platforms provided by Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, we thank you for lending us your your ears and your eyes.
We also want to thank the media, which make time to be part of the transmission today of the debate on these particular important issues.
This, hon members, brings us to the end of the debates and the plenary will now rise.
Setswana:
Ke a leboga. Le tsamayeng sentle. [Thank you. Go well.] Mooi loop. Siyabonga. [Thank you.]
The virtual mini-plenary rose at 12:25.
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