Question NW1421 to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
05 May 2023 - NW1421
Mbabama, Ms TM to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
With reference to a recent oversight visit by the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, what are the reasons that the Huttington Farmer Produce Support Unit, which was completed at a cost of R12 million in 2017 and created around 31 jobs since its inception, has since stopped functioning and has been abandoned; (2) whether any action has been taken against any person to account for the closure of this critical production support unit; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details. NW1508E
Reply:
1. The packaging facility at the FSPU is not functional due to disputes among the members of the Secondary Cooperative. The Department has on several occasions attempted to intervene, without much success. In addition, the Department is encouraging the Secondary Cooperative to convene an elective Annual General Meeting to ensure that the new leadership is elected. The appointment of the new leadership is likely to address some of the social dynamics within the Cooperative. At the moment, the Department has security services at the FPSU to safeguard the facility.
2. No specific action was taken against any person, especially the officials of the Department as they are not directly responsible for the non-functionality of the Huntington Packhouse. Additionally, the Department intervened by taking the members through cooperative governance training, which covers aspects of conflict resolution. This was done with the hope that the training will equip the members with skills to resolve their conflicts.