Question NW2619 to the Minister of Finance
04 October 2023 - NW2619
Montwedi, Mr Mk to ask the Minister of Finance
What is the total number of transactions that have been concluded since the launch of the blended finance with the Landbank in October 2022, (b) for which commodities were the transactions and (c) what are the reasons that there have been delays in finalising incomplete transactions, including those of acquiring livestock farms?
Reply:
a) What is the total number of transactions that have been concluded since the launch of the blended finance with the Land Bank in October 2022?
The total number of approved transactions as at 31 Aug 2023: 71
Total value of approvals as at 31 Aug 2023: R591.3 million (R279.9 million of loans, and R311.4 million of grants)
Total disbursements amount as at 31 Aug 2023: R153 million (R77 million of loans, and R76 million of grants)
b) For which commodities were the transactions?
Commodities of Approved Transactions as at 31 August 2023 |
|
Avocados |
Nuts (Macadamia and pecan nuts) |
Bananas |
Poultry |
Dry Beans |
Raisins |
Citrus |
Sugarcane |
Grains and Oilseeds |
Table Grapes |
Livestock (Red meat) |
Vegetables |
(c) What are the reasons that there have been delays in finalising incomplete transactions, including those of acquiring livestock farms?
(i) Reasons for delays in finalizing applications |
1. Clients not submitting all the required application information simultaneously. The quality and accuracy of business and financial information contributes to the waiting time during which the processing of the transactions are paused until all the critical information is submitted. |
2. Applications not viable and financial projections indicative of the business’s inability to service the loan – at times this leads into the submissions being reworked by the clients. |
3. Lack of adherence to environmental and regulatory requirements such as environmental impact assessments, sufficient water volumes and water licenses. These issues generally take long to resolve, and are handled externally by the client through the relevant government departments. The application cannot be finalised without these matters being confirmed. |
4. Poor credit records where clients need to resolve defaults and judgements prior to the application being taken forward. |
5. Insufficient grazing capacity or applications with overgrazing where access to additional parcels of land are not easily accessible. The application will therefore be delayed as a result. |
6. Intermittent capacity constraints and high volume of applications. Some of the Bank’s provincial offices were constrained to turn the transactions around at speed due to vacancies that are currently being field. |
(ii) Delays in processing disbursements |
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