Questions and Replies

Reply:

a) None. The Vrede Dairy project was funded from two streams of funding which is the Equitable Share and R50 million was approved from the Comprehensive Agriculture Support Programme (CASP) to co-fund with the province and the private investors. R20 million of the R50 million of CASP funds was spent on infrastructure development and the CASP funds were confirmed to have been spent on the ‘cow hotel’ which is the facility that houses the cows and the milking parlour; the dam; erection of the border fence; access roads to the farm; the processing facility and the purchase of 300 Friesland cows.

When the Mail and Guardian published stories around corruption related to the Vrede Dairy Farm, a national delegation led by the delegated transferring officer which included the DALRRD dairy specialist, the Chief Economist and the Chief Director: Food Security visited the farm to confirm if everything as was presented and approved by DALRRD, was in place. The team confirmed the infrastructure against the funds spent, but was unhappy about the sequencing of activities which went against South African regulations and technical standards and therefore recommended that the funds be stopped until the province had complied. The CASP conditional grants were stopped and the remaining R30 million was then approved for diversion to other CASP projects in the Free State. The province never requested further funding for the Vrede Dairy Project from CASP. Therefore, DALRRD had no further dealings with the Vrede Dairy Project until we were requested to indicate why we had stopped our funding to the project. The implicated officials are in the employ of the Free State Department of Agriculture and the implicated CFO and Head of the Department have since left the Free State Department of Agriculture.

b) No. As stated in (a) above, the R20 million CASP fund was accounted for on the infrastructure and the cows purchased. The remaining allocation to the project was stopped and diverted to other projects because DALRD was not satisfied about the sequencing of activities as well as compliances to South African regulations and technical standards.

Reply:

(1)(a),(b),(c) The verification process on the applications received was undertaken in 2001 by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) through the appointment of service providers, HSK Simpson and Lima.

(2) Yes. The outcome of the verification process resulted in the database that is being used by DALRRD in processing the labour tenant claims decentralized in all affected provinces.

Reply:

(1) The farm Edenvale, in the Graaf Reinet district, Eastern Cape Province, is not reflected in the database records of the land claims that were submitted before the cut-off date of 31 December 1998 nor in the database records of claims lodged during the 2014/2015/2016 lodgement period. No claim was lodged on this farm.

(2)(a),(b),(c) Falls away.

END

Reply:

a) Five (5).

b) Four (4) claims have been settled in terms of Section 42D (financial compensation in lieu of lost improvements) but pending is the finalisation of implementation of the beneficiation scheme (post-settlement) facilitated by SanParks.

The 4 land claims are Gomondwane Community, Mahashi Community, Mhlanganisweni Community and Ngirivane-Mathebula Community

The 5th land claim was lodged by Phamneni Community has been published in the Government Gazette. The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights is in the process of appointing a service provider to conduct household verification and is targeted for settlement in the 2023/2024 financial year.

 

END

Reply:

1. The Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) conducts visits to CPAs as part of monitoring and/or inspecting for compliance with the Act on a continuous basis as provided in section 11(2) of the Communal Property Associations Act, 1996 (Act No. 28 of 1996). The results of these inspections are reflected in the CPA annual reports, including those referred to the Land Rights Management Facility:

Year	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Number of inspections	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	17	38	139	29

2. None. Section 11 of the Communal Property Associations Act, 1996 (Act No. 28 of 1996) does not make provision for requests from members of a communal property association or provisional association to the Director General. Section 11 of the Act provides for a communal property association or provisional association to furnish prescribed documents and information to the Director-General in order to enable him or her to monitor compliance with the provisions of the relevant constitution and the Act.

Reply:

(a)(i),(ii),(aa),(aaa) Please refer to the table below.

(aa),(aaa) Unsuccessful farming operations in the Western Cape
(a)(i) Name	(a) (ii) Type of Farming Operations
Cape Winelands: Nirwanda	Table Grapes
Central Karoo: Toornitzkuil	Livestock
Cape Metro: Schaap Kraal 1448	Vegetables
Cape Metro: Zouterivier	Vegetables
Cape Metro: TweeKuilen	Potatoes
Cape Metro: Goedehoop	No Production
Cape Winelands: Langboom	Butternut
Cape Winelands: Mesco	Wine Grapes
West Coast: Middelpost 152	Livestock, pastures and Olives

(b) Reasons for unsuccessful land reform operations in Western Cape.

• Protracted legal issue which lasted for the past eight years that affected Nirwanda. During this period the farming operation had come to a halt. No lease agreement could be entered into which prevented them from qualifying for any financial assistance. This situation exposed the infrastructure on the farm to vandalism;
• Loss of animals due to drought in 2020, that affected Toornitzkuil farm. Since then they could not secure any financial support and this affected their production;
• Schaapskraal 1448 had no water rights on the farm which is the mains source for production support/activities;
• Non-payment of utility services by Schaapskraal 1448, Zouteriview, TweeKuilen resulting in their electricity connection being cut-off which affected their production, i.e., need for electricity to pump water for irrigation;
• Loss of interest of the lessee to farm that resulted in the farm not being optimally utilised;
• Lack of market access and information which affected all farmers;
• Limited extension services especially during production season that affected Goedehoop, Langboom farms;
• Some of the members of the legal entity passed on and others left the Province;
• Non-payment of utility services by some lessees resulting in cutting of electricity that is preventing production;
• No communication between lessee and farm workers/occupiers as 50% shareholder – Mesco farm; and
• Lack of willingness from lessee to undergo necessary training and requisite mentorship- Middelpos farm.

(a)(i),(ii),(aa),(bb),(aaa) Please refer to the table below.

(bb),(aaa) Successful farming operations in the Western Cape
(a)(i) Name	(a) (ii) Type of Farming Operations
Cape Metro: Leliebloem	Grain and Livestock
Cape Metro: Klein Morgenwacht	Vineyards (wine grapes), Livestock and Grain
Cape Metro: Schaap Kraal 1449	Vegetables
Cape Winelands: Loufontein	Deciduous Fruit (Apples and Pears)
Cape Winelands: Mooikelder	Nursery
Cape Winelands: Siyazama Klipboerdery	Table Grapes
Overberg: Kleine Ezeljagt	Fruit/ Grain/ Livestock
Overberg: Amanzi PLAS Project	Deciduous Fruit (Apples and Pears)
Overberg: Belleview Villiersdorp PLAS Project	Deciduous Fruit (Apples and Pears)
Overberg: Protea PLAS Project	Deciduous Fruit (Apples and Plums)
Overberg: Riverside PLAS Project	Livestock and Grains (feeding purposes and Flowers
Overberg: Romans Flora PLAS Project	Livestock
Ceral Karoo: Vaalkuil	Lucerne and livestock
West Coast: Klipdrift	Livestock, pastures
West Coast: Rietkloof 1	Citrus and table grapes
West Coast: Rietkloof 2	Citrus and table grapes
West Coast: Caledonia	Livestock, pastures
West Coast: Middelpos 946	Livestock and grain
West Coast: Middelpos 611	Cash crops, vines and olives
West Coast: Bitterfontein	Livestock
West Coast: Olifantsrivier Nedersetting	Cash crops
Eden: Langfontein	Deciduous Fruit (Apples and Pears)

(b) Reasons for successful land reform operations in Western Cape.

• Successful Farmers are following suggested production practices; growing different crop varieties to diversify enterprises and making use of crop rotation; obtaining crop insurance in order to stabilize farm income during times of loss; maintaining equipment and ensuring that farm facilities are in good working conditions; and
• Those that are successful have mastered how the primary agriculture sector operates; registered for VAT and are able to claim for their rebate for VAT paid for agricultural inputs and machinery; and are able to obtain production loans without the help of government.

(a)(i),(ii),(aa),(bbb) Please refer to the table below.

(aa)(bbb) Unsuccessful farming operations in Eastern Cape
(a)(i) Name	(a) (ii) Type of Farming Operations
Sarah Baartman: Pampoenlands River	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Adendorp farm	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Zabalaza Primary Co-Op	Vegetable
Sarah Baartman: Edenvale	Vegetable
Sarah Baartman: Zamani Piggery	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Adendorp_7	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Houtgerus	Fruit
Chris Hani: Sarnia	Livestock
Chris Hani: Rynlands/ Retreat Farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Brookfields	Grain
Chris Hani: Cloverfields	Livestock
Chris Hani: Hughenden	Livestock
Chris Hani: Annex/Kleinvley Farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Perledine and Surprise	Grain
Chris Hani: Steenbok Trust	Grain
Chris Hani: Kuyasa	Livestock
Ballards Farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Modderfontein	Livestock
Chris Hani: Vorentoe Farm	Grain
Joe Gqabi: Farm 159	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Roodenek	Livestock

(aa) Reasons for unsuccessful land reform operations in Eastern Cape.

• Some farms are too small to can be a viable economic unit;
• Some have not been fully funded; and
• There are beneficiary conflicts and insufficient participation by the beneficiaries.

(a)(i),(ii),(bb),(bbb) Please refer to the table below. Successful

(bb),(bbb) Successful farming operations in the Eastern Cape
(a)(i) Name	(a) (ii) Type of Farming Operations
Chris Hani: Carnavon	Livestock
Chris Hani: Blaauwe Krans farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Morgenson Farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Sa Rynlands/ Retreat Farmrnia	Livestock
Chris Hani: Sanctuary farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Fairfield farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Brookefield	Livestock
Chris Hani: Cloverfields	Livestock
Chris Hani: Alfa Farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Avelon & Vischgat	Livestock
Chris Hani: Hughenden Annex/Kleinvley Farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Perledine and Surprise	Livestock
Chris Hani: Steenbok Trust	Livestock
Chris Hani: Hofmeyer Farm-Siyaya	Livestock
Chris Hani: Bombani farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Middel Kraal	Livestock
Chris Hani: Tyldendale	Livestock
Chris Hani: Belmont	Livestock
Chris Hani: Haasfontein No.47	Livestock
Chris Hani: Lusthof	Livestock
Chris Hani: Mzini Project	Livestock
Chris Hani: Hofmeyer (Mutton Destiny)	Livestock
Chris Hani: Winchester farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Nicholaasfontein	Livestock
Chris Hani: Klip Kraal	Livestock
Chris Hani: Klipkrantz farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Tolkop	Livestock
Chris Hani: Ougoed	Livestock
Chris Hani: Farm no 946 (Sosebenza Project)	Livestock
Chris Hani: Ardtonisch Farm	Livestock
Chris Hani: Indwe settlement	Livestock
Chris Hani: Maiden Head Farm	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Zeekeogaat Farm	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Reitfontyn Farm	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Kopppiesfontein	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Dwaasvalley farm portion 6	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Driesfontein Farm no.133	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Delta Farm no 164	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Lenam portion 1	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Wepener Farm no.138	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Nooidgedagt no.58	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Ebdeh Farm no.98	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Laalkop Farm portion 8	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Laakfontein no. 138	Grain
Joe Gqabi: Fountain Kloof no 18	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Braamfontein Farm no. 80	Livestock
Joe Gqabi: Kalkfontein no.53	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Lukhambo Agricultural Trading CC	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Amabamba farm	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Cornucopia Farm	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Zidle Khaya farm	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Gorah No. 398	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Gyptjiesgat Farm	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Landsdowne No. 168	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Yarrow farm	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Sundays River	Livestock
Sarah Baartman: Peynes Kraal No. 365	Citrus
Sarah Baartman: Uitkoms	Livestock
Alfred Nzo: Claybrook Farm No. 179,	Crop
Alfred Nzo: Ribblesdale farm No 201	Livestock
Alfred Nzo: Makodene farm	Livestock
Alfred Nzo: Zwartmodefontein Farm No 192	Crop
Alfred Nzo: Bon Accord Farm	Dairy
Alfred Nzo: Chilfrome farm	Livestock
Alfred Nzo: Mirage Farm	Livestock
Alfred Nzo: Hentiq Farm	Crop
Alfred Nzo: Oden groups farm	Livestock
Alfred Nzo: Hanover farm	Livestock
Alfred Nzo: Colembert farm	Livestock
Alfred Nzo: Drifontein	Livestock

(bb) Reasons for successful land reform operations in Eastern Cape

• Successfully supported through the stimulus package.
• Commitment from the beneficiaries; and
• Successful partnerships with private stakeholders and businesses

(a)(i),(ii),(aa),(ccc) Please refer to the table below.

Unsuccessful farming operations in the Northern Cape
(a)(i) Name	(a) (ii) Type of Farming Operations
Namakwa District: Farm Klein vogel Fontein and Van Wyksvley	Livestock
Namakwa District: Farm Nombies	Livestock
Namakwa District: Farm Brakfontein	Livestock

(aa) Reasons for unsuccessful land reform operations in Northern Cape

These farms are located in the Namakwa District and the area was affected by drought that led to the drought declaration. Farmers had to reduce the number of their livestock, and this affected their cash flows as well as their nett income.

(a)(i),(ii),(bb),(ccc) Please refer to the table below.

(bb),(ccc) Successful farming operations in the Northern Cape
(a)(i) Name	(a) (ii) Type of Farming Operations
Pixley Ka Seeme District: Rooidam	Livestock
John Taolo Gaetsewe District: Auod	Livestock
Pixley Ka Seeme District: Welgevonden	Livestock

(aa) Reasons for successful land reform operations in Northern Cape:

• The support through Recapitalization and Development improved the production of livestock and the infrastructure of the farms. Farmers also attended various trainings that were organised by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development with SEDA such as financial management and bookkeeping.
• Permanent and temporary jobs were created during the infrastructure upgrade on the farms. Farmers were also made aware of the establishment of Agri-Parks in their Districts through which they were encouraged to market their livestock once the Agri-Park is fully functional. These farmers are now farming independently without the support of mentorship.

Reply:

1. Yes.

(a) The exact land invasion start date cannot be determined; however the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) noticed land invasions on 9 March 2020 while conducting routine property inspection.

(b) DALRRD opened a case at Franklin Police Station and approached the State Attorney to get an urgent court interdict to stop the invaders.

(c) The intended beneficiaries of the property will be identified by the beneficiary selection process pending finalization of the farm eviction process.

2. Yes. DALRRD through the Office of the State Attorney has appointed an advocate who has drafted an urgent application on 7 October 2022 to place the matter on the court roll.

3. Yes.

(a) DALRRD applied for an urgent interdict to evict the invaders and is proceeding with the application. The Case Number for the interdict is 13523/22P and is set down for an interim order; the Prevention Of Illegal Eviction Act, 1998 (Act No. 19 of 1998) (PIE) application is under Case Number 13528/22P.

(b) The interdict to evict the invaders is intended to pave way for the prospective beneficiary to take full occupation of the farm and participate in commercial farming.

4. No. DALRRD has no knowledge or record of this matter, and the person (name furnished) is not traceable, therefore the Department is not in a position to respond to this question.

5. No. There is no communication or report related to any inspections of 8 March 2018 indicating any land invasion.

Reply:

(a),(b)(i),(ii),(iii),(aa),(bb) Please refer to the table below.

(a) Free State Province
(b)District	(aa) No of Women	(iii) Age	(ii) Race	(bb) No of Young People	(iii) Age	(ii) Race
Mangaung Metro	0	-	-	0	-	-
Fezile Dabi	0	-	-	0	-	-
Xhariep District	1	61	Coloured	1	36	Black
Thabo Mofutsanyana District-Makholokoeng FPSU	18	25-68	Black	8	25-35	Black
Lejweleputswa District	56	25-70	Black	17	25-35	Black
TOTAL	75	-	-	25	-	-
(a) Gauteng Province
(b) District	(aa)No of Women	(iii) Age	(ii) Race	(bb) No of Young People	(iii) Age	(ii) Race
City of Tshwane	0	0	0	1	35	African
TOTAL	-	-	-	1	-	-
(a) Limpopo Province
(b) District	(aa) No of Women	(iii) Age	(ii) Race	(bb) No of Young People	(iii) Age	(ii) Race
Mopani	0	n/a	n/a	0	n/a	n/a
Vhembe	0	n/a	n/a	0	n/a	n/a
Sekhukhune	0	n/a	n/a	0	n/a	n/a
Waterberg	1	45	African	0	n/a	African
Capricorn:	2	29-56	African	4	29-33	African
TOTAL	3	-		4	-	-
(a)Mpumalanga Province
(b) District	(aa) No of Women	(iii) Age	(ii) Race	(bb) No of Young People	(iii) Age	(ii) Race
Ehlanzeni District Nkomazi Vegetable FPSU	482	35 -62	Black	187	24 - 35	Black
Ehlanzeni District Nkomazi Cotton FPSU	401	36 and older	Black	82	18-35	Black
Ehlanzeni District Huntington FPSU	48	35- 64	Black	25	25-35	Black
Ehlanzeni District Thulamahashe	193	21-75	Black	56	21-35	Black
Ehlanzeni District Malelane/Nkomati FPSU	220	36 and older	Black	7	18-35	Black
Nkangala District-Sybrandskraal FPSU	45	27-55	Black	19	22-30	Black
Nkangala District-Kameelrivier FPSU	33	30-55	Black	17	25-30	Black
Gert Sibande - Dundonald FPSU	125	18-60	Black	17	19-35	Black
Gert Sibande – Mkhondo FPSU	80	18-60	Black	15	19-35	Black
TOTAL	1627			425
(a)North West Province
None
(a)Northern Cape Province
None
(a)Western Cape Province
None
(a)Eastern Cape Province: None
None
(a)KwaZulu-Natal Province
None

 

Reply:

1. Yes.

a) Dr Roaul Strydom.

b) Graaff-Reinet.

c) He was appointed in December 2006.

d) A state veterinarian is responsible for disease control, facilitation of veterinary international trade, veterinary public health as well as animal welfare amongst other things.

2. Many factors are considered when establishing a new state veterinary office including, but not limited to the number of livestock, number of farms and sometimes homesteads and farms, risk of disease incursion, number of establishments that need to be inspected, and even exports certification that may happen from that area.

3. There is already a state veterinarian in the specified municipality. The details are:

Graaff-Reinet SVA	Petrus de Klerk Building, 15-31 Bourke Street,Graaff-Reinet,6280	Dr Roaul Strydom Chief State Veterinarian	Office: 049 892 2970 Cell : 0828308307 Email: [email protected]
		Lizelle Nutt	Office: 049 892 2970 Cell : 0728291511 Email: [email protected]

4. Each district has a dedicated Deputy Director: Veterinary Services who is a state veterinarian, who ensures that services are provided in the district. The contact details are attached as Annexure A.

Reply:

(1)(a),(b),(c) The verification process on the applications received was undertaken in 2001 by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) through the appointment of service providers, HSK Simpson and Lima.

2. Yes. The outcome of the verification process resulted in the database that is being used by DALRRD in processing the labour tenant claims decentralized in all affected provinces.

Reply:

(1) No remedial action will be taken against the farmers as the beef and sheep abattoir construction project has not been cancelled but the contract with the appointed contractor was terminated due to challenges experienced in the project. After the contract was terminated, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) handed the project to the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) to assist with the implementation. A Service Level Agreement (SLA) between DALRRD and ECDC was signed in May 2020 and work is in progress.

(2) No; the construction of the abattoir will continue. ECDC has appointed a Consultant to resuscitate and bring the project to completion. The Consultant is busy with the Condition Assessment and Cost Report to complete the project. A termination account will be concluded, and the contractor will be referred to termination penalty clauses as per the SLA.

(a),(b) Falls away.

Reply:

(1)(a),(b) Please refer to Annexure A.

(c) For cattle farming, a farmer is not required to have water rights, especially where there is no need to augment feeds through planted pastures which are under irrigation. The farms that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has supported rely on natural grazing. Where there is a need for additional feed due to discrepancies on the carrying capacity, farmers usually augment this with planted pastures done under dry land. As part of the support, farmers would be provided with summer and winter licks, beyond that, farmers would then have to bail grass and use it for feeding as well. When a business plan is developed, the number of animals that get approved is aligned to the carrying capacity of the farm.

(2) Yes; farms are still in production, however, at various levels, especially those that were supported during Recapitalisation and Development Programme (RADP) since they went through phases of drought.

(a),(b) Falls away.

(3) The support to these farms has been beyond just the provision of biological assets, in this case cattle. Additional support would include summer and winter licks, animal trailers, provision of on-farm infrastructure such as, fencing, boreholes, storage facilities, farm and labour houses, and operational costs, etc.

(4)(a),(b),(c) No applications were received. Since 2018 when the Land Development Support was introduced, DALRRD did not call for applications for support. DALRRD following the assessment conducted by the Entsika/Agricultural Research Council (ARC) identified and prioritised 262 farms that were categorised as medium and commercially viable to be supported. According to this system, support would then be provided to list of identified farms as per the categories mentioned earlier in line with the available budget and approved Annual Performance Plans (APPs.)

The model used by RADP never allowed for applications from individual farmers. However, the model was such that strategic partners would partner with the landowner selecting from the projects/ farms advertised. Later the model was expanded to include the mentorship programme to cover the farms that were not selected.

Reply:

(a) Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) is currently reviewing the 50/50 programme with a view to strengthening it.

(b)(i) Twelve (12) schemes were approved under the 50/50 programme.

(ii) R655 783 649.55.

(c)(i) Please refer to Annexure A.

(ii) None, since no such assessment was done.

Reply:

(1) (a) The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) undertook consultations with the relevant industries and the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (DTIC) as the lead Department on trade policy matters. The engagements resolved that the trade challenge should be addressed through a bilateral Ministerial meeting with the affected countries. DALRRD is implementing this resolution. The Director General wrote to his counterparts requesting urgent bilateral engagements on the matter. The outcome of the engagements will be shared with organised industry.

(b) The impact of such closures is lost market opportunities for the industry and loss of revenue to the State. This also undermines the efforts of free trade as contemplated in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Furthermore, consumers of the affected products in these countries are more likely to experience an increase in prices of these commodities due to shortages/supply constraints.

According to the 2nd Quarter Agricultural Economic Review, vegetable prices registered a marked decrease, and this could be directly attributed to the short effects of the import bans. Price depression likely occurred as producers redirected, (as a short-term measure) these export consignments into the domestic market.

The current import ban includes tomatoes, carrots, beetroots, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric, chili peppers, butternut, watermelons, sweet peppers, green corn, and fresh herbs. Over the past 5 years, 98% of vegetables in Botswana originated from South Africa.

(2) No. The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has not yet communicated with her counterparts in Botswana and Namibia. She is awaiting the outcome of the meetings of the Director General with his counterparts in Botswana and Namibia.

Reply:

a) The claim was to be settled in two (2) phases, however due to policy changes in the processing and the settlement of claims in the Commission, full and final settlement of the claim at once is planned.

b) The claimant beneficiaries comprises of three (3) villages, namely Lower Zingcuka, Upper Zingcuka and Lower Ngqumeya. The household verification for Lower Zingcuka and Lower Ngqumeya has been completed and the household verification for Upper Zingcuka is currently underway.

c) Submission of verification documents by Upper Zingcuka beneficiaries to finalise the household verification process.

END

Reply:

1. The challenges are disputes between the concerned group and the Bjatladi Communal Property Association (CPA) committee, more specifically on governance issues.

2. Yes. The cause of the challenges is the governance issue, coupled with allegations of corruption and maladministration against the current CPA committee. On 16 September 2022, the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development together with Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) held a meeting with both the concerned group and the current Bjatladi CPA committee with the intention to resolve their disputes, however, the two groups are not ready to work together.

Professional mediation was recommended, to which they needed to consent within five working days. To date, the two groups have not consented to participate in the proposed mediation.

Reply:

(a) The upkeep and day-to-day maintenance of this College is administered by the North the West Provincial Department of Agriculture as College is currently residing and reporting under that Department.

(b)(i) The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) are in a process of transferring Colleges of Agriculture to a national competence and having them declared as Higher Education Colleges governed by the Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No. 101 of 1997) but will be funded and managed administratively under the Minister responsible for Agriculture. This will benefit the Colleges in that DHET has established programmes for support to Higher Education Institutions, developing needy colleges towards attaining semi-autonomy and eventually full autonomy to Colleges leading to quicker decision-making and more effective implementation of decisions. College of Agriculture students as well will be able to access bursaries from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) as it is only available to students at higher education institutions. Collaborations and coordination within the Higher Education sector will assist in improving the conditions of the Colleges of Agriculture especially in respect of infrastructure that supports curriculum offerings.

(b)(ii) The Potchefstroom College of Agriculture is administered by the North West Provincial Department of Agriculture, however, DALRRD provides support to the College through the College Revitalisation Plan since 2012. The allocations over the years are as follows:

Financial year	Name of College	Allocation
2011/2012	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R4 500 000,00
2012/2013	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R6 000 000,00
2013/2014	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R7 524 000,00
2014/2015	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R10 000 000,00
2015/2016	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R11 800 000,00
2016/2017	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R9 500 000,00
2017/2018	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R7 000 000,00
2018/2019	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R7 000 000,00
2019/2020	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R2 986 000,00
2020/2021	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R2 466 000,00
2021/2022	Potchefstroom College of Agriculture	R8 500 000,00
Total		R77 276 000,00

(b)(iii) The following Infrastructure, equipment and machinery were developed or procured at Potchefstroom College of Agriculture through Colleges Revitalisation Plan since 2012.

New building constructed	Buildings renovated	Procurement of equipment and machinery	Others
Construction of Poultry house Construction of 20 sow-unit Piggery house Construction of Poultry Abattoir Construction of Greenhouse, Office and Palisade Fencing Renovation of Lecture halls, Examination Hall and the assessment rooms security system– Phase 2 Construction of new Laboratories (Practical Training Facilities) Building of One multi-purpose lecture hall with a capacity of 150 student Construction of mini pack house for the horticultural unit	Renovation and installation of new machines in the Dairy Refurbishment of student kitchen and dining hall Renovation of students infrastructure and Alex/ Pampoen boere pit (6 hostels and 2 Halls)	Procurement of stand-by Generators Procurement of 89 KW tractor Procurement of nine double cab bakkies Procurement of 24 row wheat drill Procurement of farm agricultural equipment Procurement of ICT equipment; computers, laptops, printers, projectors, etc Procurement of Tractor GPS, Air Conditioners and Installation of 2 X Canopies Supply and delivery of Tractor, Ridger, Plough and Slasher,	Installation of Bio-metric Access Control System in the Admin Block and student hostels Installation of galvanized steel palisade for the centre pivot, Piggery House, layer house and whole campus Installation of High Mast Lights Provision of Wi-Fi on the campus

Reply:

a) The land redistribution programmes have initiated the Proactive Land Acquisition Policy (PLAP) wherein the state has acquired the land and later allocated and leased it out to farmers for a period of 30 years through the Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation Policy (BSLAP). BSLAP was formulated to ensure transparent allocation of land with priority being given to vulnerable groups such that 50% is allocated to women and 40% is allocated to youth.

(b)(i),(ii),(aa),(bb) Please refer to the table below.

(aa) Province	(bb) District	(i) Women	(ii) Youth
Eastern Cape	Amathole	1	1
	Chris Hani	0	2
Free State	Fezile Dabi	1	1
	Mangaung Metro	1	0
	Xhariep	2	1
Gauteng	Sedibeng	2	3
	West Rand	1	0
Kwazulu-Natal	Umgungundlovu	3	1
	Zululand	1	1
Limpopo	Waterberg	1	1
Mpumalanga	Ehlanzeni	1	0
	Gert Sibande	3	5
	Nkangala	4	2
North West	Bojanala	2	2
	Dr Kenneth Kaunda	4	1
	Ngaka Modiri Molema	1	0
Northern Cape	Namakwa	1	0
	Pixley Ka Seme	0	1
	ZF Mgcawu	3	0
Western Cape	West Coast	5	3
Total		37	25

Reply:

a) To accelerate Land Reform, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) implemented the Proactive Land Acquisition Policy (PLAP) in terms of which the state has acquired over 170 000 hectares of land to date. The land is allocated and leased out to farmers for a period of 30 years and the lease can be extended for another 20 years.

In order to ensure equitable access to land, the Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation Policy (BSLAP) was formulated to ensure transparent allocation of land with priority being given to vulnerable groups, i.e. women, youth and people with disabilities. Over 76 000 hectares of land was allocated to women, over 52 000 hectares to youth and about 489 hectares to people with disabilities. The policy also prioritises the allocation of land to communal farmers to decongest communal areas.

The Department further identified and released 700,000 hectares of state land for agricultural purposes.

DALRRD has also developed the Land Donations Policy to encourage landowners to contribute to land reform, as recommended by the Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture. The policy provides a framework on how a donation can be done including associated incentives to those who donate land i.e. tax incentives.

DALRRD is currently processing applications for awards of land by labour tenants, which were lodged not later than 31 March 2001. The Department is, therefore, working with the Special Master on Labour Tenants to settle all outstanding labour tenant claims as ordered by the Land Claims Court.

Communal tenure remains another priority for Land Reform: following the Communal Land Tenure Summit held from 27-28 May 2022, and taking into account the outcomes of the Summit, the draft Communal Land Tenure Policy and Communal Land Tenure Bill have been formulated and once finalised will follow the normal processes of government before it is tabled in Parliament.

Regarding Tenure Policies and Legislative Development: The Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights Act 112 of 1991 (ULTRA) Bill was passed into law to comply with the Court Judgement and the Regulations have been finalized and will be published during the 2022/2023 financial year.

The Communal Property Associations Amendment Bill was approved by Cabinet and the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, 1997 (Act No. 62 of 1997) (ESTA) Amendment Bill was also passed into law. Regulations will be published in the 2022/23 financial year.

The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights has developed a backlog reduction strategy to accelerate the finalization of land claims. These mechanisms are at an implementation stage.

b) The Department’s Rural Development Mandate Outcome 6: Integrated and inclusive rural economy:

The Department is engaged in the finalisation of the Draft Integrated Rural Development Strategy, building on the lessons learnt from the implementation of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) and the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS). The Department continues to play its role to “initiate, facilitate, coordinate and act as a catalyst for the implementation of a comprehensive rural development programme leading to sustainable and vibrant rural communities”, working closely with provincial and other national departments through the District Development Model (DDM) and Rural District Plans as well as with Traditional Councils.

The Strategy further recognises that rural development and rural economy objectives are transversal in nature and cannot be successfully implemented without the collaboration of Traditional leaders and traditional communities because rural areas are largely under the custodianship of Traditional Councils. Sustainable communities and inclusive rural economies require a bottom-up community-driven participatory approach that places traditional communities and rural people at the centre of development.

The National Development Plan (NDP) (2012) identifies the following four key points relating to rural development: (i) Rural communities require greater social, economic, and political opportunities to overcome poverty; (ii) To achieve this, agricultural development should introduce a land reform and job-creation/livelihood strategy that ensures rural communities have jobs; (iii) Ensure quality access to basic services, health care, education, and food security; and (iii) plans for rural towns should be tailor-made according to the varying opportunities in each area.

Intergovernmental relations should be addressed to improve rural governance.

The Department in conjunction with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation have also finalized the first National Spatial Development Framework (NSDF) for the country, which was approved by Cabinet in March 2022. The NSDF is a strategic long-term spatial planning instrument with a 2050 – time horizon. One of the key objectives of NSDF is to assist in the redress of multiple social and economic problems and ensure decisive, collaborative, integrated state and non–state action. The NSDF proposes the identification, development and strengthening of a series of Regional Rural Development Anchors to create a functional polycentric rural service delivery network, that will enhance rural development and more efficient land reform delivery.

The District development model (DDM) provides a platform to align and integrate multi-sectoral contributions from all spheres of government toward sustainable rural development. The DALRRD has also developed Rural Development Sector Plans (RDSPs) to reflect the Department’s programmes and priorities in line with the mandate of the Department. The RDSPs are plans that package the Department’s interventions and contributions at a district level and elements of these plans are incorporated into the District One Plans to ensure better integration in Rural Development interventions in line with spatial development opportunities and priorities.

The Department remains the driver of the Agri-Parks Programme that aims to uplift impoverished rural communities into the agricultural value chain. The Department provides critical infrastructure such as fencing and irrigation to rural communities to assist them, with improving their production. These communities are linked to Farmer Production Support Units, which are constructed in rural areas to provide communities with agricultural support services. The Department continues to construct Farmer Production Support Units (FPSUs) that provide rural communities with a range of facilities such as mechanisation, pelleting machines for feed, silos to store grain, pack houses with refrigeration, access to state vets and training. Many of these services were in the past only reserved for commercial farmers in rural areas. This allows rural communities to improve their production and enter the agricultural value chain with their small-scale production and creates a sustainable path out of poverty.

The current programmes through which the Department executes its work include the following:

• Socio-economic infrastructure projects to support Farmer Production Support Units (FPSUs), Animal and Veld Management Programme (AVMP) and River Valley Catalytic Programme (RVCP). This includes mechanization such as: fencing, animal handling facilities, stock water dams, boreholes, canals, dip tanks, pump houses, pack houses, irrigation pipes and schemes, silos and storage facilities and rural roads.
• The AVMP, focuses on bringing arable and grazing land into production by providing all the required infrastructure like fencing, boreholes, irrigation systems, cattle handling and dipping facilities, dams etc. In addition, the AVMP supported re-greening and soil rehabilitation.
• The RVCP, focuses on the catalytic utilization of river systems to bring the land into production and would typically develop irrigation schemes with all the associated infrastructure. Both the AVMP and RVCP provide infrastructural support to commonages, communal areas, traditional areas and farmers occupying state-owned facilities (where requested by Land Reform).
• Road infrastructure remains a high priority in national, provincial, municipal and farm roads to promote economic viability through safer, swift transport logistics of agricultural produce. As part of the implementation of the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) and Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP), repair and rehabilitation of rural roads are critical to facilitate road logistics from farm to harbor and to market. The Department is coordinating a Public-Private Partnership initiative which will include national, provincial and local governments as well as agricultural organisations. Rural Roads are economic catalysts for impoverished rural communities. It provides entry for communities to access basic services and to take produce to the markets. The Department will work with farmer organisations and their counterparts in all spheres of government to implement the repairing and rehabilitation of rural and farm access roads to facilitate improved access for rural communities into the agricultural value chain and broader rural economy.
• Development and Implementation of skills development opportunities for rural youth through the National Rural Youth Services Corps (NARYSEC) which aims to build the capacity of rural youth through various skills development interventions and working with public and private sector partners to facilitate the transitioning of recruited youth into economic activities.
• Research of new innovative technologies, including Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and promote indigenous knowledge systems in rural communities to contribute towards improving the quality of lives of rural communities working in partnership and collaboration with institutions of higher learning, research agencies and technology agencies.

Reply:

Since the inception of the Land Reform programme, a total of 2.8 million hectares had been redistributed to municipalities under Commonage grant (COMG), Settlement Land Acquisition Grant (SLAG) for settlement and Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) for agricultural purposes and this land is held in title by communities and individuals. This involves a total of over 67 000 women benefiting in the form of accessing land for various needs including agriculture and tenure security.

For the implementation of the Proactive Land Acquisition Policy (PLAP), the state has acquired over 2.4 million hectares of land which benefited about 5 000 women mostly in the form of allocation and leased agreements for a period of 30 years extendable for another 20 years.

The Restitution programme has settled 172 933 land claims to female headed households.

Reply:

Yes, the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP) is aligned with the Comprehensive Agriculture Support Programme (CASP), AGRI BEE and Blended Financial Scheme (BFS).

The envisaged approach is for the project approval process of the mentioned programmes to incorporate the AAMP’s strategic commodities and align to both National and Provincial Value Chain strategies of the AAMP. Furthermore, the Integrated Programme and Project Management methodology, which aims to align all relevant programmes and projects, including CASP at a project approval level will be introduced.

Reply:

In line with Pillar 2 of the Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan (AAMP), which prioritizes the provision of enabling infrastructure to support and grow the Agriculture sector, earlier this year the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development formally communicated with major agricultural organisations and Agribusiness from around the country, requesting them to submit details of rural roads requiring repairs, rehabilitation and surface upgrading. In response the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) received several lists of critically challenged rural roads that are affecting the efficient movement of agricultural produce in the country. These lists allowed DALRRD to map a status profile per Province and District municipality of the critical roads that require resurfacing and rehabilitation.

On analysis of the data and mapping it was found that the majority of the roads requiring attention are national, provincial and regional/municipal roads which are the mandate of the Department of Transport. The Minister of Transport has pronounced that his department will be attending to these. DALRRD will continue to work with other national sector departments and stakeholders to ensure that this work is completed with the urgency it requires.

Further, DALRRD is coordinating engagements between Agricultural Organisations and Agribusiness, sector departments and government stakeholders, in an effort to create a legislative provision for non-governmental organizations to render road rehabilitation services in partnership with rural municipalities. Commercial sector farmers have expressed their willingness, capacity and recourses to fix and maintain municipal roads that affect their businesses. Legislation, however, prevents them from doing so, as municipal roads are public responsibility. The DALRRD is coordinating a process with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and the Agricultural Business Chamber to identify roads that fall within this category and create a legislative framework for private farmers in partnership with local municipalities to undertake road repair and maintenance. Official correspondence has been sent to COGTA, Agriculture Chamber of Business and AgriSA in pursuance of this.

Finally, in line with Pillar 2 of the Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan (AAMP), The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has directed DALRRD to commence with a Rural Roads Rehabilitation Program that will prioritise farm access roads to land reform farms, village access roads in communal areas and access roads to Farmer Production Support Units (FPSU) that support community based agriculture in rural areas. This program aims to start implementation in partnership with other stakeholders within the current financial year.

Reply:

(a) (i) Extension Practitioners (officers) are allocated to districts and not placed per farm.

(ii) The number of Extension Practitioners (officers) per Province is as follows:

PROVINCE	NUMBER OF EXTENSION PRACTITIONERS
Eastern Cape	496
Free State	115
Gauteng	119
KwaZulu-Natal	522
Limpopo	310
Mpumalanga	146
Northern Cape	43
North West	181
Western Cape	60
TOTAL	992

(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv) The current Extension Practitioners are not allocated according to the specified producer categories; hence no ratio is available.

(b)(aa) Ratio per Province

The current ratio of Extension Practitioners to farmers is based on the July 2021 General Household Survey (GHS) by Statistics South Africa which measures the number of households practicing agriculture and is therefore not specific to categories of farmers. The Ratio of Extension Practitioners (officers) to farmers per province (as of September 2022) is outlined below:

PROVINCE	Ratio
Eastern Cape	1:1162
Free State	1:1672
Gauteng	1:2896
KwaZulu -Natal	1:1216
Limpopo	1:2058
Mpumalanga	1:3085
Northern Cape	1:1097
Northwest	1:809
Western Cape	1:977
NATIONAL AVERAGE	1:1 663

The estimated number of farmers as the GHS (July 2021) and the number of Extension Practitioners (officer) per province are shown on the table below:

PDAs	Number of Extension officials	Total number of Extension Officials	Number of households per province	% Of households involved in agriculture	Estimated # farmers [GHS 2021, StatsSA]	Extension to farmer ratio (current)
	Managers	Extension Practitioners
EC	31	496	527	1 725 000	33%	576 150	1 162
FS	11	115	126	952 000	20%	192 304	1 672
GP	8	119	127	5 384 000	6%	344 576	2 896
KZN	60	522	582	3 111 000	20%	634 644	1 216
LP	11	310	321	1 684 000	38%	638 236	2 058
MP	41	146	187	1 399 000	32%	450 478	3 085
NC	8	43	51	363 000	13%	47 190	1 097
NW	31	181	212	1 308 000	11%	146 496	809
WC	8	60	68	2 021 000	3%	58 609	977
TOTAL	209	1 992	2 201	17 947 000	17%	3 086 884	1 663

(b) (bb) The breakdown of Extension Practitioners (officers) per District excludes Managers.

Province	Number of Extension Practitioners per district	Province	Number of Extension Practitioners per district
1. Eastern Cape		5. Western Cape
Sarah-Baartman	35	Cape Winelands	12
Amathole	153	Little Karoo	6
Chris Hani	74	Swartland	5
Joe Gqabi	31	Cape Metropole	8
O.R. Tambo	116	Garden Route	9
Alfred Nzo	87	Northwest	6
Total	496	Overberg	7
		Central Karoo	5
		Provincial office	2
		Total	60
2. Free State		6. North West
Provincial office	9	Bojanala	55
Xhariep	14	Dr Ruth S Mompati	42
Mangaung	23	NMM	58
Thabo M	32	Dr Kenneth Kaunda	26
Lejwe L	21	Total	181
Fezile D	16
Total	115
3. Gauteng		7. Northern Cape
Germiston	40	John Taolo Gaetsewe	12
Pretoria	41	Frances Baard	7
Randfontein	38	ZF Mgcawu	8
Total	119	Namakwa	7
		Pixley ka Seme	9
		Total	43
4. KwaZulu-Natal		8. Mpumalanga
Amajuba	46	Bohlabela	34
Ugu	50	Ehlanzeni	29
Ethekwini	33	Gert Sibande	33
uThukela	29	Nkangala	50
uMkhanyakude	52	Total	146
King Cetshwayo	73	9. Limpopo
Zululand	71	Capricorn	72
Umzinyathi	38	Mopani	53
Ilembe	45	Sekhukhune	59
Harry Gwala	41	Vhembe	93
Umgungundlovu	44	Waterberg	33
Total	522	Total	310
		GRAND TOTAL	1 992

Reply:

(1) The Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan (AAMP) was signed off on 12 May 2022, subject to an agreement among social partners, that all “unfinished business”, including details of the monitoring and implementation plan of the AAMP, be captured in Track 2 of the AAMP:

(a) The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has to date communicated and agreed to an approach towards the finalisation of Track 2 and await social partners’ responses for suitable dates to kick start the process. Social partners requested time to formulate a collective response to identified issues. DALRRD aims to finalise Track 2 for Cabinet approval by November 2022 subject to, and dependent on social partners reaching final agreement by end October.

(b) The roll-out of the AAMP will follow the sign off of Track 2, scheduled for November 2022. In preparation, the DALRRD is currently in the process of finalising the operational plan of all government related AAMP commitments. The operational plan of government commitments will be finalised for Cabinet approval, along with Track 2.

2) Yes. DALRRD is in the process of consulting on a new integrated approach to programme and project approvals and has found that provinces are not only capable, but eager to usher in the AAMP approach of aligning projects to identified AAMP related value chains.

(a) Unfunded AAMP commitments will be prioritised through DALRRD’s MTEF process, and unspent funds will be channelled towards AAMP priorities.

(b) The AAMP will not be funded by one specific line function but through the existing budgets of all line functions.

Reply:

No. The Agri-village model is a programme that provides farm dwellers with an opportunity to have security of tenure, access to basic services, and sustainable livelihoods. The programme is not meant to address evictions. The Extension of Security of Tenure Act, 1997 (Act No. 62 of 1997) (ESTA) protects the rights of farm dwellers against unlawful evictions, and the Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development working with Legal Aid SA provides legal representation to farm dwellers to defend them against such unlawful evictions.

Reply:

1. (a)(i) None. On the announcement by the Minister in the Presidency on 23 June 2022 the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) issued a Departmental Circular reiterating the aspect of 100% return to work was announced. All personnel inclusive of personnel with comorbidities had to return to work with a 100% of the workforce back at their workstations. As of 23 June 2022, all comorbidities related to Covid-19 were/will be managed in accordance with the “Determination and directive on leave of absence in the public service”: issued in August 2021.

(ii) Falls away.

(iii) Falls away.

(b) Falls away.

(2) No.

Reply:

1. (a)(b) A Private Members Bill was introduced by the African National Congress on 16 August 2017 during the Fifth Parliament and lapsed when Parliament rose at the end of their term. The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights (the Commission) is currently dealing with old order claims lodged before 31 December 1998 and is not in a position to process new claims as there is no legislation nor budget allocated to do so. The Commission reports to the Land Claims Court every six months on progress of outstanding Old order claims in line with LAMOSA 2 order, the last report was submitted on 30 June 2022.

2. (a) 163 383 new order claims

(b) When Parliament enacts new legislation to allow the processing of these New Order claims or the Commission settles all the outstanding old order claims lodged by 1998 as ordered by the LAMOSA Constitution Court judgment in 2018.

END

Reply:

a) Verification for Lower Ngqumeya and Lower Zingcuka has been finalized. The Claimant Committee is to adopt final verification lists by 30 September 2022

b) Phase 1 of claim consisting of Lower Ngqumeya and Lower Zingcuka is projected to be settled in Quarter 3 of 2022/23 Financial Year, on condition that the Commission receives full co-operation from the community.

Reply:

1. The boundaries of all Disease Management Areas (DMAs) for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) were determined using a risk-based approach taking into account evidence of recent spread, in an effort to limit the negative effects of the disease as much as possible.

(2)(a) Cattle were mostly affected in the recent outbreaks and the movement of live cattle clearly poses the highest risk. The initial movement ban was thus limited to cattle in order to limit the negative effects on other sectors of the livestock industry. Since sheep were involved in some recent outbreaks, sheep and goats have now been included in the Gazette Notice of 8 September 2022.

(b) Pigs continue to be excluded in order to limit the economic impact on an industry that so far has not been affected by the outbreaks.

(3) No. The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development will continue to update everyone if there is new information.

Reply:

The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights does not have a record of a land claim lodged by Hoxani Traditional Council nor a record of claim with reference number KRP 912.

Reply:

Yes. DALRRD has approved subsidies of R58,588 million in the financial year 2021/2022 in terms of section 4 of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, 2018 (Act No. 2 of 2018) ESTA and sections 26 and 27 of the Labour Tenants Act, 1996 (Act No.3 of 1996) for installation of electricity as well as installation of solar panels. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) is also providing mediation services and Legal Aid South Africa provides legal representation under the Land Rights Management Facility to farm dwellers in circumstances where landowners are refusing to consent to the Municipality and or Eskom to provide electricity.

Furthermore, the courts have ordered that it is the responsibility of Local Government through municipalities to provide all basic services to the people living, staying and working on the farms.

Reply:

1. Yes, the Department received reports from the industry and official media releases that Botswana and Namibia are imposing import restrictions (border closures) as an instrument to protect domestic producers from import competition. These border closures impact largely on the vegetable products exported by South Africa to these countries. The Department is working with the industry and the Departments of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) (lead department) and International Relations & Cooperation to address this challenge.

(2) Yes, border closures are being imposed as a unilateral act. Botswana and Namibia claim the measure is provided for in the South African Cultural Union (SACU) Agreement.

(3) Yes, The Minister received a submission from the industry regarding the challenges of persistent border closures in Botswana and Namibia. She will be engaging with the industry on the matter before addressing it with her counterparts in the two countries. Furthermore, the Department is working with the DTIC, National Treasury, South African Revenue Service (SARS) and International Administration Commission (ITAC) to investigate a permanent long-term solution to all trade challenges in the SACU. The Agricultural Trade Industry is regularly consulted and engaged through the Agricultural Trade Forum (ATF).

Reply:

a) An ongoing family dispute within the Kramer family over family representation in the processing of their land claim was delaying the settlement of the claim. The person who lodged the claim on behalf of the family does not want other beneficiaries to participate in the processing of the claim.

In the process of settling the claim, the Commission met all the beneficiaries of Kramer family and advised them to elect a representative committee that would represent all the beneficiaries. The resolution to have a committee was taken because the family comprises of 13 households with more than 500 beneficiaries.

The committee was elected in the presence of the Project Officer. The Commission continued with the processing of the claim in consultation with the committee. At the same time, the person who lodged claim continued writing to the Commission stating that the office should be working with her alone. This continued to be a dispute between the person who lodged the claim and other beneficiaries.

In an attempt to resolve the dispute, the Commission held a meeting with the beneficiaries on the 30th October 2021. The resolution of the meeting was that the family should re-look at the composition of the committee and ensure that it represents all the households and beneficiaries to the claim. The Commission requested the names of the committee members to be sent within 14 days. The family complied with the request and the names were sent comprising the same people who were elected before.

Subsequent to that, the person who lodged a claim on behalf of the Kramer family submitted a written objection, complaining about some issues discussed in the meeting of the 30th October 2021, and questioned the credibility of the meeting itself. She complained that the process which was followed was unfair and maintained that the committee elected was illegitimate. This halted the processing of the claim.

The family was requested to assist the process of finalizing the claim by resolving the dispute as this will allow the Commission to proceed to the next phase of restitution.

Only a Rule 3 investigation was conducted and approved by the Regional Land Claims Commissioner. A Rule 5 research report is still to be conducted and still to be approved by the Regional Land Claims Commissioner. As a result, the claim has not yet been approved.

(b) The Rule 3 investigation looked at all the claimed properties, that is Farm 158 and Farm 172. The two farms are currently subdivided into various small portions.

The family however disputed the extent in the investigation. To this end the office then did an inspection in loco on the 25th August 2022 together with the members of the Kramer family and with the assistance of the National Geo-Spatial and Information (NGI) The purpose of the in loco inspection was to identify the land parcels and boundaries of the claimed land.

A further meeting was held with the Kramer family on the 26th August to discuss the roadmap and the timelines towards the settlement of the claim.

One of the resolutions of the meeting was that the Commission will appoint a Historian/ an independent researcher to conduct further investigation on the circumstances of dispossession and the extent of the land that is the subject of the claim. The investigation will cover all the claimed properties, that is Farm 158, Farm 172 and Erf 3 in Hanley.

The family accepted the roadmap and the timelines that were proposed by the Commission.

(c) The selling of the properties and the exchange of ownership will be determined by the investigation to be conducted. The claim is not yet approved and it is still to be gazetted

END

Reply:

1. Yes.

a) The Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) advises Communal Property Associations (CPAs) to submit financial records or Audited Financial Statements as required by section 11 and regulation 8 of the Communal Property Associations Act, 1996 for the preparation of the CPA Annual Performance Report. DALRRD also provides training to CPAs on governance issues and compliance with the provisions of the Act.

b) Advice and training were provided to all registered CPAs.

Reply:

(1) Never.

(2)(a)(b) Falls away.

Reply:

The department is consolidating the figures in respect of this question and will, upon completion of this process submit the reply to Parliament.

Reply:

1. (a) Please refer to the table below:

Province	Total farms Supported	Sum of Total Cattle	Sum of Procured cows	Sum of Procured Heifers	Sum of procured Bulls	Sum of Procured weaners
Eastern Cape	4	295	109	100	11	75
Free State	7	490	260	205	25	0
Gauteng	4	140	33	64	13	30
Kwazulu-Natal	3	64	62	0	2	0
NC	17	295	271	0	24	0
MP	15	1183	900	250	33	0
North West	14	756	341	234	17	164
Limpopo	5	364	0	341	23	0
Grand Total	69	3587	1976	1194	148	269

b) Land Development and Post Settlement program is empowering the farmers to get exposure to the industry by allowing them to develop specifications of animals suitable for their farms through the help of commodity organisations and procure direct from breeders using their own entity, which helps them to improve their profiles and their reputation in the industry.

2. No agents were used to procure livestock; farmers procure directly from the cattle breeders through the help of commodity organisations.

(a), (b) Falls away.

Reply:

Yes, the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) has submitted the Ingonyama Trust audited Annual Financial Statements (AFS) to the Department for the past three financial years.  The AFS contains information on revenue of Ingonyama Trust and has been tabled in Parliament, except for the year ended 31 March 2021 where the audit process was only finalised in March 2022. ITB has since submitted this information to the Department and will be tabled in Parliament.

Reply:

The department is verifying the facts in respect of this question and will, upon completion of this process submit the reply to Parliament.

Reply:

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) is not responsible for monitoring and does not have information relating to the number of restitution beneficiaries in Mpumalanga who derive profits and/or revenue from operations on the land. This is a private land and the Communal Property Associations or Trusts are not bound to report their business operations to DALRRD.

Reply:

The department is busy consolidating the figures and a detailed reply will be submitted once finalised.

Reply:

a) As at 31 March 2022, a total of 5 198 594 hectares has been redistributed to black people.

b) Provincial breakdown of redistributed land, in hectares:

Provinces	EC	FS	GP	KZN	LP	MP	NW	NC	WC
Redistributed Land	569 189	434 799	63 575	621 674	197 973	498 426	594 297	1 622 208	596 453

c) Since 27 April 1994, an amount of R 19 809 billion cost the Department to buy land for redistribution.

Reply:

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development does not regulate fuel. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is best placed to respond to this question.

Reply:

(a),(b),(c),(d),(i),(ii) None. After consultation with the industry, there is no indication of supply shortages of critical agricultural products such as seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and equipment. However, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development will monitor the impact of the ongoing conflict.

Reply:

The appointment was made in terms of Section 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Service Act, 1994, (as amended) and the Acting Appointments Policy of the Department

Reply:

1.Since the advertisement of pieces of land by the Department Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), a total number of 204 farms are fully leased, while another 72 farms are partially leased (land units).

2. DALRRD has conducted farm assessments on 654 of these farms and provided training on 94 farms, covering 165 farmers. Skills audit has also been conducted, report of which informed the training priorities. Start-up support packages based on farm assessments have been developed to be implemented this current financial year. This planned support will be directed to the 165 farmers in 94 farms that were trained in business and entrepreneurship. The farms are distributed as follows:

• Limpopo 40;
• Mpumalanga 30; and
• Northwest: 24.

This approach is in line with the recently approved National Policy on Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation.

Reply:

The department is busy consolidating the figures and a detailed reply will be submitted once finalised.

 

Reply:

The first allocation for the FMD vaccine factory was made in the 2007/2008 financial year. A figure of R214 million was allocated by the National Treasury over a four–year period. An additional figure of R400 million was allocated over the MTEF beginning in 2019-2022.

The process of establishing a GMP compliant facility started with the development of new production methods. This process is to ensure that there is capability for production of GMP compliant vaccines at scale once the new factory is completed. This involves processes such as optimisation of cell culture production, optimisation of antigen production, production of master seed stocks, validation of antigenicity, scaling production to pilot amounts, optimisation of downstream processing and optimisation of formulation. This process is ongoing and will continue during the establishment of the new factory.

In preparing for the GMP compliant facility, construction preparatory work was undertaken. This process involved the management of land rights including necessary zoning, environmental, infrastructural/ external services, legal requirements in relation to such land rights (obtaining the title deed, Surveyor-General diagram, municipal account, and approval).

Currently, the project plan for the GMP compliant facility is at the stage of appointment of service providers. This process is to ensure that the specifications for the appointment of service providers to design various aspects of the project (process engineers, architectural designer, mechanical engineers, electrical and electronics engineers, quantity surveyors, civil and structural engineers as well as other key appointments such as fire engineers, occupational health safety and environmental practitioners is concluded. Appointment of service providers for the built environment has been approved by Council and is underway subject to service level agreements. Service providers will commence work immediately upon conclusion of these contracts.

Reply:

a) Of the total number of 1707 CPAs that have been registered, 1612 CPAs are functional.

b) Of the total number of 1707 CPAs that have been registered, 1612 CPAs are operational.

Reply:

Plant and Animal Products Export Markets from 2019 to date:

(a) Markets opened since 2019

• Market access for the export of South African Pears to China was granted in 2021 and the protocol of sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for the export of pears from the Republic of South Africa to the People’s Republic of China was signed on 30 November 2021. The implementation date for the signed protocol was confirmed to be 17 January 2022.
• Market access for the export of South African Citrus to the Philippines was granted in 2020. The protocol was signed on 20 July 2020.
• Poultry meat market access to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was granted in 2019.
• The market for the export of raw beef to Malaysia was opened. The Malaysian Veterinary Authority approved an abattoir to start exporting in October 2020.
• Wool, hides and skins were exported to the People’s Republic of China after a new health certificate was negotiated in 2020.
• Live cattle, sheep, and goat health certificates were negotiated with Botswana in 2020.

(b) Changes in conditions regarding market access made to date:

The revised protocol of phytosanitary requirements for the export of South African citrus fruit to China was signed on 18 June 2021. South Africa has been exporting citrus to China under a protocol that was bilaterally agreed upon and signed on 21 June 2006. Under this protocol, the potential risk of a false codling moth (FCM), a pest of quarantine concern to the People’s Republic of China, was addressed through a cold treatment regime of 24 days at 0.6°C in transit which was not ideal for lemons. Currently, under the revised protocol, cold treatment for lemons will be 3°C or below for not less than 18 consecutive days.

• Re-opened markets since 2019: Botswana, ESwatini and Namibia have been re-opened.

• Poultry Meat markets in the process of negotiation: Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

• Beef markets re-opened since 2019 in Angola, Bahrain, Botswana, China, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lesotho, Mozambique, Qatar, Seychelles, eSwatini, UAE and Zimbabwe.

New Markets Opened for Imports

YEAR	COMMODITY	EXPORT COUNTRY
2022	Avocado fresh fruit (Persea americana)	Tanzania
2022	Mango fresh fruit (Mangifera indica)	Peru
2021	Avocado fresh fruit (Persea americana) for processing	Tanzania
2021	Apple fresh fruit (Malus spp.)	Lesotho
2021	Mango fresh fruit (Mangifera indica)	India
2020	Mango fresh fruit (Mangifera indica)	Egypt
2020	Pineapple fresh fruit (Ananas comosus)	Angola
2019	Citrus fresh fruit (Citrus spp.)	Morocco
2019	Mango fresh fruit (Mangifera indica)	Brazil
2019	Citrus fresh fruit (Citrus spp.) for processing	Spain
2019	Mango fresh fruit (Mangifera indica)	Spain

Revised Phytosanitary Import Requirements (Plant Products)

YEAR	COMMODITY	EXPORT COUNTRY
2022	Banana fresh fruit (Musa spp.)	Mozambique
2022	Mango fresh fruit (Mangifera indica)	Namibia
2021	Pepper (Capsicum spp.)	Namibia
2021	Watermelon (Citrullus spp.)	Namibia
2021	Melon and cucumber (Cucumis spp.)	Namibia
2021	Pumpkins (Cucurbita spp.)	Namibia
2021	Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)	Namibia
2020	Banana fresh fruit (Musa spp.)	Eswatini
2020	Citrus fresh fruit (Citrus spp.)	Eswatini
2020	Avocado fresh fruit (Persea americana)	Eswatini
2020	Banana fresh fruit (Musa spp.)	Ghana
2020	Banana fresh fruit (Musa spp.)	Uganda
2020	Banana fresh fruit (Musa spp.)	Ivory Coast
2020	Banana fresh fruit (Musa spp.)	Zambia
2020	Banana fresh fruit (Musa spp.)	Zimbabwe
2020	Banana fresh fruit (Musa spp.)	Angola
2020	Banana fresh fruit (Musa spp.)	Ecuador
2020	Banana fresh fruit (Musa spp.)	Cameroon

Revised Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Requirements (Animals And Animal Products)

YEAR	COMMODITY	EXPORT COUNTRY
2019	Porcine semen	France
2020	Frozen pork, porcine semen	Belgium
2021	Frozen pork	Germany
2022	Cured and heat-treated pork products	Italy

New Markets Opened for Imports Animal Product

YEAR	COMMODITY	EXPORT COUNTRY
2019	Heat treated pork and poultry	France
2019	Heat treated pork	Hungary
2021	Heat treated pork	Germany

(b) The Agriculture and Agro-processing Masterplan (AAMP) has recently been signed by the Government together with its social partners. Following the signing in May, branches in the Department initiated the process of incorporating the Master Plan into their Operational Plans. As a result, no conditions with regard to market access can be attributed to the AAMP as yet.