Questions and Replies
01 December 2022 - NW3293
Cebekhulu, Inkosi RN to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
(1) With regard to the increase in land invasions, more so in rural areas, what measures has her department put in place to ensure the security of land boundaries. (2) whether there have been stricter protective measures for (a) women and (b) persons of colour in the attempts to protect land; if not, why not, in each specified case; if so, what are the relevant details in each specified case; (3) what are the relevant details of the steps that are being taken by her department to ensure that agricultural land is not compromised for residential developments, and simultaneously attending to the needs of those who seek land for residential purposes?
Reply:
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 3293
1. Where the farms belong to the state, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) makes use of the state land available by allocating the land in line with the Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation Policy to deserving beneficiaries. Furthermore, if the land is invaded, the Department engages the invaders and where there are no agreements, legal processes are taken to legally evict invaders from state farms.
2. No.
(a) and (b) There are no stricter measures for women and persons with colour. Measures put in place are applicable to everyone utilizing state farms.
3. DALRRD administers the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act (SALA), 1970 (Act No. 70 of 1970) to manage and preserve agricultural land for agricultural production.
Section 3(f) of SALA states that no area of jurisdiction, local area, development area, peri-urban area or other area referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of 'agricultural land' in section 1, shall be established on, or enlarged so as to include, any land which is agricultural land. As such DALRRD receives and evaluates change of land use applications, assesses the development application based on the agricultural planning factors such as land capability, grazing capacity and crop suitability. Should the proposed residential development lead to direct and cumulative impact on agricultural production, the developer is advised to consider alternative site for balanced utilization of the natural resources.
To strengthen DALRRD’s abilities to preserve agricultural land, DALRRD developed the Preservation and Development of Agricultural land Bill which is currently in the parliamentary process. The Bill calls for the delineation of high potential and unique agricultural land for agricultural protection and for the establishment of agricultural sector plans.
To address the needs of those who seek land for residential development, DALRRD has embarked on a process to delineate areas of high potential agricultural land for cultivation and grazing purposes in order to guide the development based on the land capabilities for optimal use. Areas of low potential are demarcated for uses other than agriculture to accommodate other socio-economic activities.
DALRRD has developed guidelines to guide municipalities when developing land use schemes noting their roles in implementing the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, 2013 (Act No.16 of 2013), specifically section (24) which stipulates that municipalities must develop a wall-to-wall Land Use Scheme (LUS) aimed to regulate the use of land within a municipal area.
DALRRD collaborates with municipalities on development of land use schemes to ensure proper zoning regarding the use of high potential agricultural land for agricultural purposes is implemented. DALRRD’s involvement on the land use scheme will aid the municipality to implement a balanced mechanism to cater for developments and agriculture without compromising sustainability.
Finally, the Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation Policy is meant to allocate land for various purposes including for residential use.
01 December 2022 - NW3682
Tito, Ms LF to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Noting how communal property associations are not regulated to an extent that they abuse the elderly beneficiaries out from an otherwise well-meaning restitution programme, what measures has she taken to extend the powers of her department, so as to deal with the office bearers of communal property associations who fleece the beneficiaries?
Reply:
Section 11 of the Communal Property Association Act 28 of 1996 provides for:
“An association or provisional association registered under this Act shall, at the prescribed times, 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 this Act”.
The Director-General may undertake an inspection of the affairs of an association or provisional association. The Director General may; for the purposes of this ‘section-
- inspect and remove for copying any records, reports and other documents relating to the affairs of an association or provisional association; and
- subpoena persons who may have relevant information or documentation in respect of the affairs of an association or provisional association to appear before him or her to provide information or documentation in relation to the affairs of the association or provisional association, if the attendance of such persons cannot reasonably be procured otherwise.”
30 November 2022 - NW4150
Masipa, Mr NP to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
What are the relevant details of her department’s readiness to deal with the season of locust outbreaks?
Reply:
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has appointed locust control contractors to control the locust outbreak in all locust outbreak areas in Eastern Cape, Free State, Northern Cape, and Western Cape Provinces.
Personal protective equipment for the locust control contractors has been procured. DALRRD will be providing spray pumps and pesticides for control of the locust outbreak.
DALRRD is also in the process of advertising a tender for appointment of a helicopter service provider to be on standby to complement the ground locust control contractors if a need arises.
30 November 2022 - NW3606
Kruger, Mr HC to ask the Minister of Small Business Development
Whether her department has made an assessment on the regulatory measures (a) nationally, (b) provincially and (c) on the local government level that might impact negatively on (i) small , medium and micro enterprises and (ii) co-operatives; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the (aa) names and (bb) relevant details of all (aaa) legislation and (bbb) regulations that have been assessed to date?”
Reply:
(a)(b)&(c) The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has considered nationally, provincially and locally the legislation negatively affecting Small, medium and micro enterprises in South Africa. There are a multitude of legislative and regulatory criteria that small businesses need to comply with, not all of them are “onerous”, but still this provides a good indication that our regulatory frameworks are not well coordinated and synchronised, and are often duplicatory, placing both a cost and time burden on small businesses. The DSBD has prioritised twenty-nine (29) pieces of legislation (including related regulations, and by-laws, etc.) that impact on SMME growth and development. This is summarised in Figure 2 under point number aa&bb.
- The twenty-nine (29) pieces of legislation affect informal sector, small, medium micro enterprises and co-operatives across the spectrum.
- With regard to co-operatives, we have noted that CIPC reporting under the Co-operatives Development Act, is onerous as most co-operatives are required to submit audited financial statements. That imposes a considerable expense, which does not apply to any other small enterprise. This contrasts with the Company’s Act which has specified thresholds over which enterprises are required to submit audited annual financial statements.
(aa)&(bb) Names of legislation and (bb) relevant details