Questions & Replies: Rural Development & Land Reform

Reply received: June 2012

QUESTION 881

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [NO 9-20121

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 20 April 2012

881. Mr R A P Trollip (DA) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

What (a) are the relevant details with regard to all validated land claims for the consolidation of the former Ciskei and Transkei in the districts of (i) Peddie, (ii) Victoria East, (iii) Queenstown, (iv) Whittlesea, (v) Stockenstroom, (vi) East London, (vii) Matatiele and (viii) Maclear and (b) is the status of each property claim in question? NW1059E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(a)(i)-(viii) and (b) Please refer to Annexure A

Reply received: May 2012

QUESTION 876

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [No 9-20121

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 20 April 2012

Mr RAP Trollip (DA) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

(1) Whether his department recently appointed a certain person (name furnished) as Chief Director: Land Restitution Support in the Eastern Cape; if not, why not; if so, when was the appointment made;

(2) whether the appointment was made after a (a) comprehensive advertisement and

(b) prescribed appointment process; if not, why not; if so, (i) (aa) where and (bb) when was the vacancy advertised, (ii) what are the (aa) names, (bb) qualifications and (cc) resumes of each shortlisted applicant, in each case and (iii) what are the details of the interviewing panelists;

(3) whether the said person disclosed the reasons for the termination of his

employment with the provincial department of agriculture; if not, why not; if so,

(4) whether he has been informed of the circumstances that led to the termination of the services of the said person from the provincial department of agriculture; if not, why not; if so,

(5) whether this was taken into account before the said person was employed; if not,

why not; if so, how is this appointment justified?

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(1) Yes. 12 January 2012.

(2) (a) Yes.

(b) Yes.

(i)(aa) Sunday Times, Internet, Internal Communication Messenger.

(bb) 8 April 2011.

(ii)(aa) The names are confidential.

(bb) The qualifications of the shortlisted applicants are confidential.

(cc) The resume of each shortlisted applicant is confidential.

(iii) The panelists were Director General, Chief Surveyor General, Acting Deputy Director

General: Land Reform and Administration and Acting Deputy Director General: Rural

Infrastructure Development.

(3) Yes.

(4) Yes.

(5) Yes. The Department applied itself diligently to the appointment having considered the following factors: the suitability of the candidate against the requirements of the position; and the candidate's disclosure of information on these circumstances

Reply received: May 2012

QUESTION 782

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [NO 8 – 2012]

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 16 March 2012

782. Mr S Mokgalapa (DA) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

]\Whether any officials from (a) his department and (b) entities reporting to him were on an official visit official visit to Bloemfontein in (i) December and (ii) January 2012; if so, in each case, what (aa) is the (aaa) name and (bbb) position of the specified official, (bb) date of such visit and (cc) was the cost of, (aaa) transport, (bbb) accommodation and (ccc) other expenses? NW953E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

Reply received: May 2012

QUESTION 729

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [NO 8 - 20121

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 16 March 2012

729. Mr R A P Trollip (DA) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

(1) Whether his department has acquired the Makhoba Trust Farms in the Cedaville area of the Kokstad Municipality; if so, (a) how much land was acquired for the trust and (b) what was the total cost of the various farms;

(2) whether his department has incurred any additional expenditure on (a) infrastructural development and (b) livestock purchases; if not, how was this conclusion reached; if so, what (i) are the relevant details and (ii) is the status quo of the farming enterprise;

(3) whether his department intends to build social housing on this property; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the relevant details (b) why was the site chosen and (c) what are the time frames? NW897E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(1) Yes

(a) 10 986.1528 hectares.

(b) R13 765 000.00.

(2) (a) and (b) Yes

(i) The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform approved R388 273.00 for infrastructure development to upgrade the dairy farm and purchasing of new equipment and R861 100.00 was approved for the purchase of dairy cattle.

(ii) The project started with 120 cows producing 300 litres of milk per day due to the fact that the beneficiaries were still learning. Currently there are 220 cows producing 3 000 litres of milk per day which is supplied to Nestle.

(3) No. The Department of Human Settlements, Sisonke District Municipality and Greater Kokstad Local Municipality are champions of the human settlement project.

(a)-(c) Falls away.

Reply received: August 2012

QUESTION 649

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [No 8 - 2012]

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 16 March 2012

649. Mr J H van der Merwe (lFP) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

(1) (a) What criteria does his department apply to identify (i) a developing farmer, (ii) an emerging farmer and (iii) a subsistence farmer and (b) how many of each of these types of farmers are there currently;

(2) (a) what percentage of farmers (i) are beneficiaries of the Government's land reform programme and (ii) began as independent farmers and (b) how much land do these farmers own in each case? NW808E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(1)(a)(i), (ii) and (iii) There has been no categorisation of farmers in terms of developing, emerging or subsistence farmers at the inception of the land reform programme. Beneficiaries have been selected based on the applications received for the lease of land bought by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) in terms of its Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy and state land under the administration of the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform. The information collected through a lease application form allows for the determination of the level of expertise, experience, land need and therefore the category that the farmer belongs to. The majority of the farmers assisted by the Department are small-scale farmers.

(b) Falls away.

(2) (a)(i) The total number of farmers in the categories mentioned in part (1) above is 1211

(ii) and (b) Fall away.

Reply received: September 2012

QUESTION 636

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [No 8 - 2012]

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 16 March 2012

636. Mr P S Sizani (ANC) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

(1) Whether the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights has completed the establishment of a comprehensive land claims data base known as Umhlaba Wethu; if so, (a) how much data has been transferred from the old land base to Umhlaba Wethu, (b) how many claims are outstanding and (c) how many of the outstanding claims (i) are valid and (ii) require research;

(2) what does he intend doing to create a coherent database of land under custodianship of the state and state-owned entities;

(3) whether he will consider establishing a comprehensive land asset register as a tool that could help to speed up release and redistribution of state land; if so, how can this aid the pace of land redistribution as well as tenure security on communal land? NW794E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(1) No. The Umhlaba Wethu database is still work in progress.

(a), (b) and (c)(i)-(ii) Fall away.

(2) The Department has proposed the establishment of a Land Management Commission to consolidate all landholdings in South Africa.

(3) Yes. The Department is establishing a comprehensive land asset register for all state landas reflected in the 2012-2013 Annual Performance Plan and Operational plans, which were tabled before the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development Land Reform.

The Department is conducting audit of state land; and has completed 95% thereof. The establishment of a comprehensive land asset register, while it would assist a speedy release of claimed state land, is meant to bring about certainty with regard to the state's holding in land. This is important for the state so that it could better direct development.

Reply received: June 2012

QUESTION 599

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: [N0 7-2012]

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 9 March 2012

599. Mr A P Trollip (DA) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

(1) Whether the document referred to as the trust deed for Crossways farm has any official status within his department; if not, why were (a) household surveys conducted by his department in ward seven of the Kouga Municipality and (b) the relevant communities asked to present names for consideration for appointment as trustees; if so, (i) what is the status thereof and (ii) when will this document be presented for signature by the appointed trustees;

(2) which officials in his department were responsible for the compilation of the trust deed for Crossways farm;

(3) whether any actions have been taken against officials in his department who were responsible for the trust deed; if not, why not; if so, what action? NW765E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(1) No. The formation of the Trust has not yet been completed and therefore the Trust Deed is still work in progress. This is not a departmental process but a process driven by Crossways Farm Village.

(a) Household profiling was undertaken and continues in response to the Kouga Local Municipality's request to have a Comprehensive Rural Development Programme Site in that Municipality.

(b) This is a process required and controlled by the Crossways Farm Village in terms of a Record of Decision (ROD) between Crossways Farm Village and the Eastern Cape Provincial Government.

(i) Falls away.

(ii) Falls away.

(2) None.

(3) Falls away.

Reply received: May 2012

QUESTION 582

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [NO 7-20121]

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 9 March 2012

582. Mr DC Ross (DA) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

(1) Whether this department has an internal audit unit; if not, why not; if so, (a) how many staff members are employed in the unit and (b) what (i) is the structure and (ii) are the functions of the unit;

(2) whether the audit committee considers the internal audit reports; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(3) whether he holds meetings to discuss (a) the internal reports and (b) their findings with audit unit; if not, why not, in each case; if so, (i) on what dates since 1 April 2010 has each specified meeting taken place and (ii) what are the further relevant details? NW747E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(1) Yes.

(a) 20 staff members. The Chief Directorate: lnternal Audit is in the process of filling the vacant positions. Currently the lnternal Annual Audit Plan is co-sourced in order to capacitate the lnternal Audit function to deliver on its commitments in term of the said Plan.

(b) (i)-(ii). The structure and functions are contained in Annexure A hereto.

(2) Yes. lnternal Audit Reports, as scheduled on the Annual lnternal Audit Plan, are presented to the Audit Committee on completion of audits and are discussed at Audit Committee meetings.

(3)(a) and (b)Yes.

(i) 4 December 2010; 11 November 201 1, 17 November 201 1, 25 January 2012 and 7 February 2012.

(ii) Internal Audit Reports, as scheduled on the Annual lnternal Audit Plan, are presented to the Director-General and the Audit Committee and then to the Minister. The Minister discussed the reports with lnternal Audit and ensured that findings of strategic impact for the entire Department were addressed by National Office projects, additional to the detailed action plans that management provided to address lnternal Audit findings. The Minister also requested lnternal Audit during two of the meetings to conduct lnternal Audit reviews, for which reports are presented to the Minister in follow-up meetings.

Reply received: June 2012

QUESTION 539

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [NO 7 - 2012]

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 9 March 2012

539. Mr P J Groenewald (FF Plus) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:†

(1) Why did the State (a) buy the farm De Hoop in the vicinity of Delareyville from a certain person (name and details furnished) and (b) pay R800 000 for 43 ha when the average purchase price in the area is in the region of R5 000 to R7 000 per ha;

(2) whether he will make a statement on the matter? NW694E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(1)(a) The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights purchased the farm as part of the settlement of the Barolong Boo Ratlou Boo Seitshero Community land claim.

(b) The land was valued at R3 000.00 per hectare for cultivated land with no irrigation and R1 500.00 per hectare for natural grazing land. The total value of the land amounted to R106 710.00 (R2 481.00 per hectare) which is within the regional norm of R5 000.00 to R7 000.00. The difference between the land value of R106 710.00 and the purchase price of R800 000.00 was due to improvements on the land.

(2) No.

Reply received: August 2012

QUESTION 524

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [No 7-2012]
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 9 March 2012

524. Mr R N Cebekhulu (IFP) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

(1) (a) How many distressed farmers have received (i) financial assistance and (ii) other forms of assistance from his department (aa) in the 2010-11 financial year and (bb) during the period 1 April 2011 to 31 December 2011 and (b) what form of assistance was received in each case;

(2) whether (a) financial viability and (b) medium to long-term sustainability studies have been conducted in this regard; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case? NW675E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(1) (a)(i)-(ii) (aa) There are 411 farms in distress that received financial and other forms

of assistance from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to the amount of R1 317 565 406.15 during the 2010-2011 financial year.

(bb) For the period 1 April 2011 to 31 December 2011 a total of 595 projects were assisted including the farms that were assisted during the 2010-2011 financial year. In total financial assistance to the amount of R3 585 223 614.79 was provided.

(b) Assistance provided included financial and technical assistance in the form of contracted strategic partners, mentors and in some cases service providers to render services such as water reticulation etc.

(2) Yes.

(a) and (b) Farms in distress are identified at the provincial level and an agricultural assessment report and a credible business plan developed for each farm to determine its status and future potential.

Reply received: June 2012

QUESTION 496

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [No 06-2012]
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2 March 2012

496. Mr DC Ross (DA) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

(1) Whether he met with the internal audit committee in the (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12 financial years; if not, why not; if so, (i) on which dates did they meet and (ii) what are the further relevant details? NW645E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(a) No, due to time constraints during the 2010-2011 financial year, no meeting could be scheduled with the Audit Committee.

(b) Yes.

(i) 8 December 2011.

(ii) The Audit Committee presented their risk and internal control assessment to the Minister. The Minister agreed to meet with the Audit Committee on a quarterly basis going forward and to provide feedback on the actions taken by the Department to address the areas reported by the Audit Committee at the quarterly meetings.

Reply received: May 2012

QUESTION 41 8

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [NO 6-20121

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2 March 2012

418. Mr W M Madisha (Cope) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land

Reform:

Whether the land redistribution target of 2010-1 1 has been met in each province; if not, why not; if so, what are relevant details? NW558E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

No, not all provinces met their annual target even though the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform had an over-achievement of 328 040 hectares against its target of 283 592 hectares. The Mpumalanga and Northern Cape provinces exceeded their targets. The reasons for not meeting the targets by the remaining seven provinces range from non availability of suitable strategically Iocated alternative land to high land prices which could not be accommodated within their budget allocations.

Reply received: May 2012

QUESTION 417

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: [No 6-2012]

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2 March 2012

417. Mr W M Madisha (Cope) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land reform:

(1) Whether his department has acquired any shares on behalf of farm workers under equity shares schemes in 201 1; if not, what is the position in this regards; if so, how many;

(2) What percentage of farm workers own 50% of the commercial farms on which they are employed? NW557E

MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM RESPONDS.

(1) No, the Department did not acquire any shares on behalf of farm workers under Farm Equity Schemes (FES) in 2011. The Department appointed Zalo Capital in February 201 1 on a two year contract in order to do a review of the 124 FES projects already implemented. Once the study has been completed the Department will be able to make a decision as to its intervention, if any.

(2) Falls away.

Reply received: June 2012

QUESTION 258

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [No. 2-2012]

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 17 FEBRUARY 2012

258. Ms LHAdams (Cope) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform:

Whether all the state houses that have been built since 1994 have been officially recorded by the Registrar of Deeds; if not, (a) why not, (b)how many (i) were recorded and (ii) still need lo be recorded in the Deeds Registry; if so, how many were recorded in the Deeds Registry? NW302E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(a) State houses that are built by different government departments and private sector agencies are not classified far registration in the Deeds Registry in terms of the Deeds Registries Act. Therefore the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform is unable to determine the number of houses built since 1994 and registered

(b)(i)-(ii) Falls away

Reply received: May 2012

QUESTION NO 145

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [NO 2-20121
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 17 February 2012

145. Dr C P Mulder (FF Plus) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land

Affairs:

(1) Whether he or his department provided the Presidency with any figures on the redistribution of land that were used in the President's state of the nation address on 9 February 2012; if so, (a) what figures were provided to the Presidency and (b) where did he or his department obtain these figures;

(2) whether the figures used by the President in his speech, namely that only 8% of the targeted 30% of land that has to be redistributed by 2014 has been transferred, were provided to the Presidency by him or his department; if so, (a) how was this figure calculated, (b) who calculated this figure, (c) who had been in possession of this 8% of the land, (d) to whom has this land been transferred and (e) in terms of which state programme was this land transferred;

(3) whether his department has undertaken a land audit to establish how much land was in possession of (a) the state, (b) private owners and (c) trust land at the outset of the land reform and redistribution programme and has been transferred in terms of the land reform and redistribution programme; if not, (i) why has his department not yet undertaken such a land audit, (ii) when will his department be undertaking a land audit and (iii) what figures does his department use when determining targets for land reform and redistribution; if so, (aa) who undertook the audit, (bb) when was the audit undertaken, (cc) what was the cost of the audit, (dd) which entities that are affected by land reform and redistribution were contacted during the audit and (ee) what were the major findings contained in the audit? NW159E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(1) Yes.

(a) The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) reported that it has acquired 6 726 642 million hectares of land since 1994, which translates to 8.2% of the approximate 82 million hectares of agricultural land.

(b) The figure was obtained from departmental statistical records on Land Reform.

(2) Yes, the figures were provided by DRDLR

(a) The calculation was based on the total extent of white owned agricultural land as follows:

6 726 642 ÷ 82 000 000 x 100 = 8.2%.

(b) The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.

(c) The land was bought mostly from white land owners.

(d) The land has been transferred to the Republic of South Africa, Municipalities and Land Reform beneficiaries.

(e) The land was transferred in terms of the Redistribution and Restitution Programmes

(3)(a)-(c)(i)-(iii) No. However, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform is currently conducting an audit.

(aa)-(ee) Falls away.

Reply received: November 2012

QUESTION 29

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER [No 1-2012]
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 9 February 2012

29. Ms E More (DA) to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform

Whether any other persons have driven (a) his and (b) his Deputy Minister's official blue light fitted vehicles; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, in each case, in respect of the (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11 financial years, (aa) what is each specified person's (aaa) name and (bbb) designation, (bb) which vehicle and (cc) why ? NW33E

THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM:

(a),(b) Neither the Minister's nor the Deputy Minister's vehicle's were fitted with blue lights during the 2009-2010 and 2010 – 2011 financial years. The vehicles were driven by the protectors assigned by the South African Police Servise, to the Minister and Deputy Minister, for the period in question.