ATC220429: Report of the Select Committee on Land Reform, Environment, and Mineral Resources and Energy on the Budget Vote and Annual Performance Plan 2022/23 – Budget Vote No 29, dated 21 April 2022.

NCOP Land Reform, Environment, Mineral Resources and Energy

Report of the Select Committee on Land Reform, Environment, and Mineral Resources and Energy on the Budget Vote and Annual Performance Plan 2022/23 of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development – Budget Vote No 29, dated 21 April 2022.  

The Select Committee on Land Reform, Environment, and Mineral Resources and Energy having considered Budget Vote: 29 and Annual Performance Plan 2022/2023 of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development, reports that the that the committee met with the department on 19 April 2022, where the department briefed the committee on the matter of its APP and Budget.

The committee appreciated the inputs from the department and respective DG’s related to the current APP, budget allocation and performing key responsibilities. The committee, in its deliberations, focused on matters on interest to provinces, which include conditional grant allocation, land reform and farmer support, Communal Property Associations (CPA), Agri-Parks operationalisation, extension officer support to farmers, animal diseases outbreaks, the locust plaque, and the NARYSEC programme.   

Committee members expressed their concern about the impact of the NARYSEC programme, with specific reference to the lack of employment opportunities for trained youth. Farmer support was another major concern, with the committee wishing to know what the timeline will be for the completion and operationalisation of Farmer Production Support Units at Agri-parks. The Committee further wished to receive details about the outcomes of the detailed departmental audit of CPAs, or alternatively the date at which time the audit will be completed. In terms of Conditional Grants, the Committee highlighted that although it understood that there will be different allocations to provinces based on the agriculture potential of these, there was still concern about the discrepancies between the allocations of some provinces. The Committee was informed that the rate at which the Department planned to complete and finalise land claim settlements was based entirely on the budget of the Department, which prevents a faster pace of land reform at present.

The Select Committee on Land Reform, Environment, Mineral Resources & Energy having considered Budget Vote: 29 and Annual Performance Plan 2022/2023 of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development, reports that the Committee has concluded its deliberations thereon.

 

Report to be considered.