Land and agriculture minister Lulama Xingwana has set out six targets her department will aim to achieve over the next two years.
In her closing remarks to a two-day ministerial lekgotla, held in Benoni, Gauteng recently, land and agriculture minister Lulama Xingwana identified six priority targets her department will aim to achieve in the next five months of the current financial year and over the next two years.
At the top of the list is to finalise remaining urban restitution claims early next year and settle the outstanding rural claims in the following year to meet the 2008 deadline. The other aims are: to implement the resolutions adopted at last year’s Land Summit; to finalise the AgriBEE charter; to fast-track planning that will deal with challenges of agricultural land use; to modernise deeds registration; and to turn around Land Bank’s operations.
“We want transformation in the agriculture industry that will benefit women and youths. Also if the biofuel project is done properly, it will offer potential for growth in the sector. We are engaging with emerging farmers to see how this programme can benefit them,” Xingwana said.
Xingwana announced the launch of “Ilima/Letsema”, a programme aimed at making land work for the people. This programme will see the department offering small scale-farmers support in the form of fencing, seeds, fertilisers and irrigation.
Motsepe Matlala, president of the National African Farmers’ Union, welcomed the minister’s undertaking to speed up these issues. He said this will help emerging farmers as they are currently struggling to transform themselves into commercial producers.
“Emerging farmers need to be nurtured until such time that they can stand alone,” Matlala said.
Paul van der Walt, president of TAU SA, said his organisation fully supports government programmes as long as they
do not affect agricultural productivity. – Fidelis Zvomuya |
