South Africa

President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address (SONA) should “generally be welcomed”, especially the adoption of the National Development Plan (NDP) “as a framework for economic development and to address the challenges of poverty, crass inequality and unemployment,” said Agbiz CEO Dr John Purchase.

Agricultural union, TAU SA has suspended its participation in discussions on the Green Paper on Land Reform.

Government plans to accelerate land reform, but there’s still very little clarity about the policy direction that will be taken to speed up redistribution.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform is getting closer to establishing an Office of the Valuer-General as the final authority on land and property valuation.

A draft bill to empower the SAPS to arrest people carrying dangerous weapons during public gatherings came before Parliament on Tuesday, 12 February.

Grain SA (GSA) called on grain producers to avoid large scale retrenchments of workers after the Minister of Labour, Mildred Oliphant, announced the increased minimum wages for farm workers of R105 per day effective from 1 March 2013.

South Africa’s livestock farmers are urged to get a copy of the recently released “Guidelines for Livestock Farming” book, a joint venture between the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation and the National Wool Growers’ Association.

KwaDukuza Municipality on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast intended to expropriate 24 properties in Darnall and the Nonoti-Fort Pearson area to build houses for two housing developments.

The reactions of farmers, unions and farm workers to the announcement that the minimum daily wage for farm workers will increase from R69/ day to R105/day from 1 March suggests there are no real winners in the recent wage negotiations.

The recent weakening of the rand against important international currencies was likely to result in a dip in national agricultural machinery sales.

The flooding of the Limpopo River basin had claimed the lives of about 70 people and displaced an estimated 180 000 by the end of January.

The retail petrol price jumped 41c/l and the wholesale diesel price by 17,8c/ l on 6 February, mainly because of a weaker rand and higher global oil prices.

The Eastern Cape Red Meat Producers’ Organisation (EC RPO) believed that the legalising of dog racing will put the brakes on the increasing problem of vagrant dogs killing and maiming livestock.

“Politicians saying stupid things are simply not good for the economy,” said economist Dawie Roodt.

The new minimum wage for farm workers, which will come into effect for one year on 1 March 2013, has been increased from R69 per day to R105 per day for employees who work nine hours a day.

The recent heavy rains in Mpumalanga, along with high temperatures, caused the ideal conditions for blue ticks that cause redwater disease to thrive.

Farm worker strikes for a higher minimum wage in the Western Cape might be over, but farmers say the effect will linger for some time to come. Denene Erasmus reports.

Farmers in the summer grain regions were battling to get gerbil infestations in their lands under control, with about 5% of their maize crops destroyed.

In the first month of the year no less than 57 rhino have already been killed by poachers in SA, with the Kruger National Park bearing the brunt of the onslaught.

Astral Foods has recorded its worst trading performance in its history as a JSE listed entity.