South Africans are quite an unhappy lot – apparently

Oh my word, we South Africans are apparently a sad lot. Even sadder than Zimbabweans.

Will a Grexit affect SA’s farmers?

With Greece on the brink of ditching the euro and financial markets on the edge due to uncertainty, Jaco Visser looks at two possible scenarios that could play themselves out.

World class agriculture vs land expropriation

World class agriculture – that is what South Africa’s primary food producers are all about.

Shame on them!

DA spokesperson for rural development and land reform, Athol Trollip’s response to minister Gugile Nkwinti’s budget speech for 2012/2013.

Constitutional Court: the saviour of farm land

The days of the minister of Mineral Resources granting permission to mining companies to operate on farm land against farmers’ wishes seem to be over, thanks to the Constitutional Court’s...

Agriculture budget speech

Food security and job creation were highlighted in the department’s budget, with special attention given to capacity building. Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson details how R5,8 billion will be spent.

Kudos to Grain SA!

Well done Grain SA! Nampo 2012 was a resounding success. For the first time in years I experienced the geniality and warm-heartedness that so distinguished Nampo in the past.

Ineptitude or blatant discrimination?

Recent court cases dealing with water use licences to farmers were a slap in the face for the Department of Water Affairs. The courts held, in effect, that the department’s...

Nkwinti’s men neither willing nor able

Having had quite enough of the constant stream of criticism from fed-up farmers about the various failures of land reform, minister of rural development...

Constitution under threat?

Our Constitution has been hailed everywhere as an example to all divided societies of what can be achieved by rational debate, compromise and goodwill, but now it seems as if...

Decades on – still paying the Cubans

South Africa’s grant of R40 million to Cuban farmers for seed purchases is baffling when local farmers’ requests for subsidies have been denied. Lindi van Rooyen asks when the Cuban...

Tina’s antics are unbecoming

Let’s make no mistake – we’ve probably got the most beautiful minister of agriculture in the world. But Tina Joemat-Pettersson’s increasingly unpredictable behaviour is worrying.

Grudging respect for the black- backed jackal.

Skêlm, cunning, clever... that is Canis mesomelas, better known as the black-backed jackal. I know I might be putting my foot in it, but I have a grudging respect for...

Rural reform through co-ops

The UN has proclaimed 2012 the International Year of Co-operatives and, according to Langa Zita, director-general of the department of agriculture, co-ops are central to agricultural development.

Get involved in farm security

Why on God’s green earth would anybody want to hurl a petrol bomb into the cabin of 36-year-old Christo van Rensburg’s bakkie? What could have been the motive behind such...

South African plantings of genetically modified crops are surging ahead without any evidence of ill-effects on humans, animals, or the environment, said Dr Pieter Mulder, deputy minister of Agriculture, Forestry...

The danger of flash trading

Heard of ‘flash trading’? No? Neither have I and the majority of grain producers in the country. Well, Boeta, this is mind-boggling technology that might very well affect you on...

What needs to be done to ensure food security in SA

Too many people in SA still do not get enough to eat. To attain ‘zero-hunger’, organisations such as Grain SA need to work with government to ensure enough affordable food...

Man among men

“He who sees the invisible will achieve the impossible,” said Helen Keller, and coming from that great man Brand Pretorius it’s not just another nice quotation one remembers for a...

Give credit where credit is due

Our commercial farmers must get credit for the good that they do in their local communities.

Opinion