By Daanyaal Matthews
The newly appointed Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has largely been applauded for espousing rhetoric that indicates a desire to revitalize the agriculture sector both with respect to small scale farmers and commercial ones, which would largely be accomplished through the implementation of the Agricultural and Agro-Processing Master Plan. The plan, which was envisioned prior to the introduction of the Government of National Unity, aims to ensure food security in the nation, improve access to local and international markets, create effective farmer support networks, and enhance entrepreneurship opportunities.
While these, and other, factoids of the plan have largely been welcomed, the farming association, the Fortress for the Commercial Farmer in South Africa, better known as TLU SA, has critiqued the Minister for failing to adequately communicate with farmers on the way forward and has argued that simply because Minister Steenhuisen is the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) does not mean his policies would simply be accepted.
According to Bennie van Zyl, General Manager of TLU SA, the issue of contention does not lie in the pillars of the plan, which they largely agree to, but rather in the intricacies of the plan and the lack of clarity on ideals such as the one of ‘transformation,’ stating:
“We see what the effect of transformation is in South Africa; it’s a dysfunctional Eskom; it’s a dysfunctional DENEL, SAA, because of the way the government does these things because it goes about cadre deployment and stuff like that. We say no; every business, any farm, and any other business as well should be measured by means of their market forces; at the end of the day, you should be profitable.”
The issue of ‘transformation’ relates to the desire from certain left-wing politicians to empower previously marginalized groups by equipping them with acres of land to farm; this, for Van Zyl, can be noted as an issue because this desire, while noble, would craft logistical issues both for the agriculture sector and the Republic overall.
“We said, Let’s do it in a viable way, a way that we can keep these farmers in production. The new entries specifically then, and then we can talk about the small-scale farmers too, because there’s also a problem. They don’t have a future. They are in a poor church, and they are dependent on social grants. You have to look into that matter as well,” added Van Zyl.
Picture: AfricaGreenMedia
