SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM, MR G NKWINTI, (MP)

Transcription

1 1 SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM, MR G NKWINTI, (MP) INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DYNAMICS OF RURAL TRANSFORMATION IN EMERGING ECONOMIES Building vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities NEW DELHI, INDIA APRIL 2010

2 2 Programme Director Your Excellency, The President of India Honourable Ministers Representatives of the various Governments Delegates from the various Countries Ladies and gentleman I thank you for affording me the opportunity to address this gathering, which is representative of important role players in terms of rural development. Interactions between governments, the private sector, and people are imperative if we are to emancipate our Countries from the scourge of under-development and hunger. It is therefore fitting that we gather here. South Africa has for the past 15 years been focusing on land reform, amongst others, as a mechanism to bridging the income inequality gap and devastation of culture caused by centuries of colonialism and apartheid. The intention of the programme was to reconcile a nation fragmented along racial, gender and class lines, which resulted in the majority of people living on 13% of the land; and a minority owning 87% of the land. When the new Administration in South Africa assumed office in 2009, it established the new Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and placed rural development as one of the 5 key priorities for its term, the others being health, education, decent work and sustainable livelihoods and fighting crime and corruption. This ensures that rural development and land reform are integrally linked to all other state priority programmes. I will therefore focus my address on our conceptualisation of the rural development strategy, but linking this to our initiatives in terms of land reform.

3 3 Rural Development Programme: We understand rurality to mean a way of life, a state of mind and a culture which revolve around land, livestock, cropping and community. Our strategy is agrarian transformation. By this we mean a rapid and fundamental change in the relation (systems and patterns of ownership and control) of land, livestock, cropping and community. The objective of the strategy is social cohesion and development. In the medium to long term we envisage vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities. Our Comprehensive Rural Development Programme has been laid out in three Phases: meeting basic human needs; enterprise development; and agro-village industries and credit facilities. We have set ourselves the following outputs over the next three to four years: Sustainable land reform; Food security for all; Rural development and sustainable livelihoods; and, Job creation linked to skills training. The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP): The Department has been piloting the CRDP in 21 sites throughout South Africa and the aim is to roll this out to 160 sites by Lessons learnt from the CRDP sites in South Africa, indicate that the challenges in rural areas include the following - under utilisation and/or unsustainable use of natural resources; poor or lack of access to socio-economic infrastructure and services, public amenities and government services; lack of access to water or lack of water sources for both household and agricultural development; low literacy, skills levels and migratory labour practices;

4 4 decay of the social fabric; unexploited opportunities in agriculture, tourism, mining and manufacturing; and, creeping urban social ills. We have noted that in each area where the CRDP is being implemented, a new vibrancy has been created around working together, involving communities, the three spheres of government and the private sector. This has enabled us to mobilise resources from all sectors of government to enhance delivery. An inclusive CRDP stakeholder participation model, inclusive of the community, traditional leaders and government, has been developed, namely the Council of Stakeholders (formulated at each CRDP site) functioning as the planning, implementation and monitoring body. Communities have become central to their own development and form the nucleus of the Council of Stakeholders. We have through the work undertaken at the CRDP sites, and in conjunction with both National, Provincial and Local Government, erected infrastructure such as housing, water, sanitation, agricultural inputs, community halls, multi-purpose centres, fencing, renovation of schools and clinics and much more. Job creation and skills training model: We have, simultaneous with the implementation of different projects, been piloting a Job Creation and Skills training model, which has at its core, the contractual employment of one person per household at each of our CRDP sites, this for a period of 2 years. Each person is employed in terms of the Expanded Public Works Programme, and as part of the contract, 50% of the persons income is shared with the household, thus ensuring that there is some income for every household. From the CRDP entry point of mobilising and organising rural people, we build unemployed peoples skills, particularly the youth (16-25 years) and unleash them in their own communities to do decent work.

5 5 We have further entered into strategic partnerships with Universities of Technology, Further Education and Training Colleges, the Department of Science and Technology, and the Department of Higher Education and Training, to design training modules for the youth who are employed in rural areas to undergo intensive preparations in running their own enterprises, thus creating sustainable jobs in their own communities. Sustainable Land Reform and food security for all: Land redistribution is a major problem area in South Africa. This is a major cause of the widening income gap between the haves and the have-nots, despite political democracy. The race structure of South Africa s agrarian economy is well illustrated in the following table: Agricultural Sector Black White Total Land Area (000 hectares) 15,076 87,795 Percentage cultivated 14% 14% Employment (000) 1970¹ Land per worker (hectares) 13,7 78,0 Output per man² (Rands) 65 (Rands) Output per hectare cultivated (Rands) 34 (Rands)119 Source: 1980 Abstract of Agricultural Statistics, South African Statistics 1978 (Lenta: 1977) This table clearly shows the effects of the grossly uneven land distribution and its economic implications; 87% of the majority black population are confined to 13% of the land space, whereas the minority white population of 13% own 87% of the land. This uneven distribution has a devastating effect on the income structure of the rural population. Whereas both Agricultures had cultivated 14% of their landholding during the said period, employment created in the Black Sector amounted to 1.103million while 1.126million jobs were created in the White Sector; and the output per hectare (cultivated) was 34Rands in the Black Sector and 119Rands in the White Sector.

6 6 Output per man, in rands, amounted to R65 per hectare, in the Black Sector, and R1,298 per man in the White Sector. This unevenness in production and productivity could be attributed to mainly population pressure on the land, uneven distribution of resources (technology and resources) as well as inputs (fertilizers, seeds, extension services and the likes). Clearly, this situation is undesirable and cannot be tolerated. It is a recipe for social and political disaster; and it, must be addressed. What the nation will soon debate, in the form of the Green Paper, is an appropriate institutional framework within which the desired change must occur. In addressing this question of an appropriate institutional framework, we will take into account experience in various parts of the world, especially those which had gone through colonial experience. Ultimately, however, South Africans must create a framework which will work for them, given their own uniqueness. The following principles will apply - de-racialisation of the rural economy for shared and sustained growth; - democratic and equitable land allocation and use across gender, race, and class; and, - strict production discipline for guaranteed national food security. Green Paper: The Green Paper proposes that for South Africa to achieve equitable access and sustainable land use, the current Land Tenure System must be overhauled. In this regard a Three-Tier Land Tenure System is presented: - State land: under leasehold; - Private land: under freehold with limited extent; and, - Foreign-ownership: under precarious tenure. Land Tenure Security Bill While we are in the process of developing legislation linked to the Green Paper process, it is imperative that we find immediate mechanisms to respond to the plight of farm

7 7 workers and farm dwellers. We will soon introduce to Cabinet and Parliament a Land Tenure Security Bill (2010), which will repeal two pieces of legislation affecting farm workers and farm dwellers: the Extension of Security of Tenure Act and the Labour Tenants Act. Three objectives will underpin this law: - Protection of relative rights of farm workers, farm dwellers and land owners; - Strengthening the rights of farm dwellers; and, - Enhancing food security through sustained production discipline. The Bill will also ensure that no arbitrary evictions take place, and that we find a balance between the rights of the land owners, farm workers and farm dwellers, while ensuring that production discipline remains a key element of the new system. Conclusion: Madame The President, ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing romantic about underdevelopment. Land is integrally linked to our way of life and, without it, our people are destined to live in undesirable conditions, as land, and the means of production, are the basic necessities to ensuring that we find effective means of developing our rural communities. I thank you!