Congress Report 2012 – English

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RECORD OF THE KWANALU CONGRESS
HELD ON THURSDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER 2012
AT THE ROYAL SHOW, PIETERMARITZBURG
CONGRESS THEME
“Recognizing the agricultural sector
as one of KwaZulu-Natal’s greatest assets
Congress confronts the challenges and opportunities of
Vision 2030
and discusses the role of the agricultural sector in KwaZulu-Natal”
1. Registration
2. Welcome
The Chairman, Mr Brian Aitken, called the meeting to order and reiterated the theme of the
Congress. He welcomed the guests, award winners, speakers, sponsors, press and all
delegates
Apologies had been recorded on the attendance register.
3. Scripture reading and prayer
Mr Andy Buchan opened Congress with a scripture reading and a prayer.
He read from Deut. 8 vs 11-17. He said that we must not forget God for all He had given us,
and opened the Congress in prayer.
The Chairman thanked Mr Buchan.
4. Motions
The Chairman requested Congress to stand for a moment’s silence in remembrance of
those who had lost loved ones as well as those who had been victims of crime since the
2011 Congress.
5. Constitution of Congress
The CEO, Mrs Sandy La Marque, confirmed that notice of Congress had been circulated
and with the representative delegates present, a quorum had been met and Congress was
properly constituted. As nominations for the seats available for commodities, agri business
and FWI had been received, these nominations would serve on the Board of Governors
and no voting would take place.
6. Announcements
The CEO reiterated the theme of the Congress as above and encouraged participation by
all in the debates and to report back to their constituencies.
7. President’s Address
The Chairman presented his President’s Address to Congress. A copy of his address is
attached to this report.
A few highlights from his report are recorded below. Mr Aitken said that the past year had
been a challenging one for agriculture, but it had come through relatively unscathed.
He asked why agriculture continued to have a negative sentiment about it and felt that the
following were affecting confidence levels amongst farmers:-
– Land and transformation
– Safety and security
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– Commercial and economic
– Infrastructure and resources
– Communication and image
With regard to land and transformation, he said that the ANC was discussing that
expropriation would be subject to compensation where the value of the property
expropriated would be agreed by both parties, or determined by a court of law.
He felt that the Government had not done badly when it came to redistributing productive
white owned land to blacks. South Africa was very close to reaching the target of
distributing 30% of the country’s agricultural land by 2014. Kwanalu’s own audit would
suggest that this information was correct and he thanked members for their participation in
this exercise.
The President said that the sector needed confirmation on the sunset of the 30% land
transfers. Land reform required three things, the land, finance and skills. If one was taken
away, it would fail. Government would have to rely on skills from farmers to make a
success of land reform and this would be a challenge for them.
Moving to safety and security, he said that we continued to suffer at the hands of criminals
in areas of stock theft, farm attacks and general theft, including crop theft.
The past two years had witnessed the turmoil in the financial and commodity markets
virtually unprecedented in living memory. This created an ideal opportunity to appeal to
Government for better treatment of our sector. Above all, food security was needed for the
nation.
After travelling across the Province, a number of issues were highlighted:-
– The marked deterioration in the state of many roads and
– The failure of rail infrastructure.
To be able to communicate with members remained of high importance to the Organisation
and he stressed that there was an enormous amount of information on the Kwanalu
website.
He said that the country we sought to build by 2030 must be just, fair, prosperous and
equitable which needed the active efforts of all South Africans.
The leadership of Kwanalu was very important. Asking whether he would invest in
agriculture, he said an overwhelming yes. “The next 10 years would be tough but rising to
these challenges, nothing would be impossible. Opportunities existed and he challenged
everyone to go out and create that bright future.”
As a Union, Kwanalu held firm to the various policies which formed the basis of how to
conduct business. Kwanalu had successfully responded to the various challenges with
which it was faced. Never in the history of organised agriculture had leadership been as
important as it was now.
In closing, he thanked the staff of Kwanalu, the Board, Manco, and the growing base of
members,.
He reiterated that to be successful, farmers needed to succeed.
Mr Gumede, the Vice-President, thanked the President for his address. He said the
President had highlighted very crucial matters affecting the industry. Government was not
always in support and he wondered if Kwanalu would achieve the objectives especially with
regard to land reform. He reiterated that emerging farmers wanted to become commercial
farmers. The 2030 Vision talked of expansion of irrigation schemes but there were only four
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in KZN He challenged the Planning Commission to look at all these issues. . He proposed
the adoption of the President’s address.
8. Strategic plan 2011/2012
The CEO presented the Strategic Plan for 2011/2012. A copy of the presentation is
attached to this report.
She gave feedback on some of the areas handled over the last year, which were
categorised into the following:-
– Transformation and rural development
– Rural safety and security
– Natural resources
– Labour and social investment
– Commercial policy
– Communication and image building
Land
She said that with regard to labour tenant claims, restitution and land reform little or no
progress had taken place. Through the PLAS program no title has been transferred to
beneficiaries Restitution claims which remain unresolved continue to negatively affect the
sector, what was concerning was the fact, these had doubled in one year according to the
provincial commissioner.
Green Paper on Land Reform
The policy proposal was for a rapid and fundamental change in the relations of land,
livestock, cropping and community and particularly highlighted the following underlying
principles:-
– De-racialising the rural economy for shared and sustained growth
– Democratic and equitable land allocation and use across race, gender and class and
– A sustained production discipline for food security
She confirmed that Kwanalu had engaged at various levels with Government, Agri SA and
the National Reference Group.
She said the way forward from was engagement with the relevant Departments and
meeting with the KZN Provincial Planning Commission.
She confirmed that in kwanalu’s activities the Kwanalu mandate was used as a measure.
Kwanalu’s Policy, mandated by Congress, was:-
“Arguably the greatest debilitating factor for the agricultural sector in KZN has been the
failure of Government to implement the three existing programs of land reform, namely
restitution, redistribution and tenure reform. KZN had been plagued with maladministration,
nepotism, corruption, a total lack of transparency and disregard for the rule
of law, amongst others.
At the outset, Kwanalu has always supported land reform and will continue to do so through
numerous projects and interventions undertaken by Kwanalu members and the
organisation as a whole.
Kwanalu supports:
• Free market principles
• Respect for property rights
• An inclusive approach of all parties to ensure a seamless transfer of land to
beneficiaries
• A holistic approach to provide resources, infrastructure, finances, extension support etc.
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• Growth opportunities e.g. job creation and security, food security, investment
• A credible land audit / land database on the status of ownership of land
• Provincial and local forums
• Agri BEE in line with the generic codes for best practice
• State support both financial and in terms of resources
• A partnership-approach with government
Our position is very clear:
• Land reform is to be supported within the confines of the Constitution and rule of law of the
Republic of South Africa
• We will not be drawn into discussions and negotiations which run counter to the effective
operation of the free market
• Rights infringements are not condoned
• Our support for the necessity for land reform leads us to extend to the state an offer of
support in seeing the effective implementation of existing land reform policies aimed at
sustainable rural development and an improved life for all.
Kwanalu had taken the view that an agricultural land audit needed to be done as there was
no single source of information on the ownership patterns of agricultural land.
Key to the success of the land audit was the participation from Farmers’ Associations. New
software had reached the final stages which allowed for instant updates.
From the audit there was approximately 35% of unknown land and the challenge was to
allocate this unknown land into the relevant categories of ownership. She confirmed that
KZN was the first Province to carry out a land audit.
With regard to transformation, Mrs La Marque confirmed that Kwanalu was involved in
various projects. These were:-
– Isibonelo Community Land Trust and
– Templeton Foundation & University of Missouri
She confirmed that Kwanalu ran a Security Desk, relative to safety and security. She
highlighted various issues handled by the Security Desk.
By means of a data projector, she showed the Kwanalu statistics on farm murders and
attacks. There was a moratorium on statistics by SAPS and the statistics shown were the
ones obtained by the Kwanalu Security Desk.
On the matter of Natural resources The CEO said that challenges faced were:-
– Water issues (water use and licensing)
– Fencing
– Roads
– Tele communications
– Electricity supply (Eskom)
– Disasters (drought, lack of support from the Department)
Labour and social investment matters continued to receive attention; she mentioned that
the minimum wage determination was introduced early in the year with disregard for
methodology and lack of consideration of input made during public hearings.
The four bills currently on the table were:-
– Labour Relations Amendment Bill
– Employment Equity Amendment Bill
– Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill
– Employment Services Bill
Commercial policy matters
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She said that a Kwanalu Property Rates Barometer had been launched to enable farmers
associations to do cross referencing on rebates, rates etc. this would allow assocaitons to
negotiate from an informed position
Communication had taken place with SARS with regard to vat and diesel refunds. She said
that farmers must comply and not manipulate information. She concurred that some
processes were time consuming.
A vegetable survey of was carried out specifically asking if farmers had been negatively
affected as something was impacting on prices in KZN. A submission had been made to
the Provincial Steering Committee dealing with this. She confirmed that further
investigations would be carried out.
Mineral and Petroleum Resources
The CEO confirmed that by October 2010 more than 100 000 applications had been
received and this was clearly a worrying factor, since the lifting of the moratoriam numerous
more applications had been made
With regard to fracking, she confirmed that the moratorium was lifted early in September
and consideration needed to be given as to how to approach this issue. She said that the
application for exploration by Sasol in Free State, Eastern Cape and KZN was in excess of
105 000km2
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Communication and Image building
Kwanalu had focused on ensuring that its communication was accurate and relevant. The
Kwanalu website was used extensively and kept up-to-date. News articles were relevant to
the time.
Legal Fund
She reminded delegates of the resolution accepted at last year’s Congress, when it was
agreed that a Legal Fund be established. She said that participation had been good and
she thanked the Farmers’ Associations who had come on board, and challenged those who
had not.
Membership
In terms of membership, she reminded congress that Kwanalu was an autonomous, nonprofit,
voluntary organisation, affiliated to Agri SA. She said that some Farmers’
Associations had deviated from the membership policy and she stressed that those not
contributing were taking from those who were.

In Closing she said that Kwanalu had a strong, ethical and professional approach. The
image of compliance, social and moral values and business ethics was at the forefront.
Communication with stakeholders was vital.
The Chairman thanked the CEO for her report, and said there was a large amount of work
performed by a very small staff.
9. Financial Statements year ending 30 June 2012
The CEO said that the year ended in June 2012 and the audit had been completed and
copies of the financials had been posted to delegates. She presented the audited financial
statements to Congress.
Projects were ring-fenced and allocated to those projects.
10. Annual membership subscription & Budget proposal
The CEO presented the proposed Income and Expenditure for year ending 2013. The
CEO informed Congress that according to the Kwanalu Constitution, the Board of
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Governors had determined subscriptions for the 2013/2014 year. The S&T rate had been
taken into consideration for Board members and for this reason the subscriptions would
increase accordingly. These would be:
• Commercial farmers (including Vat)
– R1 830.00 if received by 30 September 2013 or R1 936.20 if received thereafter
• Part time / smallholder farmers (including Vat)
– R916.00 if received by 30 September 2013 or R968.00 if received thereafter
• Previously disadvantaged farmers (including Vat)
– R250.00
The budget approved by the Kwanalu Board of Governors for 2013/2014 was presented to
Congress.
The Chairman opened the floor to any questions of which there were none.
11. Acceptance
Mr Robin Barnsley said that the farmers were getting much for little money. The budget
gave good value for money. He had no hesitation in proposing the acceptance of the
financials, the budget and the subscriptions.
These were seconded and unanimously ACCEPTED.
12. Resolution : Constitutional Amendments
The CEO presented the proposed amendment to Congress which had been sent to
delegates. This was:-
“14 ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS
14.4 The presidential term shall not be longer than 2 consecutive years. However with a
majority vote this term may be extended.”
Mr Robin Barnsley proposed the acceptance of the resolution to amend the Constitution.
He said leadership was very important and it was easy to sit back and let the current
leadership carry on. The need existed to foster leadership in the organisation.
The amendment was seconded and unanimously ACCEPTED.
13. Presentation of Awards
The CEO advised Congress that the Constitution allowed the acknowledgement of persons
who have rendered exceptional service to the organisation and/or agriculture and the Board
had recommended that Honorary Life Membership be awarded to:-
– Mrs Joan Anderson, who had represented the FWI on the Kwanalu Board since 2003.
– Mr Hennie de Villiers, who had originally served on the Natal Agricultural Union Board
from 1982 and then the Kwanalu Board to the current date.
– Mr Warwick Barnsley, who had originally served on the Natal Agricultural Union Board
from 1990 and then the Kwanalu Board to the current date.
All participants thanked Congress for the honour bestowed on them.
The Chairman congratulated all three participants on their awards and thanked them for all
their efforts and input to agriculture.
14. Acknowledgment of Sponsors
The Chairman thanked the sponsors for their generous contributions and continued
donations and support of Congress.
15. Tea
Congress adjourned for tea.
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The Chairman thanked NEDBANK for sponsoring this session
16. Scene Set : Kwanalu Policy Positions by Kwanalu President, Mr Brian Aitken
The Chairman said that this session titled “KZN Vision 2030” was sponsored by NEDBANK
Business Banking.
He said Kwanalu was an independent, non governmental, voluntary organisation of farmers
and rural citizens united to analyze their issues and formulate actions to solve these issues.
The general overview showed :-
– Agriculture’s contribution to GDP has shrunk to 2.5% in 2010
– The number of people employed in the sector had dropped
– The agricultural sector accounted for 4.7% of all jobs
– Farms made up 5% of all commercial farming units but accounted for a third of
commercial farming income
– KZN produced almost 30% to national agricultural output
Kwanalu’s concerns were:-
– Insecurity of tenure
– Protection of productive agricultural land and resources
– Slow pace and failure of land reform programmes
– Delays in gaining access to Ingonyama Trust land
– The rising cost of capital and other input costs
– Skills shortages
– Research and development
– Veterinary services
– Disaster management
– Development of emerging commercial farmers
– Safety and security
– Governance and Policy
– Infrastructure
Opportunities were:-
– Spirit of goodwill in the agricultural sector
– High compliance with legislation
– Own initiatives
– Well positioned
– Strong well organised institutional structure
He concluded by saying that:-
– Kwanalu strove for the general welfare of all aspects of farm and rural life through
economic opportunity, social advancement and educational improvement
– Kwanalu took the stand that property rights and personal freedom were guaranteed by
the South African Constitution and were essential to the general welfare and these
freedoms should be defended
– Economic progress was best achieved in a free market system.
17. Address by Mr Peter Miller, Special Advisor to the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, serving
on the Provincial Planning Commission
“The KZN Vision 2030”
The Chairman introduced Mr Peter Miller to the meeting. He was born in Kokstad and
educated at KZN-University.
Mr Miller thanked Congress for allowing him to address the meeting. He was the sole
member of the Commission with an element of knowledge of the districts from which most
of the delegates came.
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He said that KZN acted as a gateway to South Africa to Africa and then to the world and
then vice versa, being the depot of trade forwards and backwards.
The background was that in February 2011 the Premier formed a commission to do a
survey and develop long term vision and strategy for KZN. The strategy was presented to
Cabinet in August 2011, accepted and given until February 2012 to develop a plan. This
plan was developed in September 2012 and is being presented to all people, which is a
challenging thing to do.
The Commission had to have an overview and looked at:-
– Social issues
– Economic issues
– Environmental issues
– Infrastructure issues
– Governance issues and
– Spatial issues
They also had to look at what targets, interventions and catalytic projects had to be
considered. Everything the Commission does is designed to be in alignment with the
National Development Plan for the country.
He gave the institutional framework for PGDS/P and their implementation.
Their vision was to grow the economy for the improvement of the quality of life of all people
living in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal
They needed a base line from which the process needed to start. KZN 2030 Vision must
be a prosperous Province with a healthy, secure and skilled population, acting as a
gateway to the world.
There were seven strategic goals to achieve – job creation, human resource development,
human and community development, strategic infrastructure, environmental sustainability,
governance and policy and spatial equity.
The Commission can map where a capable, responsive, caring and cooperative
government should be at work. The purpose of the plan is to have an indicator and targets
to which they need to grow to define interventions and then monitor, evaluate and report on
the interventions.
Strategic objectives
– Goal 1 – Job creation
– Unleash agricultural potential
– Apex indicators
– Total value of output of all sectors within the provincial economy
– Total employment in all sectors within the provincial economy
– Increase per capita contribution to GDP
– Emerging farmers must not be thought of as emerging farmers forever
– At least 1 million hectares of land lying in Ingonyama Trust must be included in the
agricultural land
– Need densification of residential areas
– 40% of land in KZN included in the Ingonyama Trust is under the control of Government
The farmers of KZN were the only people who could unleash agricultural production. The
Commission was looking for stakeholder commitment from the Government, Business,
Labour and Community Sector and he said that he hoped that Agriculture could be added
to this.
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– Goal 2 – Human Resource Development
– Got to have an educated community
– Goal 3 – Human and Community development
– Sustainable household food security
– Intervention has had no outcome at all
– Goal 4 – Strategic infrastructure
– Improve water resource management and supply
– Goal 5 – Environmental Sustainability
– Increase productive use of land
– Goal 6 – Governance and Policy
– Building government capacity
– Goal 7 – Spatial equity
– Do not take land for housing
He said that proposals were currently being considered.
The Chairman said that the floor would be opened to questions after the next guest had
spoken.
A copy of Mr Miller’s speech is attached to the file copy of this Report.
18. Address by Prof. Johan Kirsten – Head of Department – Department of Agricultural
Economics, Extension and Rural Development, University of Pretoria.
‘The National Development Plan – Vision 2030: What role will agriculture play?”
The Chairman introduced Prof Johan Kirsten to the meeting.
He explained the plan, the basic principles and where agriculture could play a part. He said
that the Provincial Planning Commission had set targets but we were very bad at obtaining
targets.
The National Development Plan acknowledged issues raised in 2011, which were too few
jobs, crumbling infrastructure, resource intensive economy, spatial divides, poor education,
etc.
The Plan was released in August 2012 and approved by Cabinet on 10 September 2012,
the objectives of which included:-
– Reducing the number of household earnings,
Vision 2013 for rural economy
He said that rural communities had greater opportunities to participate fully in the economic,
social and political life. The driving force should be expansion of irrigation and unutilised
arable land.
With regard to agriculture, what could be done differently that could turn it around. He said
that Agriculture had the potential but South Africa needed to:-
– Expand irrigation
– Bring some of the under-used land in the communal areas and under land reform
projects into commercial production
He said this could be done by expanding commercial agriculture, pick and support
“winners”, support employment creation in the upstream and downstream industries and
find creative combinations between these opportunities, including:-
– Greater emphasis on land
– Giving priority to successful farmers in the communal areas
– Give targeted support to industries and areas of high employment creation potential
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With reference to underutilized land (mainly in the former homelands), he said that all that
land could be put into commercial production and the unproductive land onto land reform
projects. He questioned why there was unproductive land in land reform projects as it has
not kept up the employment levels.

He said that a large chunk could come from improvement of irrigation potentials. Better
efficiency and preventing water loss should be worked towards to expand options.
He defined “Winners”
– Back large export industries with high labour requirements
– How to handle imports, dealing with the trade policy, effectively dealing with trade
issues
– Grow small industries with high labour requirements
These should all be brought together. Nutrition and food security was very important. The
right food made an impact.
Some examples to improve conditions were:-
– Enhance export opportunities – harbours should be expanded and the functioning of the
harbour should be improved.
– By expanding production and having a sensible tariff, there could be enough wheat but
profits were factored into imports and in this way food could be prevented from coming
into the country.
– Grazing areas should be transformed into other production.
– Jobs could be generated in different areas
He said that by fixing the problems and thinking about the targets, things could then be
rectified.
He said what Kwanalu should be doing:-
– Develop strategies
– Convert some under-used land
– Job creation in downstream industries
– Effectiveness of extension officers need to improve – bring them on board
– White commercial farmers, agribusinesses and organised agricultural industry bodies
could help bring these objectives to fruition
– lnnovative means for agricultural extension and training by the state in partnership with
industries should be sought
Commodity organisations were critical in achieving the vision with greater support for
innovation with public-private partnerships.
He questioned whether South African farmers and agribusinesses would invest in
agriculture. He said that investors worked on sentiment and future prospects. They
wanted security of expectations over political and economic future to get positive outcomes.
He said that there was poor leadership with no clear agricultural policy and no policy on
land. He said that smart subsidies and incentives to encourage employment and
investment was needed.
Prof Kirsten said that we could learn from China on how to be serious about rural and
agricultural policy. The Chinese Government issue an annual document. In the past 9
years all the objectives had agriculture and rural in their text and they have removed 400
million out of poverty.
In closing, he said that the NDP provided some hope in that the South African Government
recognised the potential role of the agricultural sector in achieving Vision 2030. It suggests
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that we are serious about agriculture and issues of rural poverty but questioned whether
DAFF, DRDLR and PDA could respond to these policies. He suggested that agriculture
make the links, gets the contracts and stressed that there needed to be unity.
A copy of Prof Kirsten’s speech is attached to the file copy of this Report.
19. Panel Discussion and Input by Delegates
The Chairman opened the floor for debate.
Mr Dave McFie, Estcourt Farmers’ Association, asked how agriculture could access land
from the Ingonyoma Trust. Dealing on an individual basis was easy, but when groups were
involved, how would this be managed?
Mr Barry Gibbs, Chairman, KZNPPO, said they were very perturbed about imports as this
was crippling the pig industry. He said that Government support was needed as with
imports, an unfair playing field was created and farmer’s needs needed to be addressed at
Government level.
Mr Sisa Damoyi, Umzimkulu Group, spoke about emerging or small growers, mentioning
the lack of skill, land and finance. He said that these were detracting from the business of
farming. He said that schooling was essential. The elderly were emerging farmers but
scholars needed to be trained to get into the role of commercial farming. What was
important was finance and skill. He asked when Government would be prepared to assist
emerging farmers. He said that Government had transferred land to unskilled people.
Mr Rolf Konigkramer, Kranskop Farmers’ Association, said that a lot had been said. South
Africa was great at making plans but terrible at carrying them out. He said there four bills
on the table, making it even more difficult to employ people. With legislation and
bureaucracy he questioned how agriculture could create jobs. Government was restraining
agriculture by throwing themore legislation at them.
Prof Kirsten said that mechanisation was one of the results of job losses. Government
needed to promote job creation.
Institutional reform was critical in rural land reform but finance was a major factor.
Mr Moller said that tenure was a very emotional issue. Younger people were coming up
who wanted the benefits of the 21st century. Negotiation and long term leases, giving them
sufficient tenure to enable them to invest, should be addressed. The Ingonyama Trust
Board were beginning to understand that issues needed to change and be addressed and
there were some positive steps in allowing farmers to lease first and then buy. The
practicalities of farming commercially in a rural environment were being seen. The
Provincial Commission Goal 6 stipulated that there had to be sound governance and policy.
This was recognised but not easy to achieve.
Mr Jannie Boshoff, Newcastle Farmers’ Association, said it was not practical to invest
capital in labour. He said that opportunities did not exist as there was no productivity.
Mr Roger Godsmark, Forestry SA, said that in a land reform progress report some time
ago, it was reported that 56 properties had gone to 8 008 beneficiaries. He suggested that
individuals be selected who wanted to farm and they be given the opportunity to farm.
Mr Harvey Anderson, Ingwe Farmers’ Association, said he had attended the Sisonke Land
Summit which had been well received with a lot of goodwill. An organisation had been
given the task of developing the Sisonke Municipality and produce results and he felt this
might be the way.
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Mr Coenraad Steyn, Elandslaagte Farmers’ Association, said that emerging farmers who
asked for assistance and advice from commercial farmers would get very valuable
information.
The Chairman thanked Mr Peter Miller for his input and the continued interaction with
agriculture and to Prof Johan Kirsten for his time and input.
He thanked NEDBANK Business Banking for sponsoring this session.
20. Lunch
Mr Sisa Damoyi said grace before Congress adjourned for lunch.
21. Office Bearers
During the lunch break, the Board of Governors met to elect the President and two VicePresidents.

These were: President : Mr Brian Aitken
Vice-President : Mr Phenias Gumede
Vice-President : Mr Mike Black
The President thanked the Board for the confidence they had shown in him and welcomed
Mr Mike Black, as one of the newly elected Vice-Presidents.
22. Address by Mr Johannes Möller, President Agri SA and Mrs Annelize Crosby,
Portfolio Manager/ Parliamentary Liaison Agri SA.
The Land Debate – what does our constitution say? What about willing buyer/willing
seller, market value, expropriation and other issues. How does this fit in with the
context of political agendas the proposed policies such as the Green Paper on Land
Reform and Vision 2030?
The Chairman introduced Mr Johannes Möller to Congress.
Mr Möller said he came from Northern Cape. Unity in organised agriculture could go a long
way. Restructuring was being done and Agri SA was the biggest organisation in
agriculture.
He said there were three main challenges facing agriculture. Adaptability was one.
Internationally agriculture had enjoyed priority since 1992. Note should be taken of the fact
that 60% of input was produced by small holder farmers but in South Africa, commercial
farmers produced more than 90% of output. Training for small holder farmers was
inadequate. One of the failures for small holder farmers was the increasing difficulty of
market access. Developing rural commodities would help lead the international economy
out of the recession. Food security was important. Enough food needed to be produced in
a sustainable way but also in an ecologically responsible way and it needed to be
affordable yet maintain safety standards. He said that farmers needed well off consumers.
He said the second challenge was global growing. Vision 2030 was about the stimulation
of the production side of the economy and that was why it was so important. South Africa
spent huge amounts on social assistance but it was not enough. The production side of the
economy needed to be stimulated.
He said that agriculture was responsible for land reform. Commercial farming and
obtaining of land appeared to be the concern of land issues. Poverty was also seen as
one of the reasons. One model for the upliftment of emerging farmers was to give him a
piece of land just big enough to feed their family but educate the children.
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He questioned why land reform failed. He said that in the early 80’s technology had been
ahead of the farmers and that was why there had been failures. He said the community
needed to become involved.
He said that more than R40 billion has been spent on land reform and less than 5% of
commercial land had been bought.
He said that the Land audit was the missing link and this needed to be done urgently.
He said the Constitution would protect farmers and South Africa. Economic power in South
Africa was concentrated in a small number of companies who would influence Government.
South Africa had a strong civic society and agriculture needed to fight for what was good for
the farmers.
He predicted that the economy would pick up and policy should ensure economic stability.
Reality always triumphs over ideology.
The Chairman introduced Mrs Annelize Crosby to Congress.
She said that we often forgot that there was an international context to our Constitution.
There were a number of instruments that guaranteed land rights. The Courts had to take
cognisance of the international law.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 14) says:-
“The right to property shall be guaranteed. It may only be encroached upon in the interest
of public need or in the general interest of the community and in accordance with the
provisions of appropriate laws.”
A report was recently done by the Food and Agricultural Organisation on expropriation and
they came up with the best practice model. Amongst its findings were that compensation
was at the heart of expropriation.
With regard to Section 25 of the Constitution, she said that we have a Bill of Rights
protecting a range of human rights but sometimes there are clashes between the rights.
She went through Section 25. When land was expropriated, the result must be just and
equitable. Arbitrary deprivation was specifically prohibited. If any of the elements in the
bundle of rights was impacted on, then deprivation was prohibited.
Expropriation was a form of deprivation but it must comply with the Constitution. The willing
buyer/willing seller debate was only a mechanism to arrive at a fair market value. South
Africa’s view was that expropriation should use the market value.
The Green Paper on Land Reform was published in Sept 2011. The Minister established
the process where engagement was taking place. Agri SA nominated representatives on
the Working Groups to make input. The Minister did not see a White Paper but wanted to
proceed with legislation on the various aspects on a piecemeal basis.
On the way forward, she said it was important to recognise that the ANC debate on “Do we
take land with or without compensation?”, it was decided that they would stick with the
Constitution but more use of expropriation would be made but with equitable compensation.
In going forward it was critically important that facts be dealt with and not perceptions, that
the land audit be done, move forward with sustainable models of land reform and keep on
engaging Government and stakeholders and take the matter forward in a positive way.
A copy of Mrs Crosbys presentation is attached to the file copy of this Report.
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The Chairman thanked Mrs Crosby for her address and for all the input she has put in on
the Green Paper.
23. Discussion and Input by Delegates
The Chairman opened the floor for debate.
Mr Theuns van Rensburg, Newcastle Farmers’ Association said that the term “emerging
farmers” was becoming a buzz word. Leaders in the farming communities must encourage
the emerging farmers to become commercial farmers. He further said that water was being
wasted and asked how water could be saved if there were restrictions on dams.
Mr Volkmar Bohmer, Paulpietersburg/Luneburg Farmers’ Association said that in their area
there were a lot of land tenant claims and asked how this should be handled.
Mrs Crosbly said that Agri SA has proposed legislative amendments to the Labour Tenants
Act to make it work better but Government was struggling with how they should handle this.
Mr Möller said that it was not a natural process for small scale farmers to become
commercial farmers. Closer liaison was needed between commercial and emerging
farmers.
With regard to water wastage, he said that equilibrium played a factor where water goes
back into earth so it was not wasted. Specific studies needed to be done, with a holistic
view to address the issue. He said in South Africa 60% of the water being used
economically was used by agriculture. So agriculture would always use a lot of water and
internationally, it was doing better than the international norm. He said South Africa was
the only country in the world that was not being subsidized by Government. If agriculture
developed more storage capacity, then it should be paid for by all sectors.
Mr Jan Smith, Ingogo Farmers’ Association, commented with regard to Vision 2030
wondering how the emerging farmers would get to a certain level.
The Chairman thanked Mr Möller and Mrs Crosby for their input.
24. Resolution
The Chairman tabled the following resolution formulated by the Board of Governors from
inputs received:-
“Congress appeals to Government to recognize the agricultural sector as one of KwaZuluNatal’s
greatest assets.
The ongoing challenges of, amongst others, land reform, unemployment, lawlessness, a
perceived lack of respect for property, rising input costs (including administered prices such
as those associated with water & electricity), a degenerating infrastructure, all lead to a lack
of investment in agriculture and the perpetuation of a generally negative outlook.
Congress calls on government to create an environment which is conducive to the creation
of employment opportunities, growth, development and the improvement of confidence in
and within the agricultural sector.”
Mr Robin Barnsley proposed the above resolution.
He said that South Africa had desperately underperformed. Commercial farmers were
wallowing in a sense of self-pity.
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He said that with the right rules of engagement and a level playing field in place, agriculture
must truly be the investment opportunity of the future.
He reiterated the resolution.
Mr Mike Black seconded the resolution. He said he was sure that this would find favour
with all at Congress. He said agriculture, in some people’s view, was just a small part of
business. Agriculture was a unique industry and had unique needs and it needed to be
treated as such. Many farmers throughout the world took it as a given. South Africa had
been a net exporter of agricultural goods but the ratio of export to import had been 4 to 3.
At present we were at risk of becoming net importers of agricultural goods. More land
could not be created. We cannot continue to import more food. Government must make a
plan. The caution was ignore the role of agriculture at your peril.
He had pleasure in seconding the resolution.
Farmers’ Associations who had input to the resolution were asked to address Congress.
Mr Gerhard Potgieter, Utrecht Farmers’ & Woolgrowers’ Association, spoke about the rights
of the land owner. Their Association had asked for assistance but have received little or no
support. Their problems were the unlawful grazing on commercial farmers land by labour,
the SAPS’ inability to punish these transgressors and the bad management of transferred
land. His purpose was to request the relevant Departments to be answerable for the land
reform issues and for the protection of farmers’ rights.
He said that tenants on farms did not abide by the contracts, fences were cut, gates were
left open, animals were allowed to graze on farmer’s land, animals were killed and court
orders were ignored.
With reference to the bad management of transferred land, he said that new owners were
ignorant of their responsibilities, fences were not maintained, fire precautions were not
taken, immunisation programmes were not followed, advise was not adhered to and
commercial farmers had to keep up maintenance, etc. Fighting in the communal lands was
also an issue.
Possible solutions were that the Police do their work, responsible departments educate
emerging farmers of their responsibilities, the SAPS follow up and pursue criminal activities,
responsible officials do their work as far as land reform was concerned, the correct mentors
be nominated and the foundation of a co-ordinating body that could liaise between the
departments and farmers of the area.
The Utrecht farmers were positive about land reform but were frustrated about how it was
happening.
Mr Theuns van Rensburg, Newcastle Farmers’ & Woolgrowers’ Association said that their
Association had five points to address regarding Telkom’s charges.
These were:-
– Monthly meter readings, if your meter fails, you become liable for the account.
– Service charges and escalation thereof
– Network charges and escalation thereof
– Termination and/or settlement of standard connection charges
– Capital expansion
He requested Congress and the whole agricultural sector of South Africa to take these
matters up with Eskom at the highest possible level through Kwanalu and Agri SA and the
Consumer Board.
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Mr Karel Landman, Groenvlei Farmers’ Association, requested Kwanalu to support them in
their quest to rid the forests of the intrusion of silver and black wattle and requested
Farmers’ Associations to get involved.
Mr Brett Kjonstad, Alfred County Farmers’ Association said their issue was the inefficient
manner in which the Department of Labour conducted their office of the Compensation
Commissioner.
Their concerns were the irregularity of assessments and how they are calculated, the
unhelpfulness of the staff relative to queries, the claims history which determined the
loading factor and doctors were reluctant to deal with compensation cases due to the
delays in payment from the Compensation Commissioner.
The Chairman wrapped up the discussion, taking into account the various inputs, confirmed
the Board’s responsibility to implement the resolution and called for acceptance of the
resolution.

The resolution was unanimously ACCEPTED.
25. Closure
Mr Aitken thanked delegates for attending, the officials of the various Departments, the
Kwanalu staff for their work, the media and press for their support and the sponsors.
Mr Robin Barnsley closed the meeting with a prayer.
The Chairman declared the meeting closed at 16.00.
Kwanalu
P O Box 100123
3209 SCOTTSVILLE

Tel: 033-342 9393
Fax: 033-345 7141
email: director@kwanalu.co.za
17 September 2012
AFTER CONGRESS NOTE
The election of the Management Committee took place at the Board Meeting after Congress.
Together with the President and Vice-Presidents, the following were elected onto Manco:-
Mr Christopher Hadebe Mrs Lisa Robertson
Mr Colin MacDonald Mr S Damoyi
Mr Andy Buchan Mr Scot Scott
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