Kwanalu and Agri SA in a town near you this June
The leadership of Kwanalu and Agri SA will be embarking on a three-day roadshow across the province, meeting with farmers, members and their families from June the 3rd to the 5th. This is a unique opportunity for farmers to engage directly with the top leadership in agriculture in SA, as well as the chance to discuss concerns and hear first-hand the industry’s strategy in moving agriculture forward.
Speakers at each event include:
Dan Kriek – Agri SA President
Christo van der Rheede – Deputy Executive Director at Agri SA
Annelize Crosby – Legal and Policy Advisor at Agri SA and Head of Land Centre of Excellence.
Janse Rabie – Head of Natural Resources at Agri SA
Jahni de Villiers – Head of Labour and Development at Agri SA
Requier Wait – Head of Economics and Trade at Agri SA
Andy Buchan – Kwanalu President
Sandy La Marque – Kwanalu CEO
Never before have farmers in KZN had such an opportunity to be presented to by this calibre of leadership of agriculture; it is a unique occasion and we would like to ask all farmers and their families to prioritise these dates today.
Monday, 3 June
Pongola
8am at Pongola Golf Club, corner of Klasie Havenga and Hans Strydom roads.
Dundee
2pm at the Dundee Sales Yard Hall
Tuesday, 4 June
Gingindlovu
8am at Zululand Planters Association, 61/62 Commercial Road (Opposite Build It & Coastal Farmers)
Pietermaritzburg
2pm at Pietermaritzburg Golf Club, New England Road
Wednesday, 5 June
Swartberg
7:30am at Zwartburg Farmer’s Association
Paddock
1pm at Paddock Farmer’s Club.
From N2 turn into Paddock (opposite Shell Garage. Follow the road as you cross the railway lines the Farmers Club is on the left side)
Diarise the date now to listen to and engage directly with SA’s top agricultural leaders on the future of the industry and for the opportunity to ask your questions and provide your inputs. We encourage all farmers and their families to attend as the future of industry lies in organised agriculture and the voices of farmers being heard. We also ask farmers to encourage neighbours or members of their community, who are not members of Kwanalu, to also attend – the strength of the future of agriculture lies with farmers as a collective voice in organised agriculture.
Presentations at each event will be given by:
- Dan Kriek – President of Agri SA
B.Sc. Agric.(Animal Science)(Cum Laude); B.Sc. Agric. Hons. (Animal Science)(Cum Laude); M.Sc. Agric. (Animal Science)
Dan, a cattle farmer from near Tweeling in the Free State, has served in organised agriculture since1995, starting with his local farmer’s association to now serving as President of Agri SA. He also serves as a council member of the South Devon Cattle Breeders’ Society where he has been Vice-President since 2004.
- Christo van der Rheede – Deputy Executive Director at Agri SA
Master’s in Public Policy Analysis and Administration and Public Leadership (Mpa), Honours in Public Administration and Public Leadership (Us School Of Public Leadership), Bachelors Academic Degree (BA), Higher Diploma In Education.
Christo’s role as Deputy Executive Director at Agri SA sees him working together with emerging farmers, agricultural leaders and entrepreneurship development and training programmes for both commercial and emerging farmers.
He is also responsible for the development of social accord responsible for strengthening relationships between farmers and workers, promoting the values and ideals as set in out in the Constitution, and for collaborating with various stakeholders to provide greater access for farm workers to Provident Funds and Housing Schemes. Christo also plays a key role in Rural Economic Development with local government in order to create more small business opportunities within existing local agricultural value chains.
- Annelize Crosby – Legal and Policy Advisor at Agri SA and Head of Land Centre of Excellence BLC, LLB and LLM degrees, Master’s degree in Constitutional Law.
Annelize has been involved in the land debate for over 20 years, representing Agri SA in the land reform debate. She advises Agri SA on possible implications, constitutionality and makes many of the representations on Agri SA’s behalf in Parliament and in other public forums. Annelize is also responsible for monitoring and reporting on parliamentary processes and was a member of an internal technical committee that developed Agri SA’s holistic framework for land reform in 2014.
- Janse Rabie – Head of Natural Resources at Agri SA
BComm (Law), LLB, LLM (Marine and Environmental Law)
As the Head of Natural Resources at Agri SA, Janse participates on and leads various forums, committees and reference groups on natural resources policy advocacy and development on behalf of organised agriculture. He is a public speaker, media commentator and leading figure in legislative and policy advocacy and development with respect to natural resources management in the agricultural sector.
- Jahni de Villiers – Head of Labour and Development Centre of Excellence at Agri SA
LLB and LLM degrees specialising in labour law.
Jahni joined Agri SA in July 2017 as the Head of the Labour and Development Centre of Excellence, as well as human resources manager. Jahni represents organised business on the following structures the National Minimum Wage Commission, the Nedlac Development Chamber and various task teams at Nedlac, including the national minimum wage task team and the comprehensive social security task team, is a member of the Jobs Summit Sub-committee on Public Sector Programmes, Labour Market Reform and Anti-corruption initiatives and represents Agri SA as a member of the AgriBEE Charter Council.
- Requier Wait – Head of Economics and Trade at Agri SA
PhD (Economics) (The development of a structure to evaluate petroleum fiscal systems in Africa)
Requier’s role is to facilitate Agri SA’s involvement in influencing policy on economic and trade issues with an impact on the development, profitability and sustainability of agriculture in South Africa. Together with his team, they facilitate solutions for the economic and trade challenges faced by members and provide input on energy policy, input costs, tax issues, risk management, agricultural research, water and electricity tariffs as well as the review of agricultural legislation. This extends to aspects pertaining to road infrastructure, telecommunication as well as technology development and transfer.
- Andy Buchan – President of Kwanalu
Andy is currently serving his fourth term as President of Kwanalu. He farms strawberries and kiwi fruit in Greytown on the farm El Shammah. Andy’s involvement in organised agriculture begins with his local farmers association; he is passionate about the upliftment of people and is committed to leading Kwanalu and its members and believes that all farmers should play a role in organised agriculture to ensure that collectively we can influence our own destinies.
- Sandy La Marque – CEO of Kwanalu
Sandy represents Kwanalu on management issues and matters that through the members are identified as key to the strategy of the Union. She is passionate about agriculture and has spent most of her career in the agricultural sector.
Sandy is also the Chairperson of the Agri SA CEO Provincial Forum and serves on the Executive Committee of the Land COE and holds the prestigious Cochrane Fellowship Award, given by the United States Department of Agriculture. She has also completed the University of Pretoria’s Graduate School of Management Agricultural Leadership Programme.
