Limpopo MEC for agriculture and rural development Thabo Mokone has expressed concern over the ongoing stalling of government-funded projects by communal property associations (CPAs), stating that this setback hinders community development.
Mokone said CPAs need to get their house in order because the government is not going to pump money into non-existent activities.
He spoke to Food For Mzansi news editor Tiisetso Manoko on a range of issues affecting agriculture in the province.
Tiisetso Manoko: What is the provincial government doing regarding projects such as the Zebediela citrus project that have been funded but are not yielding success?
Thabo Mokone: Indeed, Zebediela is giving us sleepless nights as a government because we have pumped in a lot of money and when we were about to break through, something comes and blocks all the gains that we have made.
However, as a government, we will not tire of coming up with an innovative way to revive the project, because truth be told, it has collapsed. We need to strategise and see how best to bring that project to life and, at the same breath, deal with CPA structures, and maybe work out a way of how they can function without being destructive.
It is very important to highlight that CPA members who are on boards cannot be business partners as well – that is a clear conflict of interest. CPAs need to govern their structures because that is their land, we cannot babysit them.
Has your Revitalising Agriculture, Agro-processing and Value Chain plan (RAAVC) been welcomed by all stakeholders in the province?
When government come up with a programme, obviously there will be people who think certain things must be done the other way around. Our plan as the province connects with the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan.
Yes, some are not happy, but the fact of the matter is that most people have signed. What we are saying is that we will refine all the plans as time goes by. There will be those who will be left behind, but we cannot wait and rewrite plans all along, we need to work, and some people will need to find us along the way.
As provincial government through your RAAVC plan you are trying to woo investment, but infrastructure development is lacking. What are your plans to ensure that is in place?
Yes, the biggest issue in our province, just like other provinces, has been load shedding which is impacting farmers and agro-processers negatively with their production. We, as a province, worked very hard to fix our roads in all the regions.
There have been serious developments in terms of access to farming communities. Farmers who are farming in far-flung areas are now able to deliver their produce to markets because of the better roads that have been built by the government. We are saying to those whom we have not reached yet: we are coming.
What is the provincial government’s objective with the RAAVC plan?
The plans are done, and we have gone throughout the provinces to engage different stakeholders. Right now the message from the government is that it is time to implement, and the time for talking has come to an end. We cannot talk forever; we need to be seen working and we are going to work to revive the economy of this province through agriculture.
We held a summit to discuss the RAAVC plan and what needs to be done and improved, we have heard and taken notes of everything, and we will do as advised.
What message will you give to farmers and organised agriculture on the number of concerns and challenges they have raised?
We are saying we know we have challenges. However, for the government to be everywhere and tend to everyone at the same time is impossible. We know and acknowledge the enormous challenges that farmers are facing but we will deal with all that matters one by one.
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