Fresh on the job, Madoda Sambatha, the newly appointed MEC for agriculture and rural development in North West, rubbed shoulders with the who’s who of organised agricultural associations and unions in the province.
According to the department, the meeting aimed to pinpoint challenges within farming communities and make a positive impact on food security, tackling the province’s triple challenges head-on.
Sambatha emphasised his desire to collaborate with solution-oriented stakeholders to improve services to the province’s farmers during the seventh administration following the recent elections.
“Working together with all stakeholders to form sectoral contributions will assist the department and its associations to perform very well for food production. We need each other to make a better contribution to the economy of the North West Province,” Sambatha said.
Transition in leadership and vision for agricultural advancement
Sambatha replaced South Africa’s longest serving agricultural MEC, Desbo Mohono, who was elected as the speaker of the North West provincial legislature recently. Sambatha was previously the MEC for health in the province.
“The mobilisation of agricultural associations with all their contributions to work together will form part of the government of national unity in attempts to boost the sector, expand production, grow the economy and create employment is important,” he said.
The department said the MEC will additionally engage with all stakeholders of the department around the province for a meet and greet session in the coming weeks to kick-start planning for the new administration.
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