Agricultural role players agree that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) hit the right notes. However, expectations have been created that must be fulfilled.
Agribusinesses are the lifeblood of rural towns and bear the cost of poor service delivery, and according to Agbiz chairperson, Francois Strydom, Ramaphosa’s seventh Sona spoke to most of the critical issues facing agribusiness today, namely energy security, logistics, water security, and infrastructure.
“We hope that the new positions being created within the Presidency will provide the necessary impetus for solutions to be found as business need urgent interventions,” he said.
Strydom also supports the president’s announcement that over one million title deeds will be awarded to poor households and called for this initiative to be extended to rural areas where the beneficiaries of land reform continue to languish under insecure tenure rights.
Implementation is key
Agbiz CEO, Theo Boshoff, welcomed the announcement of a minister of electricity.
“Centralising decision-making within the Presidency will hopefully inject much-needed urgency and provide a response to the proposals the task team has made. We look forward to further engagements in this regard,” Boshoff said.
Furthermore, the declaration of a state of disaster, Boshoff believes, represents a clear statement to move forward with greater speed in addressing the energy crisis.
This, however, needs to be done in a very focused manner without unnecessary disruption to business or society at large, Boshoff said.
Boshoff noted that the theme of public-private partnerships ran as a golden thread through the Sona. In his address, the president called upon social partners to come forward and partner with the government.
Boshoff said, “The industry has demonstrated its goodwill and we now look forward to practical solutions backed up by a real commitment to resolve the serious challenges facing our sector.”
Infrastructure improvement on the cards
Agri SA welcome the President’s focus on the electricity crisis, but remains deeply concerned about the ongoing and devastating impact of loadshedding on the agricultural sector.
In a media statement, Agri SA questioned the necessity and value of the declaration of a national state of disaster to address the crisis.
“The announcement of a new minister of electricity in the presidency also requires further detail. The powers of this ministry and its distinction from the ministries of mineral resources and energy and public enterprises must be clearly set out to avoid creating a bureaucratic nightmare that hinders rather than accelerates the resolution of the energy crisis.”
Furthermore, positive moves to address the capacity of South Africa’s ports, and the efforts to improve infrastructure such as rail, roads, and rural bridges, Agri SA also welcomed.
“It remains to be seen how quickly these projects will come online, enhancing the productivity of the agricultural sector. Agri SA will work tirelessly on these critical interventions to ensure the protection of sustainable food production in South Africa,” Agri SA wrote.
Subheading
According to Dr Jack Armour, commercial manager for Free State agriculture, farmers in the province point to a loss of at least R371 million to the sector between December 2022 and January 2023, due to load shedding.
“The R371 million is made up of crop losses as a result of farmers not being able to irrigate, other farmers and agri- businesses not being able to maintain cold chains and process food and forced spending on emergency alternative energy sources and the fuel to operate these,” Armour said.
Speaking on the declaration of a state of disaster, Friedl von Maltitz, vice-president of FSA, said FSA members are opposed to the announcement, based on the corruption and dangerous levels of power granted to the state during Covid-19.
“We will urge our members to comply, however where regulations are counterproductive to financial survival and/or to food security we will immediately lobby to mobilise the official channels as we did during Covid-19.”
‘More broken promises‘
Bennie van Zyl, general manager of TLU SA, has had enough of the ANC’s “beautiful promises”.
As far as he is concerned, “the only real positive point is that individuals will be given a boost to install solar panels and receive a tax benefit for this. TLU SA is eagerly awaiting the progress of this.”
TLU SA said it is disappointed that agriculture and food security have not been highlighted as priorities.
“We have heard that load shedding has a negative impact on agriculture, that small farmers – who only make up about 3% of food supply – will get a good boost, and that so-called ‘traditional’ farmers will be helped to grow cannabis and as a result will be creating jobs this way.
“No mention was also made of farm attacks, which again proves that it is not seen as a problem at all,” said Van Zyl.
The agricultural sector now awaits the budget speech on 22 February that will balance the finances amongst the needs and plans proposed in the Sona.
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