Minister Steenhuisen must clarify agricultural empowerment – IRR

In November 2023, the Democratic Alliance “strongly condemned” the then-Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development’s “unlawful” AgriBEE plan.

Yet, in a press briefing addressing civil society concerns this week, Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen failed to specifically address AgriBEE and its race-based foundations. The question he needs to answer is: How will AgriBEE benefit South African farmers and the agriculture sector?

In a parliamentary reply in late 2024, the former Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, indicated that the Department had not assessed the successes or failures of farms transferred to black South Africans.

Furthermore, says IRR researcher Chris Patterson, the government last conducted a review of its Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) in 2011, and is due to begin implementation of a new National Policy on Comprehensive Producer Development Support (NPCPDS) in April this year.

In light of this, the Minister of Agriculture must:

1. Conduct an evidence-based review of existing interventions, and
2. Provide comprehensive feedback on the R1.18 billion spent on Farmer Production Support Units in 2023/24, and other departmental initiatives to support farmers.

Race-based policy has not worked. IRR research has shown that BEE only benefits a small politically connected elite, not the majority of South Africans. BEE is ranked extremely low on the list of national priorities, according to the IRR’s latest annual polling – with unemployment and job creation topping the list.

“BEE is not evidence-based policy. The Founding Provisions of the Constitution entrench non-racialism as a core value of democratic South Africa. A commitment to non-racial empowerment in agriculture will help the sector grow far stronger than BEE policy ever will,” notes Patterson.

The Expropriation Act further complicates the Minister’s aims of creating successful farmers. Title deeds and access to capital are crucial parts of running a successful enterprise. Lacklustre progress on land reform and the Expropriation Act are two problems that will place enormous pressure on the government’s ability to achieve its stated aims of economic growth and job creation.

Along with the Minister of Land Reform, the Minister of Agriculture could implement the IRR’s ‘Ipulazi’ land reform alternative, which focuses primarily on farming rather than land reform, detailing how to increase the number of successful commercial farmers by establishing a Commercial Farming Fund that issues tax deductible Farming Empowerment Bonds to raise funds for this capital-intensive sector, creating opportunities for disadvantaged farmers.

Media contact:  Chris Patterson, IRR Researcher Tel: 063 682 5035 Email: chrisp@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za