The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture has received updates on the performance and expenditure of the former Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and of the livestock vaccine company Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP). The department was split into two after the 2024 elections and all previous reports and audits are from when it was still one department.
Department officials told the committee that underspending arose due to delays in supporting subsistence farmers through the Presidential Employment Stimulus due to a change in implementation model from Vodacom to the provincial Department of Agriculture, which started at a slow pace. There were also delays in finalising land claims settlements due to the slow payment process as a result of a change in payment systems from ABSA to electronic bank transfer to individual beneficiaries through the Basic Accounting System.
National Treasury revoked the model due to the high risks associated with payments without NT verification processes. The volume of transactions required bulk transfer, but the system was being developed within the same financial year as the termination of ABSA, which made it impossible to complete.
Other delays contributing to the underspending included the implementation of rural infrastructure projects due to community disputes with contractors and rainy weather. Another problem occurred in transferring Agri-BEE funds to the Land Bank as result of delay in finalising the contract with the Land Bank.
The department also recorded underspending in compensating employees, which was caused by the process of splitting the department into two, when the filling of vacancies was suspended.
Committee members were not impressed by the levels of underspending and asked the department to find ways to address both underspending and underperformance. “Any under-expenditure in agriculture or rural development compounds the misery of rural poverty in South Africa. We can’t entertain excuses. This one about splitting of the department can only be accepted once,” said committee member Mr Athol Trollip.
His colleague, Ms Nandi Ndalane, echoed this sentiments, adding that underspending represents underperformance and needs to be addressed.
Commenting on the farmers support programme, committee Chairperson Ms Dina Pule said the focus should not be on the number of farmers supported but, on the quality of the support and the impact it has on the lives of the farmers. “It must not be only about the number of farmers supported but also the quality of the support, if it makes a difference in the lives of the farmers.
“When we went on oversight some of the outcomes on the ground were not qualitative; the payment was not helpful. So as you give this support, please do oversight to ensure the support schemes impact meaningfully on the lives of the people, especially the blended finance support,” Ms Pule said.
Responding to committee members’ questions about the payment of land claimants instead of land restitution, Ms Lebogang Botsheleng, the acting DDG for Food Safety and Agrarian Reform told the committee about a growing trend of land claimants choosing financial compensation over land restoration.
“The policy allows that claimants have a choice for land acquisition or financial compensation, and a number of them opt for financial compensation. However, the number of those choosing land are slowly increasing in provinces like the North West. We hope more claimants will see the value of land over financial compensation,” she said.
The interim CEO of OBP, Dr Jacob Madumo, also briefed the committee on the performance of the state animal vaccine company and reported that the entity has achieved 70% of its targets for the quarter. The committee Chairperson welcomed the presentation and said the committee appreciated the entity’s progress.
Sakhile Mokoena
11 June 2025
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