Parliament’s agriculture committee is probing whether departmental spending, finance programmes and biosecurity measures are producing lasting results for farmers and rural communities. Behind the Department of Agriculture’s performance figures lies a larger question: are public resources translating into secure livelihoods, productive farms and a more resilient food system? This question guided the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture’s recent scrutiny of the Department’s performance, spending and capacity.
During its consideration of the department’s third- and fourth-quarter performance for 2025/26, its audit improvement plan and briefings on livestock traceability and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the committee repeatedly returned to the practical effect of government programmes on farmers and rural communities.
Director-General Mr Mooketsa Ramasodi and departmental officials responded to questions spanning financial management, blended finance, food security, transformation, human resources and biosecurity. The discussion revealed progress in some areas, but also persistent gaps between plans, expenditure and implementation.
The department achieved 62% of its fourth-quarter targets, while ending the year with R379.7 million in unspent funds. For committee members, this raised questions about whether delays stemmed from planning, procurement or implementation weaknesses – and what those delays meant for intended beneficiaries.
The committee pressed for stronger consequence management in instances where targets and audit undertakings are repeatedly missed. The department said corrective measures were being tracked and that its audit action plan, finalised in October 2025, was reviewed quarterly.
Transformation was another central theme. The department aims to increase black farmers’ share of agricultural production from 8% to 20% over five years and reported that 100 producers received support through the Blended Finance Scheme in 2025/26. The committee, however, asked for evidence of what the investment had achieved.
Committee members also requested information on amounts disbursed, commodities, jobs, production outcomes, location, gender and youth participation. The department attributed previous discrepancies to delays in monitoring information from the Land Bank and undertook to submit a reconciled beneficiary report.
Timing matters as much as access, the committee noted. Finance that reaches a farmer after the planting or production window can undermine an otherwise viable enterprise. The department acknowledged this misalignment and said it had engaged with the Land Bank to link approvals more closely to business plans and production cycles.
The committee also sought faster implementation of the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan. The department said progress depended on coordination across government, provinces, civil society and the private sector. It further reported that 83% of the R1.6 billion Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme allocation had been spent, with three provinces requiring further engagement.
Biosecurity concerns brought the discussion from financial systems to the movement of animals. The department confirmed that South Africa did not yet have an official national livestock identification and traceability system (LITS). The proposed LITS SA platform is intended to trace animals through the value chain, improve disease surveillance and movement control, and support export compliance.
Stage 1 of the project is complete; Stage 2 is 95% complete and Stage 3 has not begun. Members stressed that a national system will only succeed if communal and smallholder farmers could use it and if it delivered value beyond the procurement of technology.
Delays in establishing local foot-and-mouth disease vaccine-production capacity remained another concern. The department said the Agricultural Research Council is preparing to respond to National Treasury’s feedback and resubmit its funding application before the October 2026 window closed.
The department’s 12% vacancy rate added a further dimension to the oversight picture. Senior and specialist posts were at different stages of recruitment, while the proposed organisational structure still required concurrence and faced a funding shortfall. Members questioned how these constraints affected delivery on the ground.
Political accountability also featured in the discussion. The committee expressed concern about the recurring absence of political leadership from its meetings. Acting Chairperson Dr Nobuhle Nkabane directed that the matter be formally communicated to the executive, emphasising that effective oversight requires engagement with both administrative and political leadership.
The promised reports and corrective measures will now form part of the committee’s continuing oversight. The test will be whether these lead to visible change: finance reaching farmers at the right time, stronger biosecurity, improved food security and greater participation by historically disadvantaged producers. In this way, the committee’s scrutiny connects departmental performance to Parliament’s wider responsibility to ensure that public resources improve people’s lives.
Temba Gubula
12 August 2026
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