RESIDENTS of the Western Cape Province’s Cape Winelands District expressed support for the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land (PDAL) Bill during recent public hearings conducted by the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development on the Bill in Worcester.
The portfolio committee on Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development said in a statement that, despite concerns about the bill, residents voiced hope it would “demolish the wall that denied the majority of South Africans, Africans in particular, access to land.
“They are supporting it on the grounds it will address the legacy of the long years of marginalisation of most South Africans from the land,” the committee said in a statement.
“On the declaration of protected agricultural areas, participants submitted that agricultural development zones should be declared and suggested each farming unit must be zoned using the global acceptable principles of sustainable farming.
“Participants said some subdivision of farms should be underpinned to enhance food security and that 10% of all agricultural land be set aside for this purpose to promote food security. They said the state must use its power through the Bill to promote land reform in the country.
“On the agricultural land evaluation and classification, participants raised concern that this section gives more powers to the provincial government; that the wording regarding the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development is weak; and the Bill does not give much power to the Minister but to the provincial MECs.”
Representatives of the small-scale farmers in the Cape Winelands District, like their counterparts in the West Coast District, said the Bill excludes them, and doesn’t specify how much land will be allocated for small-scale farming. They said it merely states that land will be evaluated for agricultural use.
Participants informed the committee that Cape Winelands District is known as a place that is marked by, among other things, a culture of gross human rights violations including exploitation of farm workers, evictions, disconnections of farm dwellers from water pipes and electricity by farmers.
The PDAL Bill seeks, among other things, to provide that the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act (SALA) of 1970 applies to all agricultural land in the country, to provide principles for the management of agricultural land; to provide for agricultural land evaluation and classification; to provide for the preparation, purpose and content of provincial agricultural sector plans and to provide for the declaration of protected agricultural areas.
Committee chair, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela said the Bill also aims to address SALA shortcomings. “SALA is currently administered only by the national department of agriculture and, thus, does not conform to the constitutional requirements of cooperative governance where national, provincial and local spheres of government have a role to play,” he said
“SALA is only applicable to privately owned land and thus, the department cannot protect high-value agricultural land owned by the state, statutory bodies, communal land and land administered by traditional authorities.”
