Agri transformation and economic growth
cannot rely on ‘hope’
This letter is a response to the
editorial, ‘A new old broom for
agriculture’ (FW, 26 July), which
discussed the recent budget
speech in Parliament by the
Minister of Agriculture, Land
Reform and Rural Development,
Thoko Didiza. The editorial
described Didiza as taking a
step back and thinking about
the state of agriculture before
implementing any action. It
also said that “this period of
reflection, interrogation and
thought is of crucial importance,”
and urged farmers and readers to
be patient during this process.
I have been an avid reader
of the Farmer’s Weekly for
more than two decades.
As a matter of rule and
principle, I decided years ago
to refuse the temptation to
comment on the content of the
magazine, even at times that I
vehemently disagree with the
opinions expressed. But for
some reason, I have the urge
to respond to the editorial on
the Minister Thoko Didiza
and her budget speech.I can honestly appreciate
the fact that many have
never walked in the shoes
of any landless black
farmer in South Africa.
These farmers have wanted
to farm and make money
from the land, and have been
waiting for decades to get
access to land, but to no avail.
This is due, in large part, to
a general lack of leadershipand decisiveness from our
government, of which Didiza
has been an integral part.
The last thing that future
farmers need is a Minister
who panders to business as
usual, vested interests as
usual, paradigms as usual and
politics as usual. Pussyfooting
around the root causes of
the failures mentioned in
the editorial, including land
reform, transformation of
the agriculture sector, and
poor service delivery, is not
going to get us anywhere.
We need decisive action.
Didiza does not have
the luxury of time. In our
current political climate,
she is just another minister
who can be removed from
her position at any time.
Hope is just that: hope.
Nothing more, nothing less.
What we need are results.The Minister is employed to
deliver quantifiable results
on changing the current
patterns of land ownership
in South Africa. She is
not paid with taxpayers’
money to deliver hope.
We can’t be expected to be
patient forever. We, the ones
holding the short end of the
stick, have been patient since
birth, while apartheid and
its supporters and defenders
denied us, black people, our
human rights to own land.
The time for real change is
now. Why? Because creating
rural economic opportunity,
shared prosperity, social
equity and environmental
wellbeing for all of us, not
only the dominant minority,
cannot be accomplished
based on the hope that Didiza
will be the tide of change.
Mpumelelo Ncwadi, via emailLetters
‘didiza is not
be ing paid
to deliver
hope; we need
action’
Setting up your city farm
After reading the Farmer’s Weekly
article, ‘Urban agriculture ideal for
combating food insecurity (5 July),
I have been surfing the Internet
for gardening systems that
I could effectively use and
implement in the city.I have found YouTube to be a wealth of
information: by simply searching for
‘urban farming’ or ‘homesteading’, I
have come across hundreds of videos
of people using different methods of
setting up urban farms that include
smallholdings to backyards, or evenverandas, as well as rooftops and
vertical farms. I would recommend
that anyone interested in urban
farming watch these videos as a small
plot of land can adequately support a
family. Thanks for a great magazine!
Barry Roberts, via emailgot something to say?
Send your letters to: Farmer’s Weekly, PO Box 1797, Pinegowrie 2123, SA, fax 011 889 0862, or email [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed on the letters page do not necessarily reflect those of Farmer’s Weekly or Caxton.
Readers’ letters will be published and edited at the sole discretion of Farmer’s Weekly.
2 August 2019 farmer’sweekly 9