Johannesburg - Mining conglomerates have been criticised as being among issues threatening South Africa’s food security as prime agricultural land was being taken over for the sole preserve of coal mining.
Agriculture industry role-players said the scourge was rife in the farming provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, and have asked the government to intervene.
However, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana sought to allay their fears, saying a bill aimed at addressing the matter was already out for public comment.
The minister spoke to The Star after his keynote address at the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) research symposium in Centurion yesterday.
Zokwana said the Protection of Agricultural Land Bill was out for public comment. “We believe that if it is passed as law, we will be able to save agricultural land from encroachment (by mining companies),” he said.
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Transvaal Agricultural Union of SA general secretary Bennie van Zyl said agriculture programmes aimed at supporting the country's food security were threatened in the “crucial maize farming province” of Mpumalanga.
He said mining companies, including Anglo American, had taken over fertile agricultural land, and in their place were running opencast coal mining operations to the detriment of agricultural production.
“It’s a big problem that will definitely have an impact on our food security in the long run. However, the scourge is not that intense in Limpopo, although it continues to worry us,” said Van Zyl.
Potatoes SA chief executive Andre Jooste said the risk of not having food “is just too high”. His Fruit SA counterpart, Konanani Liphadzi, shared the same sentiments.
“This is an important issue and it's really happening. We know that mining brings in money more quickly than agriculture. But we need to protect high-value agricultural land,” Liphadzi said.
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The agriculture industry is crucial to the South African economy, with exports and imports exceeding R1billion, each, last year, according to Christo Joubert, NAMC’s manager of agro food chains.
In his address, Zokwana said the country was facing difficult economic times as the current drought had resulted in food prices rocketing, and five provinces were declared disaster areas last year.
The back-breaking industry has been identified by the National Development Plan, the government's blueprint to address the country's socio-economic challenges, as having the potential to create a million jobs by 2030.
However, the minister was despondent, saying the weak currency, drought and other factors were “conspiring” to thwart the country's progress towards a growing and prosperous economy.
“If the farmers are not able to produce, we are not able to meet the very basic need of life - food. Industries will run short of the raw materials needed to manufacture goods to create employment,” he said.
@luyolomkentane
THE STAR