COSATU welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s assenting to the long-awaited Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s assenting to the long-awaited Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land (PDAL) Bill.  The Federation engaged extensively on the Bill with the Department of Agriculture and Land Reform and Organised Business at Nedlac.  We support the now assented to Act in full and urge its speedy promulgation into effect.

The Act is a long overdue intervention to secure the nation’s food security and jobs of farmworkers and across the value chain.  South Africa is fortunate to have a well-developed and highly diversified agricultural sector that ensures the nation’s food requirements in most instances.  The development of this sector has taken centuries and the sweat and toil of farmworkers to build and must be jealously guarded.

Agriculture and the food value chain provide employment for more than 1 million workers and is one of the nation’s largest and most strategic economic sectors.  The sector is under threat for a variety of reasons and has seen many farmers, emerging and commercial, battle to survive and often simply forfeiting or losing their farms when they can no longer afford to pay their debts.  Many municipalities in desperation for funds, rezone agricultural land to private developers building shopping malls etc., due to the higher rates such developments yield.

If agricultural land is not preserved for food production, the nation’s food security will be at risk, as well hundreds of thousands of badly needed jobs.  If we continue to allow agricultural land to be rezoned recklessly by clueless Councillors or planning officials enticed by bribes from developers, we will collapse any efforts at effecting land reform.  This is a key developmental planning Act whose implementation must be prioritised.

Key progressive provisions in the Act include:

  • A Registry and system for grading agricultural land to determine what land is most suitable for which type of crops and livestock.  This will help guide emerging farmers and support their endeavours.  It is key that all levels of government have an accurate database of arable agricultural land if they are to preserve it for agricultural development.
  • Provincial Agricultural Sector Plans that will be key to ensuring provincial departments plan properly and lead agricultural development initiatives.  These will enable society to hold the different spheres of government accountable.
  • Protected Agricultural Areas will compel the relevant spheres of government to preserve highly arable land, in particular the Departments responsible for Agriculture and Land.
  • Rezoning Processes empowering the Minister and government to protect and preserve agricultural land and play an oversight and authorising role over municipalities’ agricultural land rezoning processes.
  • Advisory Appeal Panel, whilst COSATU supports the establishment of the Panel, it is critical representation from organised labour be included to ensure the voice of agricultural workers is felt in the Panel’s work.
  • Inspectors need to be empowered to issue compliance orders to ensure the progressive objectives of the Act are implemented and offending municipalities are held accountable and dealt with.

COSATU supports the PDAL Act due to its progressive and planning provisions.  It will help ensure the nation’s food security, national sovereignty, and a key economic and export sector with over 1 million jobs.  We urge Government to expedite its implementation and ensure the relevant organs of state are fully capacitated to do so.

Issued by COSATU

Matthew Parks (Parliamentary Coordinator)

Mobile: 082 785 0687

Email: matthew@cosatu.org.za