DA behind PHA

IN RESPONSE the op-ed by the PHA Campaign, “Making a mockery of communities”. PHA and DA’s “malicious engineering” refers:

The Western Cape provincial Parliament standing committee on economic opportunities, tourism and agriculture has continued to publicly support the preservation of the Philippi Horticulture Area (PHA) as an agricultural/farming hub.

The PHA is a critical resource in Cape Town due to its exceptional horticultural production. Our stance has never deviated and will remain as such.

So too has the provincial Department of Agriculture publicly stated that the PHA must be preserved for agriculture in their presentations to the committee.

Mr Sonday is disingenuous and factually inaccurate in his opinion piece. Firstly, a research study is being conducted by the WC Department of Agriculture after an intergovernmental meeting held in November 2016 to determine the future agricultural footprint of the PHA through the development of an inclusive socioeconomic agricultural plan for the PHA as an integral urban agricultural protected zone within the Metropolis.

All levels of government agreed that urban agriculture is the key to sustainable food security and that horticulture is the key driver within the PHA.

The study is necessary to provide a solid evidence base to support the future decision making of the area. We as the standing committee must wait for this study to be completed.

Secondly, let me clarify my role in the provincial Parliament. I am the standing chairperson for the committee and thus also the spokesperson on the portfolios of tourism, economic development and agriculture for the province. As the DA is the governing party here in the province, I thus speak from a DA-led province.

My job is to provide oversight of government and to also bring forward solutions and concerns, which government must look at.

There is no conflict of interest whatsoever. So ideas by the committee around declaring the PHA an Agricultural Development Zone (ADZ) or an Agri-Park (AP) sits well in line with the future preservation of the PHA.

Thirdly, Mr Sonday fails to mention that he was afforded a full committee visit on August 2, 2017, where we undertook a site visit and allowed the PHA campaign to fully engage with us. He has not been “ignored, sidelined, or vilified” in any way. Maybe Mr Sonday needs to answer why the farmers are selling their land to developers first and foremost, while government is desperately trying to preserve the breadbasket of the metro?

Let me reiterate, we stand for the preservation of the PHA.