Now is the time to make every cent count
THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development is one of the casualties of Covid-19.
The department has had over R2 billion cut from its budget due to the pandemic and the cuts may well hit the government’s food security programmes hard which will affect the poorest of the poor.
A number of government departments and entities have seen multibillion-rand budget cuts as a result of the new budget. Nonetheless, we need to make sure we make use of every cent the department gets to improve the lives of our people.
Covid-19 has also compelled our government to rethink and readjust budget allocations. The initial allocation for the department as per the February Budget Vote by the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, was R16.8bn. This budget was readjusted to R14.4bn during the
Supplementary Budget Vote on June 24, a reduction of just under R2.4bn.
However, the minister has indicated that these cuts did not affect critical medium-term allocations for biosecurity and supporting exports amounting to R495.1 million and R500m to finalise land claims. These cuts were also not extended to the Agricultural Research Council which was already experiencing cash flow challenges. The biggest portion of the cuts of R1.89bn within the department affected the programmes that deliver on food security, land redistribution and restitution.
These programmes are at the core for achieving outcomes in food security and achieving transformation priority through redress and equitable access to producers’ support. Food security programmes have lost R939m, land redistribution and tenure reform R544m, and land restitution R403m. The food security programme in our budget comprises the transfer allocation from the national Budget as covered by the division of revenue. That would be the Ilima/ Letsema and the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programmes.
These budget adjustments will mean provinces will receive a lesser allocation for producer support for production and infrastructure.
Provinces will need to prioritise projects for this financial year.
The rural development budget has also been cut by R199m, which will negatively affect rural social infrastructure. This will also include the revitalisation of irrigation schemes. It is not only the budget cuts that will impact on the services of the department but the spread of Covid-19 is also having an impact on the services the department renders.
The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights is facing challenges due to restrictions in terms of meeting claimants, conducting research and verification, accessing claimants’ relevant documents, signing of settlement agreements and concluding on offers.
These challenges are mitigated but are having an impact on the access to departmental services and the ability of the department to deliver. We need to do things differently, more smartly and effectively. Covid-19 should never be used as a reason not to give our people quality services they deserve.
Government needs to do better and serve better.