DA debates 2016/17 Department of Agriculture and Rural Development annual report

The following speeches were delivered today in the Gauteng Legislature by DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development, Ina Cilliers MPL and DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Environmental Affairs, Janho Engelbrecht MPL during the debate on the 2016/17 Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s annual report.

Speech by

Ina Cilliers MPL

“GDARD needs to modernize to increase food security and upskill farmers“

  • I still hold the view that following the current operational plan, the targets in the NDP will not be achieved, climate change will not be addressed, and the big players in the agtech space will start to dictate to us what we should eat, and even who can own the germplasm.
  • Research suggests that farmers markets thrive because they are not affected by government intervention. Instead they are regulated almost purely by the forces of the free market.
  • DA Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, in collaboration with the Urban Agriculture Initiative is planning over a hundred rooftop gardens right here in the CBD.

The full speech can be obtained here.

Speech by

Janho Engelbrecht

“Gauteng’s environment left to rot on a shoestring budget“

  • We have good people in this department, but they can do very little because of a lack of resources.
  • Why don’t we leverage local government and provincial budgets to achieve more, isn’t that what cooperative governance is all about?
  • We can come to an agreement with municipalities about what is needed and partly fund projects. There are a lot of areas with overlapping responsibilities resulting in no one taking responsibility. Let’s change this.

The full speech can be obtained here.