The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development was today briefed by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development on the department’s responses to submissions made by the National House of Traditional and Khoisan Leaders (NHTKL) and the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment on the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land (PDAL) Bill.

The Bill seeks to address constitutional gaps in the current legislation and to support the government’s objectives and priorities relating to the sustainable management and use of natural resources. It also seeks to provide an effective national regulatory framework mechanisms and risk management systems, as well as an increased contribution to the economic growth and development of the country’s agricultural sector.

The Bill will also protect and preserve agricultural land and its productive use to ensure that agricultural land is available and viable for the development of the agricultural sector. It also aims to promote sustainable farming practice to support the objectives of the National Development Plan 2030 to revitalise uncultivated agricultural land and to increase the contribution of agriculture to gross domestic product.

In response to a submission from traditional leaders that the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development can have powers over agricultural land but not the 13% of land that falls under the tribal authorities, the department reiterated the Bill’s objectives. These are to enhance the regulation of agricultural land-use management, as currently under the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act, and support the development of agricultural land and preserve agricultural land for agricultural production.

The NHTKL also submitted its wishes that all land under traditional councils be preserved and controlled by the tribal authorities and their communities. In response, the department told the portfolio committee that communication relating to the development of agricultural land, as defined in the Act, will involve consultation with all affected parties, including traditional councils.

The NHTKL also fears the Bill will reduce ownership rights over agricultural land, meaning that South Africans will not have individual ownership of agricultural land. Therefore, even if expropriation of land without compensation is avoided, the Bill will significantly reduce the normal competencies of ownership over agricultural land.

“The Bill does not intend to regulate the ownership status of land as prescribed by various legislations but takes its departure from the mentioned object,” said Mr Dipepenene Serage, the department’s Deputy Director-General for Agricultural Production, Biosecurity and Natural Resources Management.

He also told the committee that the matters raised by the NHTKL are not contrary to the Bill’s objectives. He assured traditional leaders that their rights and those of their communities will not be trampled upon by the new legislation.

The committee received legal advice from the Parliamentary Legal Office on the submission from the Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment that the matter is an intergovernmental issue that should be resolved through an engagement by the two departments.

The committee also noted that the matter is not a constitutionality issue between the two departments but a question of a mandate on some issues, including agro-ecosystems. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development believes environment is not in that scope.

The Chairperson of the committee, Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, said it is the committee’s duty to consider public submissions from stakeholder on legislation before the committee. “The amendments are straightforward and seek to strengthen and simplify the Bill. We will continue processing the Bill and ensure that the agreed amendments are effected on the final draft,” the Chairperson said.

Sakhile Mokoena