Page 444 - Provincial Treasury Estimates.pdf

Department: Rural Development and Agrarian Reform

1.6 The Acts, rules and regulations

The key mandate of the department is derived from Schedules 4 and Section 25 of the Constitution. There
are a number of Acts that have been promulgated to further support the department’s constitutional
mandate. Agricultural Development Act (of 1999); Implementation of Conservation of Agricultural
Resources Act (of 1983); Eastern Cape Rural Finance Corporation Act (of 1999); Animal Health Act (of
2002); and Meat Safety Act (of 2001). Other constitutional issues affecting rural development include the
allocation of powers and responsibilities to national departments and provincial governments to administer
land and promote and/or support agrarian reform.

1.7 Budget decisions

The department received both equitable share and conditional grant to support agricultural programmes
for the department. DRDAR received an additional funding R5.694 million in 2023/24, R10.167 million in
2024/25 and R9.836 million in 2025/26 that is Equitable Share adjustment to the department’s baseline in
line with new data in the Provincial Equitable Share (PES) formula. This was allocated to reduce budget
shortfall on contractual obligations in respect of communications – telephone services, computer services
for licences and property payments for building leases as these items were affected by the budget cuts.
Furthermore, the department as part its key mandate for supporting farmers through various initiatives and
programmes, and thus has set aside amount of R25 million for blended finance to be transferred to ECRDA
as well as R8.496 million for citrus farmer intervention in order to enhance commercialisation of agriculture
in the province.

1.8 Aligning departmental budgets to achieve government’s prescribed outcomes

The Department has considered National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030 and PDP Vision 2030 as
overarching policy of making rural areas spatially, socially and economically well integrated across
municipal, district and regional boundaries – where residents have economic growth, food security and
jobs and as a result agrarian transformation and infrastructure development programmes, and have
improved access to basic services, health care and quality education. By 2030 agriculture is expected to
create close to 1 million jobs contributing significantly to reducing overall unemployment.

In line with the NDP, the provincial development plan (PDP) has developed five goals to guide its
implementation of the NDP; they are as follows:
x Innovative, inclusive and growing economy
x An enabling infrastructure network
x An innovative and high-value agriculture and rural sector
x Human development
x Environmental sustainability
x Capable democratic Institutions

These goals will be pursued with the focus on the rural development with specific emphasis in Ilima
Labantu as an agricultural development initiative that aims to revive rural economy and encourage other
areas of development in the province.

The Eastern Cape Agricultural Economic Transformation Strategy (AETS) will continue to be implemented
to ensure that it support farmers (smallholder farmers and subsistence farmers) to venture into commercial
production for secured markets by working together with development industry strategic partners in various
commodities. Furthermore, the blended finance scheme will play a big role in ensuring that the farmers
have access to funding and venture more in commercialisation.

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