NOTES FOR MEC NANDI MAYATHULA-KHOZA
WORKER’S DAY CELEBRATION
09 MAY 2012
Programme Director
Acting HOD Ms Priscilla Pietersen
DDG and Senior Managers Present
Distinguished GDARD Staff,
Dumelang,
Molweni,
Dimatsheroni
Sanibonani,
Gooie
More,
Good
Morning,
I am delighted to be here with staff from the department of Agriculture and
Rural Development during this historic month of May. As we know, the first
day of May is Worker’s Day, where as a nation we pay our solidarity with
workers in our country and around the world. It is also a day on which we
reflect on the struggles, as well as celebrate the power of the working class
people in our country.
As a nation, we inaugurated our first Worker’s Day as an official national
public holiday following the first democratic election of 1994, and this we do in
commemoration and celebration of the gallant struggle played by the trade
union federations, workers and people of South Africa in ensuring our
liberation. It was through the combined efforts of trade unions, workers and
ordinary people that we managed to cripple the might of the apartheid
machinery, as workers took to the streets demanding an end to apartheid.
By downing their tools, spades and shovels, workers of this country brought
the apartheid economy crumbling to its knees resulting, in sky high inflation.
So as the ANC government, we are forever reminded during this month of May,
of these thousands of nameless struggle heroes who collectively with our
movements, fought to bring about freedom in South Africa.
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Today, I also meet with you, a few days after the departure of the HOD, Ms
Simangele Sekgobela. As we should know by now the HOD official left the
department on 31 April 2013 after a two (2) year tenure with our department. I
therefore wish to, again, express my gratitude to the HOD for her sturdy
leadership and guidance which she provided to the department during those
two years, and wish her well in her future endeavours. As we know HOD is not
entirely lost to the agricultural sector as she has been appointed as CEO of the
Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market, a position we wish her well in.
Move to 11 Diagonal
I am certain everyone is eager to hear about the move to diagonal, so let me say
the imminent move is scheduled to be finalized at the end of May 2013. The
following arrangements have been put in place with regard to the move:
The partitioning and network cabling on Floor 7 to 9 have already started and
was completed on the 30th April 2013. Facilities Management, HRD,
Transformation, KPM and Communications were temporarily relocated to 2nd
and 11th floor in the same building to allow the construction team to work
quickly.
Telephone lines have been installed on floor 7 to 9, and GDARD’s main number
at 11 Diagonal is (011) 240 2500. Facilities Management has started with the
allocation of extension numbers to staff.
The relocation plan, including distribution of boxes, will be communicated to
all officials currently in Diamond Corner and other centres soon.
Achievements
Ladies and Gentlemen, over the past year our department has manage to
exceed performance indicators, I would like to take a few minutes highlighting
some of our achievements to both inspire and spur us on:
Farmer Developmental Programs
The Farmer Support and Development component focused on the
implementation of Key on-farm infrastructure to the targeted farmers in the
province. The initiative will assist in the unlocking of other farm activities
thereby rendering the farms productive.
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Extension and Advisory Services
During the last quarter agricultural extension and advisory services were
rendered to subsistence farmers, smallholder farmers, aspirant, and
commercial farmers throughout the province, to this effect and in an effort
towards achieving the department’s outcome, a total of two hundred and sixty
five (265) smallholder farmers were supported with technical, extension and
advisory services and on-site agricultural extension and advisory services.
Farmers Training and Capacity Building
During the quarter in question and in an effort to address the set departmental
outcome, a total of one hundred and eighty five (185) smallholder farmers were
trained. Training was offered on horticulture production, soil preparations,
farm management, and book keeping, as well as piggery production.
Support with production inputs through Letsema/Illima Programme
During the quarter fifteen (15) smallholder farmers were provided with piggery
production inputs and poultry production inputs in total 168 smallholder
farmers benefited through this developmental program.
Agricultural Economic Services

Eighty seven (87) agricultural cooperatives have been supported with
production inputs and capacity building during the year to reduce
transaction costs in their projects.

Thirty two (32) farmers have been assisted to access finance through
various Development Finance Institutions (DFI’s) and government
institutions

Eighteen (18) farmers have been assisted to access the market through
supplying various institutions.
Veterinary Services

Foot and mouth disease (FMD): A cattle herd in Putfontein was examined
and tested for FMD following the finding of two calves and a cow with mouth
and foot lesions. Four cows were introduced into the herd from the Sundra
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Auction (Mpumalanga) in December. Three of them were sold for immediate
traditional slaughter in January, the remaining bought-in cow and two
calves were found with unclear lesions that necessitated the laboratory
testing of samples to exclude FMD as a cause. A representative sample of 7
samples was tested with negative results. Two samples were further selected
for additional tests (viral neutralization test) still with negative results.
Farmer Support and Development
 The Farmer Support and Development component, through its food security
sub-component maintained two hundred and forty seven (247) food
production units during this quarter.

The Food Security sub-program focused on the development of new food
gardens as a form of food security interventions to mitigate against food
insecurity as follows:
 Seventeen (17) new community based food production units were
developed during the fourth quarter.
 Eleven thousand and four (11 004) Homestead Food Gardens were
developed during the fourth quarter.
 One hundred and eight (108) school food gardens were developed
during the fourth quarter.

Thusanang project in Bophelong (Emfuleni Local Municipality) was profiled
by SABC 2 TV to be broadcasted on the program “Growing Tomorrow” after
the project was selected from the Agri-Business Women of the Year Awards
Winners.

A Total of one hundred and twenty one (121) community projects members
from thirteen (13) projects in the Sedibeng District Municipality have
participated in the EPWP whereby those beneficiaries were provided with a
stipend of R840 per individual for a period of eight (08) months.

There was a transfer of funds to Tropical Mushrooms (TM) for the facilitation
of a farm workers equity scheme (FWES). Tropical Mushrooms is a
mushrooms producing farm in Magaliesburg. The funds will be used to
purchase shares held by ABSA to increase the shareholding of Tropical
Mushrooms Employees Share Trust (TEST). This is an empowerment project
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that will increase the participation of black people in the mushrooms
industry.

Number of green jobs created through EPWP for:
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Alien invasive removal EPWP projects: 214 (125 were for women, 106
for youth, and 5 for people with disabilities).
Working on Fire: 30 (7 were for women, 20 for youth, and for people
with disabilities).
River Clean-up EPWP: 130 (72 were for women, 81 for youth, and 0
for people with disabilities).
Working for Wetlands: 25 (15 were for women, 13 for youth, and 2 for
people with disabilities).
LandCare: 140 (88 were for women, 58 for youth, and 4 for people
with disabilities).
Fencing: 87 jobs (17 were for women, 72 for youth, and 0 for people
with disabilities)
Gender Mainstreaming
Support for WARD

An abattoir owned by a WARD member and a former winner of the AgriBusiness Woman of the Year Awards was officially opened on 25 January
2013. The building of this abattoir was constructed by the British Embassy
and also partly funded by Pick n Pay. As part of women empowerment and
support for women in agriculture GDARD assisted with procuring
equipment for the abattoir.

WARD held a meeting with IDC and Pick n Pay regarding access to funding
on 6 February 2013. IDC has already compiled Business Plans for two (2)
WARD members.

Support for other Rural Women

A total of one hundred and fifty thousand (150 000) seedlings were
distributed to Women Cooperatives in Sedibeng, Tshwane and West Rand.
These seedlings will benefit hundreds of community members in these
districts.
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Staff productivity and wellness enhancement programmes

Employee Wellness & HIV and AIDS awareness were conducted during the
Induction Training held on the 24th January 2013 targeting thirteen (13)
employees.

Employee counseling services continued to be provided for staff during this
quarter under review.

A Staff Wellness Week took place from the 11th – 15th February 2013 in the
five (5) GDARD offices. The approach was aimed at ensuring that employees
access the services in their local offices while minimizing disruption of day
to day duties. Health screening tests were conducted and other wellness
related services provided onsite.
In house Gym Facilities

The Randfontein office has been resourced with a functional gym facility
being utilized by approximately by twenty two (22) members i.e. 15 males
and 7 females.
Organisational development and employment equity

GDARD is currently represented by black people: 86% Blacks, women at
the SMS 47%, and 2.7 % for People with Disabilities.
Concerns of Staff

The department held diagnostic consultation sessions with all branches
throughout February and March. A total of 165 staff participated in
those sessions at which, amongst others, two interactive exercises were
conducted, namely a Force Field Analysis (Case for Change) and an
Organisational Profiling tool aimed at assessing the current state of the
department.

These two exercises confirmed that there are several challenges
experienced by the department currently, most notably those relating to
Communication, Decision-making and Problem-solving. Whilst all these
areas require our attention, the improvement of communication is the
most critical area to work on during a time of transition.
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
It is crucial for managers and supervisors keep their staff informed on
developments within the department on an ongoing basis.

Another notable area of challenge relates to the state of staff in the
department. The majority of respondents were of the view that many
employees were demoralized and demotivated and still focused on the
past (when the department was perceived to be more successful and
effective). However, there was an acknowledgement that there is also a
significant group of staff who is positive and enthusiastic and see
themselves as part of the future of the department. It is also worth noting
that, despite the demotivated members of staff, most employees still
believed in what they did and that there was room for professional
growth in the department.
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
Another milestone of the past two months was the establishment and
training of the Reference Group which is a cross-section of staff in the
department who act as a validation and review team in support of the
project team.
The month of April 2013 saw the start of the structure consultation
sessions aimed at reviewing and realigning the functional groupings of
the department. This entails agreeing on the first two reporting levels to
the HOD (macro structure), followed by more detailed drill downs on the
operational posts in each of the branches (micro structure). During these
sessions, management and staff were asked to review the structure of the
department as a whole as well as their specific areas of work against
In closing, I would like to assure all staff that as Management we are
committed to ensuring a healthy working environment at GDARD where we
empower, inform and support our personnel. And I trust that as we go forward
into the latter part of the year we will continue displaying the Batho Pele
principles in our collective work ethic.
Thank you
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