15 May 2026

Honourable Chairperson,

Honourable Minister and

Deputy Minister,

Members of the House,

Leadership of the department led by DG Ramasodi and the leadership of Entities

Distinguished Guests,

Fellow South Africans

Today, we rise as the ANC at a defining moment for agriculture in South Africa and across the globe. We are debating agriculture not merely as an economic sector, but as the backbone of food sovereignty, rural development, job creation, and national stability.

We do so at a time when the world is gripped by geopolitical instability, climate shocks, rising energy costs, and disruptions to global supply chains. These realities compel us to strengthen fiscal responsiveness and agricultural resilience in an increasingly volatile geopolitical landscape.

The 2026 conflict in the Middle East has once again exposed the vulnerability of global agricultural systems. Fuel prices continue to rise sharply, fertilizer costs remain unstable, and shipping routes have become more expensive and uncertain. For South African farmers, fuel now constitutes nearly 13 percent of production costs. This is not merely an economic statistic; it is a direct threat to food affordability, farm sustainability, and national food security.

This situation demands decisive intervention from the government. We must intensify support for mechanised farming, improve access to affordable fuel alternatives, and expand incentives for efficient production technologies. If we fail to act decisively, rising production costs will inevitably be transferred to consumers, worsening hunger and inequality.

In this regard, we welcome and acknowledge the allocation of R7.84 billion to the Department of Agriculture as evidence of the ANC’s continued commitment to food security despite the tightening fiscal vice facing our country.

However, Honourable Members, fiscal allocation alone is not enough. The true measure of transformation lies in whether resources translate into inclusive growth and genuine economic participation by the majority of the previously disadvantaged.

This is why the ANC advocates strongly for the full implementation of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan as the primary social compact for inclusive agricultural growth.

The Master Plan remains one of the most important instruments for uniting government, labour, farmers, agribusiness, financial institutions, and communities around a shared developmental vision. It provides a practical framework for industrialisation, market access, export growth, localisation, employment creation, and farmer inclusion.

Most importantly, the Master Plan must become the vehicle through which black farmers move beyond symbolic participation into meaningful ownership, productivity, competitiveness, and scaling.

For too long, transformation in agriculture has focused merely on participation statistics. We can no longer celebrate entry into the sector without ensuring sustainability and growth within the sector.

We therefore welcome the shift toward genuine scaling of 370 black commercial producers through the blended finance scheme managed by the Land Bank.

This initiative represents a critical departure from fragmented support models of the past. Through blended finance, emerging black commercial farmers are now better positioned to access affordable capital, infrastructure support, working finance, and technical assistance necessary for expansion and long-term viability. This can only be possible if the Land bank plays its role in supporting these farmers.

This programme must not remain small in scale. It must become a national catalyst for the development of a new generation of black commercial producers who can compete effectively in domestic and international markets.

But Honourable Members, access to finance is inseparable from access to secure land tenure.

We therefore call for the urgent implementation of the Land Redistribution Bill and the Expropriation Act to provide secure tenure and collateral opportunities for communal land farmers.

Millions of South Africans residing and farming on communal land continue to face structural exclusion from mainstream agricultural finance because they lack legally recognised tenure systems that can unlock investment opportunities.

Without secure tenure, farmers cannot leverage land for financing, cannot invest confidently in infrastructure, and cannot fully participate in the agricultural economy. This reality perpetuates inequality and undermines rural development.

The implementation of progressive land reform legislation must therefore strike a balance between redress, productivity, investment certainty, and food security. Land reform cannot remain a slogan; it must become an instrument of economic empowerment and agricultural expansion.

Hon Chairperson,

The future of agriculture is also inseparable from energy security.

South African farmers continue to face unbearable electricity costs. Electricity tariffs have risen by approximately 68 percent over recent years, placing immense pressure on producers, processors, irrigation systems, storage facilities, and agro-processing operations.

In this regard, we strongly support and champion the Agro-Energy Fund valued at R1.21 billion.

This intervention is both timely and strategic. Through solar energy systems, biogas installations, and alternative energy solutions, the Agro-Energy Fund offers farmers an opportunity to reduce operational costs, improve sustainability, and shield themselves from the devastating effects of load shedding and escalating tariffs.

Importantly, this programme must prioritise inclusivity. Smallholder farmers, emerging black producers, cooperatives, and rural farming enterprises must not be excluded from energy transition opportunities.

The green transition in agriculture must not become another avenue of inequality; it must become a pathway toward equitable growth and climate resilience.

Honourable Members,

Agriculture remains one of the few sectors capable of simultaneously addressing unemployment, poverty, hunger, industrialisation, and rural underdevelopment.

Yet achieving this potential requires more than policy statements. It requires coordination, urgency, implementation capacity, and political will.

“Hi fanele ku aka ikhonomi ya vurimi leyi tiyeke leyi kotaka ku tiyisela ku tsekatseka ka tipolitiki ta misava, ku cinca-cinca ka maxelo, na ku kavanyeteka ka timakete.

We must build a resilient agricultural economy capable of withstanding geopolitical shocks, climate volatility, and market disruptions.

We must ensure that public investment translates into expanded production, job creation, and inclusive ownership.

We must empower black commercial farmers not merely to survive, but to scale and thrive.

We must secure land tenure in ways that unlock investment and dignity for communal farmers.

And we must modernise agriculture through renewable energy and mechanisation to safeguard the future of food production in South Africa.

In conclusion,

Chairperson and hon. Members ,agriculture is not simply about crops and livestock. It is about sovereignty, stability, dignity, and nation-building.

If we invest wisely, implement decisively, and transform inclusively, agriculture can become one of the greatest drivers of South Africa’s economic renewal. We support the budget.

Ndza Khensa Mutsama xitulo

I thank you.