Agri SA, South Africa’s agricultural industry association, on Monday night said it looked forward to meeting with the newly elected leadership of the country’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) to discuss growing the sector and the overall economy.
“Agri SA wishes to congratulate Cyril Ramaphosa as the newly elected president and David Mabuza as newly elected deputy president of the ANC during the party’s 54th national conference,” it said in a statement.
“On behalf of the agricultural sector, we extend our well wishes to the ANC and the party’s leadership. We acknowledge that the country’s governing party has a daunting task ahead to create an investor-friendly environment through stable leadership.”
Agri SA said agriculture was something government and the new ruling party leadership should take seriously.
“Agriculture had a mammoth share in helping the country to recover from the recession and we would like to bring this under the ANC leadership’s attention. After recording an increase of 38.7 percent in the second quarter, agriculture powered ahead and expanded by 44.2 percent in the third quarter. This is the largest quarterly jump in agricultural production in more than 20 years.”
The Agri SA leadership while its focus was on agriculture, there were other issues it wanted to receive urgent attention. This included rural safety and land reform.
“The seriousness of the continued, violent attacks and criminality against the farming community should receive the priority attention it deserves,” the statement said.
“We advocate for the creation of a sustainable land policy environment, which installs investor confidence in the agricultural sector and creates opportunities for all South Africans who want to enter the agricultural industry.
“Recent research showed the land market still functions effectively and can be used to drive land reform. Agri SA further calls on the ANC’s leadership to properly implement workable land reform policies and laws.”
Fast-tracking economic growth was also on Agri SA’s wish list, with the association saying that a balance needed to be struck between policies that achieve social goals and policies that attract investment, economic growth and food security.
“Our struggling economy needs to grow and to achieve this we need solid leadership, investor confidence and the eradication of corruption, as well as respect for the Constitution and the independence of our Chapter Nine institutions and the judiciary.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
