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#StimulusPackage: Black farmers to receive support

───   13:01 Fri, 21 Sep 2018

#StimulusPackage: Black farmers to receive support | News Article

President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed today that black commercial farmers in the country will receive a package of support as a means of increasing their entry into the food value chain markets by providing them with access to infrastructure.


He said that this intervention will form part of the Stimulus Package he unveiled today, which he says he hopes will boost South Africa’s sluggish economy as well as create jobs.

Speaking from the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Ramaphosa also said that blended finance will be mobilised by the Land Bank from the Industrial Development Corporation and commercial banks as well. He also added that the Land Bank was finalising transactions that would create employment opportunities in the agricultural sector over the next three to five years.

Ramaphosa has also appointed a ten-person advisory panel on land reform, which is chaired by Deputy President, David Mabuza, that will now advise the government on how it implement a fair and equitable land process. While he did not reveal the names of those on this panel, he said he would do so in a separate statement soon. The total cost of the Stimulus Package will be around R50 billion and the implementation of this plan will be immediate.

Reprioritised funding will be directed towards investments in agriculture and economic activity in townships and rural areas. Agriculture has massive potential for job creation, in the short as well as the long term. This has been proven over and over again and the NDP said that we could create one million jobs in 2030 just in agriculture alone, so we are focusing our attention.

“Our government has limited fiscal space to increase spending or borrowing, it is imperative that we make sure that the resources that we do have are used to the greatest effect. The reprioritisation of spending we are outlining as part of this stimulus and recovery plan will take place within the current fiscal framework and in line with the normal budgetary process. Reprioritised funding will be directed towards investments in agriculture and economic activity in townships and rural areas,” Ramaphosa said. He also said that Minister of Finance, Nhlanla Nene, would soon provide more detail about the final amounts involved and the specific areas affected during the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement next month.


OFM News/Pulane Choane

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