MEC Nomakhosazana Meth shares her vision for DRDAR…

The Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform’s middle and top management converged at the East London International Convention Centre (EL ICC) on the 10-11 June 2019 for a two-day session where departmental plans for 2019/20 financial year were discussed.

MEC Nomakhosazana Meth expressed her excitement in joining the department and her hopes in working towards the vision of using agriculture as a key sector to turn around the economy of the province and contribute meaningfully to the GDP of the country. Expressing her thoughts and vision for the department Meth said: “when you are deployed to a particular space like the provincial government sphere, you are humbled by the fact that you are one of the chosen few to be mandated to represent your organisation in government. “There are no expectations when you are told you are on the list. But when the Premier communicated his decision to appoint me into his Cabinet, I said to myself this is another opportunity presented to me to ensure that the decision made by the President is no longer at the ‘Thuma Mina’ stage but now we are truly on ‘operation Khawuleza’ which reinforces what the President has said, that there is no time, we must move and move with speed to deliver services to our people”

“Being deployed to DRDAR was a comfort for me because it is not a new sector for me or new area of responsibility. Being

in local government, I was a champion for rural development and agriculture I believe that the only way of changing the

economy of our province is to ensure that development targets the rural space, and agriculture is one sector that can

assist with that. We want to work with young graduates and farmers to ensure that we engage with people that will be

beneficial to this vision of taking the department to greater heights”, explained Meth.

The MEC highly praises the enthusiasm that is evident in the youth of the province, who continuously empower themselves

by registering at institutions of higher learning to obtain agricultural qualifications that will enable them to later join the

sector. Meth further committed that government will support these young people through various interventions, making

rural development and agrarian reform a major role player in driving economic development within the Eastern Cape

Province. “We have just concluded the Eastern Cape PEC Lekgotla where we have come to the resolution of working

towards decreasing unemployment in this Province by at least 19% (in the next 5years).

The agricultural sector can assist in this regard and take lead in job creation within the Eastern Cape”, added Meth.

The two-day review session afforded the new MEC the opportunity to understand the programmes of the department,

the role played by the development agency ECRDA and the department’s agricultural colleges.

In concluding the two day event Meth expressed that beyond the review session as the political head for DRDAR she will

be in a better position to take the department forward of course bringing in her own creativity.

“Above all I want to say the Agricultural Economic Transformation Strategy that the department has adopted

signifies that agriculture is no longer a social welfare program but a business. In the same vein, we still have to ensure that

there is food security for our people. Attracting partners, investors and other government departments like Department

of Education for the schools nutrition program, Department of Health for supplying hospitals and other private companies is

crucial in turning the situation around” concluded Meth. The department will continue to work with individual and organised farmers to lock offtake agreements for farmers to enable them to supply local supermarkets with their produce.

By Zukiswa Gqamane