Economic Opportunities

(1)       How effective is the implementation of the equity scheme in the Western Cape;

It must be mentioned foremost, that the Western Cape Government does not have a mandate on the implementation of equity schemes, as this falls within the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. Implementation of equity schemes by the DRDLR was up to the year 2012, when the PLAS policy was introduced as a vehicle for redistribution.

A number of studies on equity schemes were conducted looking at various indicators of progress and or success factors with regards to implementation of the model. While initial studies indicated there were few challenges, this was found to have been addressed in later studies conducted on the same. Furthermore, the Western Cape Department of Agriculture conducted its evaluation looking at issues such as: ownership/structure; working and living conditions; capacity building/education and financial/dividends/compensation. The Department’s findings confirmed that there was good progress towards transformation based on the sample size. These businesses were already paying dividends to the members and re-investing profits. However, it should also be noted that there were other factors that had been identified as critical for success, namely: business management, conflict resolution and people management skills. Nevertheless, almost all reports and engagements on equity schemes acknowledged that management of expectations of all stakeholders is critical as this is viewed to strongly influence the envisaged outcome.

(2)       whether his Department assists the equity scheme financially; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

Yes, my department does provide financial support to equity schemes when requested, albeit, its support is mainly towards the black partners and is commensurate with the shareholding in the business. In addition, the department also provides extension and advisory services (including training) where required and this is delivered with the support from our industry partners through the commodity approach. It must also be stated that the Department had not funded any of the 50/50 projects as per the new land ownership policy of the DRDLR.

During the 2017/18 financial year, a total of 3 equity projects were supported, namely:

-           Bosman Adama

-           Crispy farming

-           Knolkop