Agriculture
- Whether Casidra is charging a management fee for its work in managing the farms (a) Waaikraal and (b) Amalienstein; if so, what are the relevant details;
- whether the management costs are included in the annual financial statements of these farms; if not, why not;
- (a) what were the annual costs that Casidra incurred in managing these farms in the (i) 2020/21, (ii) 2021/22, (iii) 2022/23 and (iv) 2023/24 financial years and (b) to what extent have farming conditions on these farms improved since the severe drought that hit the Klein Karoo during the latter half of the previous decade?
9. (1) Casidra is not charging a separate management fee for the managing of the Amalienstein and Waaikraal farms. The Shareholder's Compact Agreement signed between Casidra and the Western Cape Department of Agriculture (WCDoA) annually includes the management of the farms as part of the services rendered by Casidra in support of Agriculture in the Western Cape.
- The direct management cost of the farms is included in the annual financial statements of Casidra.
- (a) The Casidra Head Office is involved in quarterly oversight meetings and various Human Capital engagements. Attendance costs for all special meetings related to the handover process are also carried by Casidra Head Office as follows:
Management of Farms | |
2020/21 | - |
2021/22 | 3’050 |
2022/23 | 4’800 |
2023/24 | 6’000 |
(b) Farming conditions on both Waaikraal and Amalienstein have improved considerably since the severe drought.
At Waaikraal, the Stormdrif scheme has 40% water which is feeding the Askamp dam on the Waaikraal farm. The Askamp dam is currently at 80% of capacity. Furthermore, the Kango and Olifants Rivers are feeding the servitude channels on the farm which are used for flood irrigation. Ample water will be available for the current production season.
At Amalienstein, ample water for pasture production is available with the dams supplying the farm all being at 100% capacity. No need exists currently to buy additional animal roughage.
The dairy herd at Amalienstein is in good condition.
Generally, the water situation improved for both farms, but the production input cost and field preparation cost have increased substantially. Some production fields now have to be excluded from production due to the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (CARA) and National Environment Management Act (NEMA) legislation that requires approval before re-use.
