ADDRESS BY PREMIER
The honourable MEC, Mrs Mashego-Dlamini,
Representatives of Total South Africa,
South African Breweries,
Landbank
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I greet you all. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all women of our country both black and white, who have fought relentlessly for the liberation of women in particular, the people of this country in general and the world over.
It is because of the struggles of those women that we are gathered here today, to celebrate the successes of women in the Agricultural sector. A sector which has been male dominated for a long time in the history of our country. It makes me proud as a South African to see women proudly take their rightful place and play an important role in influencing and contributing to the economic growth of our country.
We have come to celebrate and honour special women who have decided to take charge of their lives and that of their families by making sure that there is always food in their households. Women who contribute in reducing the unemployment levels, persistent poverty and inequalities. They have made strides towards fighting disease and eradicating poverty especially in our rural areas.
The theme for this year is fight hunger to reduce poverty , a commemoration initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. It is therefore imported to acknowledge and honour people who work hard to feed their children's stomachs and that of the nation and the world. These women produce food for house hold use, national markets and even export to the outside world and in that process begin to change the economic imbalances of the past as well as ensuring that we attain a better life for all as espoused by President Thabo Mbeki in his state of the Nation address.
The Agricultural sector has a very crucial role to play in development both as a vehicle for food production through labour-intensive projects which will then create employment for many of our people especially the vulnerable groups in rural areas, particularly women, young children the elderly and the disabled. Government encourages the production of food at two levels,
First for productive and economic reasons and
Secondly, food production for subsistence purposes. Government through the RDP has identified food as a basic need that should be met. It also recognised poverty as a direct consequence of apartheid and the skewed nature of incomes that accompanied it.
Therefore, a key focus of government is to broaden access of the agricultural sector to those who were previously excluded. The land restitution and land redistribution for Agricultural Development programmes have begun to deal with these imbalances.
While we are striving to redistribute land for agricultural purposes, communities must also be reminded of the challenge of rejuvenating the very same land, and be encouraged to manage and conserve it, as well as vegetation, water and biological diversity in their areas in a responsible manner.
There is a land care programme run by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Environment in the province through which people can participate and contribute in the rejuvenating of our land.
Madam programme director, allow me to take this time and thank everyone who has participated in the process of selecting the best candidates.
It must have been a great challenge because of the high standard of all the nominees. I would like to congratulate all farmers who have participated and say that if you did not come out tops today, do not despair but go out there and work hard however small your resources may be, tomorrow it will be your turn.
Lastly, thank you Total South Africa, South African Breweries and the Landbank for supporting the course of women in the agricultural sector, we thank you for supporting the public, private partnership programme.
I thank you