The meeting began with the adoption of the draft report on the budget vote 39, where a number of small issues were raised, including typos and minor amendments. The main thrust of the changes was that the Land Claims Court should be given greater priority, and a policy needed to be put in place to help with alleviating the bottlenecks in these courts. The adoption of the report became heated when the DA abstained from approving it, even though they had been a part of the process from the beginning.

While the Committee was waiting for delegates from the Departments of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and Environmental Affairs (DEA) to arrive, it had time to engage on other matters which were not on the agenda. Members were told the Committee had received a late invitation from the DRDLR to attend an indaba in Johannesburg on March 20. They agreed to seek more details on the event before deciding whether Members should attend. Minutes of the February 24 meeting were adopted without any corrections.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) briefed the Committee on its third quarter 2014/15 performance and progress on the recommendations made by the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and the Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) evaluation.

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries is currently developing a project in conjunction with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) to create Agri-parks in locations throughout South Africa. These Agri-parks aim to involve smallholders and local producers in the entire process of agriculture to address both food security and poverty. The Department hopes to fight issues such as the 14 million hungry South Africans, unused potential farmland, and the inequality between private agricultural business and the people.

The draft report on the public hearings on the Implementation of the Recapitalization and Development Programme (RDP) of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (the Department) was presented before the Committee for approval and comments. The main issues that arose in the approval of the draft report were the oversight role of the Committee, sustainability and implementation.

The Committee received submissions from the Langa Livestock Farmers Association, The Congress of South African Trade Unions and its affiliate, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union, the Legal Resources Centre and the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies on the second day of public hearings on the Recapitalisation and Development Programme (RADP).

The Chairperson introduced the first day of public hearings on the Recapitalisation and Development Programme (RADP) in the agricultural sector by noting that the Committee had done oversight in the Northern Cape of the farms that were beneficiaries of the programme, and now wanted to hear the outcomes of the independent evaluation of the programme, and also hear from beneficiaries.

In the paper land reform in South African political discourse will be investigated, especially the process of its politicization. How the topic of land reform is used by political forces, especially the ruling party; the African National Congress and current President Jacob Zuma. Does the Republic of South Africa take a populist turn on land reform or is it some kind of social justice after the suppression of the apartheid era and decades before?

To provide for the restitution of rights in land in respect of which persons or communities were dispossessed under or for the purpose of furthering the objects of any racially based discriminatory law; to establish a Commission on Restitution of Land Rights and a Land Claims Court; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

The Green Paper for Land Reform.

Comment on Green Paper on Land Reform 

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