MEDIA ALERT: AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE TO CONDUCT PUBLIC HEARINGS ON PDAL BILL IN NORTHERN CAPE

The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development will from tomorrow (4 August 2023) visit the Northern Cape Province to conduct public hearings on the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land (PDAL) Bill.

The public hearings are part of a nationwide consultative programme aimed at giving all South African citizens an opportunity to make their voices heard on the PDAL Bill, as public participation is one of Parliament’s constitutionally inshrined mandates.

The PDAL Bill seeks, among other things, to provide that the Subdivion of Agricultural Land Act (SALA) of 1970 applies to all agricultural land; to provide principles for the management of agricultural land; to provide for agricultural land evaluation and classification; to provide for the preparation, purpose and content of provincial agricultural sector plans; and to provide for the declaration of protected agricultural areas.

The Bill further aims to address SALA shortcomings and other identified weaknesses. SALA is currently administered by only the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and, as such, does not conform to the constitutional requirements of cooperative governance, where national, provincial and local spheres of government have a role to play. Furthermore, SALA is only applicable to privately owned land and thus, the department cannot protect high-value agricultural land owned by the state, statutory bodies, communal land and land administered by traditional authorities.

An attempt was made in 1998 to repeal the SALA Act of 1970 through the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Repeal Act, 1998 (Act No. 64 of 1998). However, the repeal Act, which was passed by Parliament, was assented to by the then Acting President, but not the President, therefore, it was never promulgated.

The committee has successfully held the hearings in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West provinces. The Northern Cape hearings will take place at Namakwa, ZF Mgcawu and Pixley kaSeme District Municipalities in the province.

Details of the public hearings programme in Namakwa District are as follows:

Date: Friday, 4 August

Time: 10:00–14:00

Venue: Lenie Skippers Community Hall, Calvinia

Details of the public hearings programme in ZF Mgcawu District are as follows:

Date: Saturday, 5 August

Time: 10:00–14:00

Venue: Toll Speelman Hall, Upington

Details of the public hearings programme in the Pixley kaSeme District are as follows:

Date: Sunday, 6 August

Time: 10:00–14:00

Venue: Prieska Omega Hall, Prieska

Source: Parliament of South Africa