Download Speech by MEC Lebgang Maile during a launch of the Tropical

ADDRESS BY THE MEC FOR ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENT,
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, LEBOGANG
MAILE, ON THE OCCASION OF THE PUBLIC LAUNCH OF
THE TROPICAL MUSHROOMS FARM WORKERS EQUITY
SHARE SCHEME
21 November 2014
Programme Director
Executive Mayors here present
Members of Mayoral Committees, here present
Mr Peter Nyathi, the founder of Tropical Mushrooms (Pty) Ltd
Workers and worker representatives on this farm
Honoured Guests
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We meet here today to witness the results of a successful partnership
between the private sector, workers on this farm and government at
various levels.
At the centre of this partnership is the empowerment of workers;
many of whom have dedicated a significant part of their working lives
to this farm.
We note that the Tropical Mushrooms (Pty) Ltd Employees Trust, that
has brought us here today, is the first of its kind in Gauteng and is the
first to be supported under our government’s Agri-BEE programme
since 2012.
This Scheme has allowed workers on this farm to have a meaningful
stake in its operations. It makes it possible for workers to benefit more
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directly in the success of the farm. It has also given them a sense of
ownership. It has given them an asset that they can use to improve
their lives and that of their community for current and future
generations.
As a Department, we are satisfied that the Tropical Mushroom (Pty)
Ltd Employees Trust was not an exercise in malicious compliance
with BEE requirements.
This is a model we will use as a guide in our programme to expand
the implementation of employees share ownerships across our
province.
Unlike some Black Economic Empowerment transactions, this
scheme was not done to “tick the boxes”.
It was also not done for the purpose of complying with the bare
minimums of BBBEE charters.
This, in our view, was a genuine endeavour to embrace the goal of
true economic empowerment of those who were previously denied
opportunities.
Today therefore is a moment of pride for all who worked towards the
success of this Employee Empowerment Scheme. We take this
opportunity to thank all of them for their hard work, commitment and
dedication.
We know that this was not an easy process. It took many years of
sometimes tough negotiations, planning and execution.
As we today witness the fruits of this hard work and as we draw
lessons from what has been achieved on this farm, we are emboldened
that we have paved the way for many such successful partnerships to
be rolled out in our province.
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It is indeed our view that a constructive and transformative
partnership between government, labour and business is the only way
we can grow our economy and change the quality of life of our people
for the better.
It is partnerships such as these that will go a long way in repairing
relations and rebuilding trust between government, the private sector
and labour in order to move our economy and in particular the
agricultural sector forward.
This partnership contributes directly to our strategic goal as
government to intervene decisively in the economy in order to create
space for the emergence of black industrialists, in key sectors of the
economy including in agriculture.
It also contributes to our goal of broadening the ownership of the
means of production, to include those who were previously excluded
from the mainstream of the economy.
Equally this partnership contributes significantly towards shaking the
foundations of the economic status quo in our province and in our
country.
In a small but no insignificant way this partnership gives practical
meaning to the commitment to economic transformation articulated in
that seminal document of our people; the Freedom Charter which
declared that: the People Shall Share in the Country’s Wealth!.
It is transactions like these that have an effect of tilting the balance of
economic forces in favour of those who were previously denied
opportunities.
Indeed it is transactions like these that convenience us further that the
path we have crafted for ourselves; the path of pursuing radical
economic and social transformation, modernization and the reindustrialization of Gauteng is a correct one.
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As we move along this path, our ultimate goal is to de-racialize our
economy, make it more inclusive while at the same time ensuring that
it grows and creates jobs.
In the agricultural sector in particular, my Department will continue to
work towards the goal of increasing the number of black people who
own sustainable commercial agricultural enterprises.
This we will do as part of our overall commitment to the radical
transformation of agri-business in our Province.
Equally, working with institutions such as the Gauteng Enterprise
Propeller and the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency, we will
continue to identify and facilitate access to economic opportunities
and provide enterprise development support to black and emerging
farmers as well as farms owned by the youth, women and people
living with disabilities.
We will do all of this in order to position agriculture as one of the key
drives of economic growth, job creation and social inclusion.
Programme Director, despite our province having the smallest land
mass of all the nine provinces in our country, it is our view that with
the correct policy and programmatic interventions, Agriculture can
play a major role in advancing our programme to transform,
modernise and reindustrialise Gauteng.
This we say, amoung others, because more than 24% of the South
African population resides in Gauteng.
For our sector this means that Gauteng is one of the largest markets
for agricultural products. It means agricultural enterprises operating in
our province have easy access to a significant consumer market for
their products.
Currently agriculture represents 1% of total employment in Gauteng.
Through the implementation of our game-changers which include;
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support for Aquaculture and Hydrophinics initiatives we will
substantially increase the contribution of our sector to the economy
broadly and to job creation.
We also note that the direct contribution of agriculture to the GDP of
Gauteng currently stands at 0.4%.
However when taking into account the forward and backward
linkages in areas such as food production, textiles, beverages, tobacco
wood and wood products, agriculture contributes about 36% to
Gauteng’s economy.
We are equally encouraged by studies that indicate that an initial
investment in agriculture has a substantial multiplier effect on many
other sectors of the economy as well as on job creation.
This should strengthen our resolve to continue investing in the
development and expansion of sustainable agricultural enterprises in
our province.
As we seek to increase the contribution of agriculture in our economy,
we must increase our focus on the value adding of primary products.
It is for this reason that we have identified agro-processing as one of
the game changers that we will pursue in the coming years.
Our goal is to position Gauteng as the Agro-processing hub of our
country and the SADC region.
Our proximity to a major port of entry and exit; the O.R. Tambo
International Airport as well as our advanced infrastructure network
allow us to benefit from being an exporter of agricultural products,
especially processed products.
We are encouraged by the value addition that currently is taking place
at this farm.
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We urge you to do more of this as part of fast-tracking access into the
agriculture vale chain.
For our part as government we will continue to increase focus on
interventions aimed at promoting inclusion in the entire agricultural
value chain.
Specifically, we will continue to create opportunities for emerging
farmers to benefit from opportunities in areas such as storage
facilities, distribution and seed production.
I wish the Tropical Mushrooms (Pty) Ltd as well as the Employees
Trust all the best for the future.
Ke a leboga!
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