FARMING Association Agri SA has complained that it has been excluded from a drought intervention Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Bheki Cele embarked on in the North West on Monday.
Mr Cele was accompanied by the MEC for Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development in the province, Manketsi Tlhape.
Together with Tiger Brands they erected two boreholes, established two community gardens, provided training and related assistance in the province, including distributing water and food parcels to residents and farmers.
The North West branch of Agri SA said the government had not included commercial farmers in the intervention. "We as commercial farmers were ignored in the whole process. We don’t seem important (to the government)," said Agri SA North West CE Boeta du Toit.
Mr Cele’s spokeswoman Nonkululeko Mbatha said the department was helping all farmers most in need. "It can’t be seen that the government is responding to black farmers (only). It (sounds) like the government is not providing assistance to commercial farmers. That’s not true," she said.
The department had spent more than R300m on drought interventions, she said, and all government departments were investing about R1bn combined.
Picture: THINKSTOCK
FARMING Association Agri SA has complained that it has been excluded from a drought intervention Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Bheki Cele embarked on in the North West on Monday.
Mr Cele was accompanied by the MEC for Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development in the province, Manketsi Tlhape.
Together with Tiger Brands they erected two boreholes, established two community gardens, provided training and related assistance in the province, including distributing water and food parcels to residents and farmers.
The North West branch of Agri SA said the government had not included commercial farmers in the intervention. "We as commercial farmers were ignored in the whole process. We don’t seem important (to the government)," said Agri SA North West CE Boeta du Toit.
Mr Cele’s spokeswoman Nonkululeko Mbatha said the department was helping all farmers most in need. "It can’t be seen that the government is responding to black farmers (only). It (sounds) like the government is not providing assistance to commercial farmers. That’s not true," she said.
The department had spent more than R300m on drought interventions, she said, and all government departments were investing about R1bn combined.
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