Steenhuisen hits back at Sakeliga’s claims he is pushing pro-black agriculture policies

Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen rebuffed those who oppose equality and fairness in the agricultural sector.

This comes after Sakeliga, a former affiliate of AfriForum, accused Steenhuisen of implementing pro-black policies in his department and establishing several transformation funds.

The organisation also accused the minister of flip-flopping on its position on the Expropriation Act.

However, in a press briefing in Cape Town on Tuesday, Steenhuisen criticised Sakeliga and described it as peddling misinformation about his portfolio.

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Steenhuisen refutes Sakeliga’s claims

Steenhuisen emphasised that policies like BBBEE are government mandates, not decisions of his department.

“Like any other government department, provincial administration or local government administration, the Department of Agriculture is subject to the country’s laws.

“Legislative compliance is also specifically measured and included in the annual reports of the auditor general when determining the audit outcomes for every department and public entity,” he said.

Steenhuisen said the South African constitution makes provision for issues of redress and equality. He added that it is his responsibility as a Cabinet minister to respect that.

He also denied establishing transformation funds.

“I wish to turn to Sakeligas’ patently false allegation accusing me of ‘establishing several transformation funds’. The ‘evidence’ they provided for this absurd claim is the fact that I have gazetted several statutory levies,” he said.

Correcting the legacy of apartheid

Steenhuisen said due to the legacy of apartheid, a history of legislative dispossession and discrimination, as well as policy and governance failures, South Africa remains an economically unjust society.

“There can surely be no rational person who looks at the Gini coefficient of 0.63  in South Africa and cannot discern that there is a great inequality problem in our country,” he said.

Steenhuisen said the scales between black and white farmers in the agricultural sector are still not balanced. He added that he wanted to create equal opportunities for all farmers.

“An economically just society is one in which economic opportunities are made available to all, and in which people have the capability to be able to make use of those opportunities.

“If we wish to deal with inequality and create an inclusive and non-racial society, we must address inequalities of opportunity,” he said.

Equal opportunities for all

Steenhuisen said he is not interested in engineering equality of outcome through race or other quotas but in promoting equal opportunities to assist disadvantaged people in having a fair shot at accessing markets.

“This approach will ensure that every participant can compete fairly, according to their own talent and ability, so that a fair race can occur. Creating an equality of opportunities is far more effective than trying to manufacture an equality of outcome,” he said.

Steenhuisen’s remarks come as the South African government faces criticism from the United States (US) government on its policies on redress and economic empowerment.

US President Donald Trump has since halted foreign aid to South Africa in response to claims that the government is targeting Afrikaner farmers.

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