POLOKWANE – The Capricorn District received two vehicles each worth R450 000 from a fleet of thirteen that were handed over to provincial extension service practitioners earlier today (May 24).
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s extension service practitioners are tasked with advising all types of farmers on ways to take care of their livestock and crops and therefore travel across the province to offer their help.
The vehicle handover was led by MEC Thabo Mokone and the head of department Ramatsimele Maisela at the Polokwane Golf Club where practitioners from the province’s five districts were present.
In the previous financial year’s budget allocation, the department spent R6.4m in total to pay for tools of trade necessary for easy access to all subsistence and commercial farmers who called for help.
“Although we have enough staff, they are unable to carry out their work effectively due to the number of cars we had, before the new ones were purchased. They are not all enough, but at least they add on to what we have,” Mokone said.
Maisela added that the department has not received a budget for the current financial year but hope to scrape the funds somewhere in their coffers to buy more vehicles in order to hit the ground running.
Mokone said the Mopani district, unlike the others, received six vehicles, as per an order by the latest audit report directed to the department which stated that practitioners from the district needed more support.
Read more in next week’s edition of the Polokwane Observer.
