It is crucial and in the best interest of everyone in South Africa that the agricultural sector functions optimally, therefore, the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) is willing to facilitate discussions to resolve the long-standing disputes surrounding the Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan (AAMP).
An analysis of the points of contention and discussions with all stakeholders within and outside the process, excluding trade unions, shows far greater agreement on principles and policies, which does not justify the three-year stalemate.
The AAMP is a government initiative adopted in 2022 to grow and transform the agricultural and agro-processing sector. It entails a framework of strategies and objectives that all stakeholders have to adopt to address challenges in the sector and unlock its potential.
The signatories of the Plan, particularly the Department of Agriculture and the National Agricultural Marketing Council, cannot deny the fact that their process lacked inclusive participation. It excluded several key players in agricultural, employer, consumer and industry organisations.
Minister John Steenhuisen should simply acknowledge and address this. He need not feel complicit, as it occurred under the tenure of his predecessor, Thoko Didiza.
There is no justification for the efforts made to keep trade unions on board, while blatantly ignoring and excluding important organisations.
An audit of farmworkers’ representation by trade unions should be conducted. It makes no sense to place so much emphasis on structures that lack genuine representation in the agricultural sector.
In 2022 and 2023 in Parliament, the DA concurred with Saai and TAU SA that the Master Plan has certain shortcomings.
Minister Steenhuisen acknowledged in an interview with RSG on 8 October that there are flaws in the Master Plan, and that profitability and sustainability are crucial in a national agricultural plan.
Agri-SA and the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) are both on record stating they would not oppose making farms’ profitability and sustainability a dominant feature of the Master Plan.
The Freedom Front Plus has consistently maintained, since the Plan was introduced, that transformation cannot take precedence over sustainability.
The utter failure of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) to properly support our farmers during the foot-and-mouth disease crisis, by providing enough and effective vaccines, serves as proof.
Initially, the game industry was included in the Agricultural Master Plan, but was later inexplicably and without any communication excluded by the Department of Agriculture and other signatories.
Like the Freedom Front Plus, the DA supported the inclusion of the game industry, because in South Africa, keeping game is a prominent form of farming.
Minister Steenhuisen confirmed this at Huntex 2025 and even announced that the game industry would no longer fall under Environmental Affairs, but his Department.
None of the Master Plan’s signatories have publicly objected to including the game industry. So, the inexplicable and secretive removal of the text concerning game farming should not stand in the way of consensus on the Master Plan.
South Africa cannot allow power struggles between ministers and petty infighting in political parties to hold a sectoral master plan hostage.
If government, the Department of Agriculture and state enterprises such as the National Agricultural Marketing Council or any of the AAMP signatories were able to resolve the disputes regarding the Plan, they would have done so by now.
However, there seems to be more division regarding the Plan now than before the Government of National Unity (GNU) was established.
Farmers comprise a significant part of the Freedom Front Plus’s support base. So, our main focus in the party’s agricultural policy and in Parliament is to determine what would best serve farmers’ interests.
That is why it is imperative for the Freedom Front Plus to ensure that the Agricultural Master Plan has a firm foundation, and prioritises the sustainability and profitability of farms and agricultural enterprises.
The Freedom Front Plus believes it is able to bring all agricultural stakeholders to the table to transparently resolve their differences in the interest of all South Africans. Therefore, the party is offering to do just that.
