Recently, a prominent leader said that the strategic necessities to avoid a revolution and conflict in South Africa are good defence, police and intelligence. He is wrong. The strategic necessities are not defence, police and intelligence. It is water, energy and food security through agriculture. Cut water, cut energy and cut food and you have a revolution.
What should we do to prevent it?
The answer is simple and my message today is: Take agricultural decisions based on facts. Most of our current problems are because agricultural decisions are taken on the basis of political propaganda and myths, Dr. Pieter Mulder, FF Plus MP, said in the budget debate on agriculture.
Read the full speech below:
Begrotingsposdebat: Landbou / Budget vote debate: Agriculture: Parlement / Parliament
24 Mei / May 2017
Dr. Pieter Mulder: VF Plus-LP / FF Plus MP
We all took notice of the Arab Spring uprisings and other revolutions in different countries. On how conflict and revolution brought governments down over night. What is the possibility that the same may happen in South Africa?
Recently a prominent leader said that the strategic essentials to avoid a revolution and conflict in South Africa are good Defence, Police and Intelligence. He is wrong. The strategic essentials are not Defence, Police and Intelligence. It is Water, Energy and Food security through agriculture. Cut water, cut energy and cut food and you have a revolution.
Wat moet ons doen om dit te voorkom?
Die antwoord is eenvoudig en my boodskap vandag: Neem landboubesluite op grond van feite. Meeste van ons huidige probleme is omdat landboubesluite op grond van politieke propaganda-stellings en mites geneem word. Omdat besluite geneem word op grond van politiek geskepte persepsies en op grond van eensydige stereotipes. Voorbeeld. Alle swart boere is onbekwaam en misluk. Dit is nie korrek nie met al meer suksesvolle swart kommersiële boere. Alle wit boere is rassiste wat hulle werkers sleg behandel. ‘n Totale leuen soos navorsing en feite bevestig.
I want to repeat this in English. My urgent message today is that it is in the best interest of all the people of South Africa and of the government that all agricultural decisions must be taken on cold facts.
At the moment, most agricultural decisions are taken in reaction to political propaganda statements and myths. Decisions are taken on politically created perceptions and one sided stereotypes. All black farmers are not failures and all white farmers are not racists treating their workers badly as an example.
Another example: All white people are rich because they own farms. I hear that in debates and in conversations in this parliament.
In the last census, there were 4,2 million whites out of a population of 55 million. That is less than 9%. In 1980, there had been around 128 000 commercial farmers, which had dropped to 58 000 in 1997 and to about 35 000 today. If you wrongly accept that all commercial farmers are white – 35 000 from 4,2 million whites is 0,8 or less than 1 percent. Predictions are that this would drop to 15 000 in the next 15 years.
We are not all farmers, we are all city dwellers. Urbanisation in Africa is 58% of the population and in South Africa already 62%. In the cities we all need food, produced by this small number of white and black commercial farmers.
A footnote. The majority of the Freedom Front Plus’s supporters are not farmers. The majority of our support is from Gauteng and Western Cape cities. You need 45 000 to 50 000 votes to get one member elected to parliament. If every one of the 35 000 commercial farmers voted for us, it is not enough to get one member of parliament elected.
Nog ‘n mite. Grond gaan jou ryk maak. Sonder kundigheid en jare se ervaring gaan grond jou arm maak.
Of course, we need more successful black commercial farmers. But a government department of Agricultural is not structured to farm. At the moment government has more failures than successes where they tried to establish black commercial farmers. The most important reason is that these black farmers do not own the land. It still belongs to the government.
But the non-government organisation Grain South Africa had success. Let them take you to the more than 24 000 black farmers that they helped.
Die wolbedryf in Suid-Afrika het 7 000 swart boere suksesvol gehelp. Ons hoor net altyd die negatiewe propaganda maar nooit hierdie suksesse nie.
On land reform, I believe we are wasting valuable money and energy trying to restore people to their peasant ways. Figures show that the majority South Africans do not want farm land. They want to go to cities, own a cell phone and a BMW and work in a modern economy. Let’s help them by giving them ownership of their houses and a piece of land in the city as it happens in all modern economies, while the white and black commercial farmers produce food for us.
;
