Tag Archives: The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture

SAVC currently rudderless

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Picture: The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Dina Pule

By BAKANG MOKOTO

26 August 2025 – The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Dina Pule, has noted with concern that the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC) is currently rudderless, without a council in place. Pule said she has noted that the SAVC’s term of office came to an end on 31 July 2025, and there is currently a vacuum in the entity as the Chief Executive Officer/Registrar has no council to account to.

She further said the SAVC has written to the President to complain that the Minister has overstepped the mark by not legitimising the results of its electronic elections and that the Minister has requested that the Veterinary Council rerun the elections. Pule added that it is concerning to learn of this turn of events at such an important governance structure as the South African Veterinary Council.

“The committee will invite the Minister to brief it on his decision not to recognise the election results and his reasons for not appointing the successful candidates.

“We look forward to hearing from him about this development, particularly because there is a vacuum in the South African Veterinary Council, which should not have happened in the first place,” she said.

Pule highlighted that the council alleged that the process was started as early as February 2025 and was rerun in April 2025, while the report was sent to the Minister in May 2025. She said the new council should be meeting this month.

“However, this is not happening because of the vacuum and the term of the old council has expired. SAVC is the second Department of Agriculture entity that does not have a permanent council/board as legislated. The National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) also does not have an appointed council, as its term expires in May 2025, and the interim council’s term will expire in December 2025.

“The Minister will be called to explain the action he is taking to ensure the speedy establishment of a new council at the SAVC and to provide an update on the process for appointing a new board at the NAMC,” said Pule.

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Agriculture Committee Chair reiterates role of Agriculture in SA’s economy

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By REGINALD KANYANE

3 October 2024—The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Dina Pule, today stressed the important role of Agriculture in the South African economy. Pule said this is despite agriculture only contributing a relatively small share of 2.8% to the country’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

She further said this when she addressed the annual State of the Beer Economy event, which was held at the Caledon Farm Research & Development Facility in Caledon, in the Western Cape today, where the South African Breweries (SAB) showcased its significant contribution to the agricultural economy.

The event, which was attended by members of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and the Minister of Agriculture, offered an in-depth exploration of the beer sector’s shared value and its inclusive role in growing the economy.

“While agricultural contribution can be seen as relatively small compared to the contribution of other sectors, that does not make it less important. The sector has relatively large linkage effects with the rest of the country’s economy, and when considering the whole agricultural value chain, the sector is estimated to contribute up to 12% to the national GDP.

 “As we all know, South Africa has a dual agricultural economy characterised by a well-developed, highly productive and export-oriented commercial sector and emerging smallholder and subsistence-oriented sectors that are often under-resourced and concentrated in the country’s rural and former homeland areas,” said Pule.

She added that the challenges facing emerging producers in agriculture, which she said are attributed to, among other things, a lack of financial and technical support, marketing infrastructure and market knowledge, and insufficient produce volumes.

Pule commended the investments that the SAB has made, including its partnerships, in the development of emerging producers to address some of the challenges of the emerging sector. She said the committee applauds the SAB for sourcing 95% of ingredients for beer making from local farmers when some industries may choose to rely on cheap imports at the expense of local producers and thus transferring job opportunities elsewhere.

“We are happy to learn that SAB’s research activities are not only confined to barley and hops, the main ingredients in beer making, but wheat, canola and other crops to develop the agricultural sector and support local farmers,” said Pule.

Meanwhile, the partnerships between the SAB’s Research and Development Centre and other research institutions to strengthen local capacity in technology and innovation were commended by Pule and she called for the support of those partnerships.

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