Staff Reporter
The Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has completed the verification of the beneficiaries of the Vrede dairy project following an order by the office of the Public Protector.
Agriculture MEC William Bulwane revealed this when he delivered his budget vote speech for the 2021/2022 financial year during the provincial legislature’s sitting in Zastron Friday.
“I am glad to announce that we have concluded the process of verifying the beneficiaries,” he said.
“We can confirm that during that process, only 64 were verified positively.
“I have also sent an official apology on behalf of the department for any prejudice those beneficiaries may have suffered as per the Public Protector’s (Busisiwe Mkhwebane) remedial recommendations.”
The MEC said the Vrede dairy project remains one of the department’s mega projects in the province.
In December last year, Mkhwebane ordered that the Vrede dairy project, which had collapsed due to alleged corruption and maladministration, be resuscitated within two months with the full participation of the intended beneficiaries.
Prior to that, there was also a court order instructing the provincial government to do a feasibility study and revive the project.
“We appointed a mentor in December 2020 as directed by the court order to develop a feasibility study and a business model that will assist the project to operate as a business.
“. . . we are working very hard to ensure that we complete all processes so that we can hand over the project by the 17th of January 2022 as directed by the court,” said Bulwane.
The project was meant to benefit about 100 poor black farmers in and around the small farming town of Vrede in the northern Free State when it was started around 2012.
In the December report, Mkhwebane ordered the Free State government to, among others, revive the project within 60 working days of receipt of the report with the beneficiaries as 51 percent shareholders.
About R250 million invested into the project by the provincial government is believed to have been misappropriated, leaving the farmers high and dry as they were never included in the project as promised.
The public protector found the project failed largely due to poor oversight, political interference and the influence of people close to the controversial Gupta family on politicians.
She also ordered that the report be tabled in the provincial legislature within 30 working days for her findings to be deliberated upon.
The report was tabled last Tuesday.
Turning to the budget allocations for the coming financial year, Bulwane said his department has been allocated R783.067 million.
For the conditional grants, the department received R185.646 million for Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP), R71.601 million for the Ilima/Letsema programme, R8.366 million for LandCare programme and R2.088 million for the Expanded Public Works Programme.
In line with the District Development Model, the department will implement 25 projects and programmes.
Xhariep district will have six red meat projects and one aquaculture project; Mangaung Metro one vegetable project and two pasture projects; Lejweleputswa three maize production projects, one sunflower production project, four red meat projects, one poultry project and one piggery project; Thabo Mofutsanyana one poultry project, four meat projects, two sunflower production projects and one maize production project; and Fezile Dabi six maize production projects.
A total of R95.692 million from CASP and Ilima/Letsema has been set aside for the projects.
To address farm mechanisation, Bulwane said the department set aside R22.852 million to support farmers with mechanisation during the 2021/22 financial year.
He said over the next three years, they will purchase 185 tractors and implements at a cost of R307 431 800 to enable farmers to plough and plant about 22 500 hectares during the production season.