DAFFOfficial newsletter of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

August 2011

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2Departmental News

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Also in this issue:

Departmental News

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12Sector News

Engineering cattle handling

Junior LandCare Youth Day celebration

Lifetime opportunity for awardees of scholarship

Walmart/Massmart merger can threaten tood security in SA

The future of veterinary services in the country

Labelling and advertising

Minister unveils viable farm projects

DAFF welcomes new Ncera Farm CEO

Departmental News

Sector News

Departmental News

Departmental News

Sector News

The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson, got her hands dirty for 67 minutes collecting, grading, sorting, cleaning and packing eggs at the chicken farm in Ha-Matsila Village in Limpopo Province.

Minister devotes 67 minutes

Article on p 3

August 2011 DAFFnews No. 82

Editor Piwe Mbiko (012) 319 6936 piwem@daff.gov.zaReporters Thuli Dube (012) 319 7929 nokuthulad@daff.gov.za Samuel Kgatla (012) 319 7181 samuelk@daff.gov.za Innocent Mhlanga (012) 319 7827 innocentm@daff.gov.za Rony Moremi (012) 319 6622 rincertm@daff.gov.za Percy Sepaela (012) 319 6866 percys@daff.gov.za Mercia Smith (012) 319 6666 mercias@daff.gov.zaSubeditor Willie de Jager (012) 319 6636 williedj@daff.gov.zaDistribution Pam Sutherland (012) 319 7104 pamsu@daff.gov.za

DAFFnews is the newsletter of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Private Bag X250, PRETORIA 0001. It is published by the Directorate Agricultural Information Services, Private Bag X144, PRETORIA 0001.

Opinions expressed in DAFFnews are not necessarily those of the editorial team. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission from the editor.

Cattle farming requires high-care fa-cilities and treatment in each stage of the animals ’feedlot stage.

According to Tendai Mutenje, an agri-cultural engineer, “an important element of cattle welfare is the design of handling facilities.” Within this stage, understanding animal behaviour results in a more efficient and safe environment for both the cattle and the breeder and this will lead to suc-cessful operations. Cattle breeding and handling rely heavily on the relationship between the breeder and the livestock, in terms of the status and well-being of the animals, and the responsibilities and even obligations of the breeder.

When designing cattle care facilities one must consider that cattle prefer to move

Engineering cattle handlingBy Galoome Shopane

in circles—they prefer to go back where they came from and to move in a single file or follow a leader. Therefore, it is advisable that they be handled in curved races or crushes and there must be a visual barrier along the side the crushes so that the cattle can only see the leader in front.

“The reason why a curved chute and a round crush pen work better than a straight one is because as cattle go round in the curve, they think they are go-ing back to where they came from,” says Mutenje. The non-straight facilities take

advantage of the natural circling behav-iour of cattle for smooth, efficient and safe operation of handling procedures.

The problem of poor seed quality for most African countries could soon be over after the establishment of a seed- testing laboratory.

The Forum for African Seed Testing (FAST) was established by the African Union and the African seed network with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

According to a statement released by FAO, FAST will speed up the harmonisa-tion of the seed market of traditional and non-traditional crops on the continent. It

will also assist in terms of the drafting of laws to promote seed testing and quality control as well as seed-testing protocols for major crops for both public and private companies.

Robert G. Guei from the FAO’s Agricul-ture and Consumer Protection Department says that an “inadequate supply of quality seeds for both food and cash crops is one of the biggest bottlenecks to food produc-tion on the continent, contributing to food insecurity, impeded economic growth,

reduced seed trade among countries and created dependence on seed and food”.

FAST will also provide a regulatory framework on important food crops such as black nightshade, a medicinal plant also used as a vegetable in Ethiopia and other east African countries during the lean season. “If we could harmonise seed quality testing methods for these tropical crops then we could be doing a great deal to enhance and support the continent’s native seed trade,” Guei stated.

Seed testing lab for Pan African countries

Departmental

No. 8 DAFFnews August 2011 3

Departmental

The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Tina Joemat-Pet-tersson, together with the MEC for Agriculture in Limpopo, Ms Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba got their hands dirty for 67 minutes collecting, grading, sorting, cleaning and packing eggs at the chicken farm in Ha-Matsila Village, Limpopo on 17 July.

They were also joined by the Limpopo MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture, Ms Joyce Mashamba, and executive mayor of Vhembe, Florence Rumani and Makhado mayor, Mavhungu Luruli. This was part of the build-up to the main celebration of Nelson Mandela Day that took place in the Giyani stadium on 18 July.

The packaged eggs were donated to orphans, children with disabilities and the poorest of the poor in the community. These children also had a chance to rub shoulders with the Minister, MECs, Execu-tive Mayor, local chiefs and other dignitar-ies who had lunch with them.

This 67 minutes dedication coincided with the unveiling of the Matsila Communi-ty Trust Projects. The projects, Shandukani Matsila Farm, comprises 180 goats and a herd of cattle with 50 Nguni cows and two bulls whereas Radzambo Matsila chicken farm has 4 000 free-range chickens with a capacity to lay 3 000 eggs per day.

The 67 minutes symbolise the 67 years Mandela dedicated to establish a change in South Africa. Mandela fever gripped South Africans and indeed people across the world on Monday 18 July.

The Minister advised everyone to contin-ue respecting and celebrating the Nelson Mandela Day by doing something for 67 minutes in the name of Madiba.

“Working for 67 minutes is not a joke, but well worthy of it. I am glad to celebrate this day at the chicken farm. These are indigenous chickens and they live longer. What we are celebrating today is the legacy of our icon, Mandela. Our former president will be happy to see us promot-ing indigenous knowledge. This kind of chicken project provides food security.

The connection for this goes with Mandela,” she said.

Moreover, she urged people to donate 67 min-utes of their time to do good for others in Man-dela’s name.

MEC Letsatsi-Duba added that working 67 min-utes for Madiba i s so spec ia l and helps oth-ers understand the importance of celebrating Man-dela Day.

Minister devotes 67 minutes

By Samuel Kgatla

Minister Tina Joemat-Petterson collecting eggs with assistance from one of the community members.

In the orange over-all Ms Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, MEC for Agriculture in Limpopo, and Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson unveiling the Radzambo Matsila chicken farm in Limpopo Province.

August 2011 DAFFnews No. 84

Departmental

In a bid to alleviate poverty and un-employment, the Minister of Agricul-ture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson, unveiled viable farm projects at Ha Matsila Village in Limpopo on 17 July. This launch formed part of the build-up for the Nelson Mandela Day celebrations commemo-rated annually on 18 July.

The farm projects under the Matsila Community Development Trust include Shandukani Matsila goat and cattle farm and Radzambo Matsila chicken farm. Shandukani comprises a goat and cattle farm 180 goats and a herd of cattle with 50 Nguni cows and two bulls. Radzambo chicken farm has 4 000 free-range birds with a capacity to lay 3 000 eggs per day. The farm is now operational and produc-ing 700 free-range eggs daily.

These projects were funded by the Na-tional Lottery Board with an astounding R54 million. Prior to the launch, Resource Africa (RA) applied for this funding on be-half of Matsila Community Development Trust. RA promotes good governance and democratic practice for sustainable devel-opment and natural resource manage-ment. Its approach is based on community involvement and empowerment.

This project will therefore improve the capacity of the Matsila community and sur-rounding villages to recover, revive, pro-mote, preserve and use their indigenous knowledge to secure livelihoods while protecting the environment and natural resources. The beneficiaries of this project will be the local people of the Matsila community, including other surrounding villages. Poverty, high unemployment, poor nutrition and health problems are rife within the community.

The Minister said the sustainability of this project will not be a problem. She continued: “We are promoting indigenous knowledge. This project will provide food and employment to the people of Ha Matsila. There is diversity in the activities of this project. This is also about mitigating hunger,” she said.

Minister unveils viable farm projects

By Samuel Kgatla and Boipelo Dikgang

The Minister mentioned that DAFF will assist the project with export readiness. Furthermore, she pointed out that there will be a distribution of tractors to the project.

The Cha i r-person of the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), Prof. Alfred Nevhutanda, said this is the first successful project the board has funded in the country. He stated that monitoring the project will be an on-going process.

With this project, creation of thousands of jobs is targeted to reduce poverty, enhance quality of life and upgrade the overall community socio-economic stand-ing and well-being.

Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson carrying luncerne feed for the goats. Shandukani farm has 180 goats.

No. 8 DAFFnews August 2011 5

Departmental

Minister unveils viable farm projects

The newly appointed Chief Execu-tive Officer of Ncera Farms (Pty) Ltd Mzwamadoda Milton Titimani has committed himself to an “exemplary leadership” and vowed to manage the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ entity in a structured and disciplined manner.

Titimani was welcomed by the DAFF’s Acting Deputy Director-General: Food Security and Agrarian Reform, Mr Mkhululi Mankazana in his capacity as Caretaker of the Board of Ncera Farms (Pty) Ltd and other officials. The CEO’s post has been vacant from last year after the death of the former CEO, Mr Atony Stylianou in September. Since December 2010, the ad-ministration of Ncera has been centralised in the office of the Acting DDG: FS&AR. In the absence of a CEO and Board Mem-bers, the Chief Financial Officer of Ncera, Mr Gert van der Heever, was appointed the Acting CEO until the end of May while Mr Mankazana took responsibility as a Caretaker of the Board.

The CEO, who was oriented to the Ncera Farms by Mankazana and his of-ficials, was pleased by the warm welcome from DAFF and Ncera officials.

When pressed to comment about his new job and future, Titimani said it is still too early to predict during his first day at Ncera. He was quick to point out the issue of turnaround strategy.

“From my observation, I think we need to have a turnaround strategy plan and see how we can change some of the things. Personally, I have seen things that one must be working on from now on,” he said.

He pleaded for support from his col-leagues both at Ncera and everyone at DAFF. Titimani is a qualified agriculturalist with vast experience as he worked in the former Ciskei government, Heifer Interna-tional based in the Eastern Cape and as the Director in the EC Premier’s Office.

At the moment, Ncera Farm comprises 33 permanent workers, including the new CEO and 10 farms. The farm produces dairy, livestock, beef and vegetables.

By Samuel Kgatla

DAFF welcomes new Ncera Farm CEO

Ncera is surrounded by nine villages and provides services such as training in farm management, computer literacy, budgets and contract ploughing. Notably, Ncera was established to provide agricultural extension services, mechanisation support, training and advice on fresh production and marketing, land valuation, animal hus-bandry and animal improvement schemes targeting farmers leasing land around the entity and communities in and around the entity.

Meanwhile, Mr Mankazana stated that the new CEO has got the experience to

run Ncera. He added: “I do have faith that Ncera will produce good products under him. We wanted someone who can engage with the premier, agribusinesses and tradi-tional leaders in the Eastern Cape. Hope he will get the necessary support from his staff and learn a lot from them. Our wish is to see him staying longer, so that he can solidify Ncera Farm. I am sure that he will adapt and do well”.

The Acting DDG assured the new CEO that he will get support from the department as he tries to build Ncera to be one of the strongest and most productive entities.

M r M k h u l u l i M a n k a z a n a , DA F F ’ s A c t i n g Deputy Director-Genera l : Food S e c u r i t y a n d Agriarian Reform, Mr Gert van der H e e v e r , C F O of Ncera Farm welcoming the new CEO of Ncera, Mr Mzwamadoda Milton Titimani.

Ms Mary Mononela, Director: Gender Mainstreaming at DAFF listening to the nes CEO of Ncera Farm, Mr M z w a m a d o d a Milton Titimani during the site v i s i t s t o t h e farms.

August 2011 DAFFnews No. 86

Departmental

This year the Department of Agricul-ture, Forestry and Fisheries in con-junction with the Free State Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development celebrated Youth Day in style.

Each year, on 16 June, South Africa commemorates the anniversary of the Soweto Uprising in 1976, remember-ing the sacrifices the youth made in the struggle for freedom. We remember and celebrate the efforts of the youth of our country in our struggle for liberation and a better life for all.

On 15 June 2011 a successful Youth Day celebration was held in Zastron Out-door Centre outside a small town called Zastron, South of Bloemfontein in the Free State Province. The celebration was part of the Junior LandCare events which are held each year in all provinces as part of making environmental awareness about land degradation and loss of agricul-tural resources. These awareness projects/ events are funded and supported by the Directorate: Land Use and Soil Manage-

ment (LUSM) through a pro-gramme called LandCare. So, a m o n g t h e projects that a r e f unded b y L U S M e ve r y y ea r, Aasvoëlberg Junior Land-Care project is one of them in the Free State Province. Aasvoelberg Junior Land-Care project is a continuous project which started in the financial year 2009/10. The aim of the project is to create awareness and as-sist learners and the teachers involved in the Junior LandCare Programme to understand and implement resource

management principles. The project is addressing critical LandCare issues and assisting groups in implementing their own small projects at the school or in their communities.

In the Free State Province this year Youth Day was celebrated in style by linking together the youth and their land/environ-ment through: Junior LandCare Youth Day celebration!

Among the guests of the celebration day were the MEC of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Free State Province, Mr Zwane, who urged the youth to actively contribute in taking care of our land. “The youth should make sure that the land they are to inherit in future is in the best possible condition by participating in these kind of environmental programmes such as the Junior LandCare Programme.” MEC Mr Zwane told the schoolkids from five dif-ferent schools in the District.

During this Day the kids were educated about the importance of protecting the land and it natural resources.

He further advised the schoolteachers

Junior LandCare Youth Day celebration

Ms Modipadi Kgotlelelo Maboko

Honourable MEC Mr RJ Zwane handing out LandCare branded rulers and pens.

Aasvoelberg Junior LandCare Project in Free State.

to p 7

No. 8 DAFFnews August 2011 7

Departmental

who accompanied the kids for this Junior LandCare Youth Day celebration to inte-grate LandCare activities into a range of topics within the school curriculum or be part of youth club/group activities in order to encourage young people to develop a sense of responsibility to the land and other natural resources.

At the same event several delegates delivered their educational presentation about the conservation of our environ-ment/land and its natural recourses to the kids and highlighted the bad consequenc-es such as global warming that may arise from not taking care of our land. The kids were also provided with the information about the bursary schemes offered by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to qualifying applicants pursuing and/or intending to further their studies in critically scarce skills in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors.

All the speakers emphasised that all young people of South Africa should take a shared responsibility in Caring for the land, they must be the ones initiating these kind of programmes; and be encouraged to participate in programmes like YARD because the youth plays an integral part

in the development of a home for all our people and therefore the youth need to make every effort to involve themselves as young people in agriculture, in order to be equipped so that they can take full ownership of the land that be-longs to them.

After the event there was a tree- planting session were the MEC and other officials plant-ed the trees and advised the youth to plant as many indigenious trees as possible because the trees plays an important role in our lives.

“Viva the South A f r i c an You t h , viva!

Viva Junior Land-Care, viva!”

Honourable MEC Mr RJ Zwane planting trees.

From left, Mr Brandus Strauss, Provincial LandCare Manager, Mr Masingita Chauke, National LandCare Secretariat and MEC for Agriculture Mr RJ Zwane during the Junior LandCare Youth Day in the Free State Province.

Group of Junior LandCare singing LandCare songs.

from p 6

August 2011 DAFFnews No. 88

Departmental

The Department of Agriculture, For-estry and Fisheries hosted a two-day predeparture orientation for DAFF/China Scholarship awardees.

Among the purposes of the orientation was to familiarise the selected candidates with the scholarship before they depart for China. Fifteen selected applicants got an opportunity to be encouraged and given valuable guidelines by different speakers during the event, which was held at the Premier Hotel in Pretoria. According to the Acting Chief Director of Sector Capacity Development, Mr Mokutule Kgobokoe, the purpose of the event was to establish the right frame of mind of the awardees before they leave the country for China.

Mr Kgobokoe alluded that the orienta-tion is set to help them to settle well in China and even at their respective uni-versities. “All the people who will speak in this event are going to help you with the snippets of information that will help you to settle in there. This is a lifetime oppor-tunity and make good use of it,” he said. At the event al l the awardees of the scholarship also saw the avail-ability of some o t h e r DA F F senior members like the acting DDG of Agrar-ian Reform and Food Security, Mr Mkhu lu l i Mankazana. It was clear that the department has the best in-terest of yielding much success t h r ough t h e scholarship as Mr Mankazana motivated the

Lifetime opportunity for awardees of scholarship

By Sipho Dzimba

15 awarded candidates to help the country in many typical aspects.

Other speakers who graced the occa-sion contributed immensely in assisting the selected awardees to have a proper life in China. The awardees also got the opportunity to be provided with the first-hand apexes from the former student who spent some time in China, including Olebogeng Daw. Dr Daw provided some helpful information about the systems of education between the two countries and shared his lifetime experience as well as the academic survival tips in China. He also emphatically spoke about the culture of the Chinese, which seemed to differ im-mensely from that of South Africa.

During the gala dinner, the department’s Director-General, Mr Zita Langa, graced the event. He wished the selected candi-dates good luck during their stay in that country and mentioned several valuable aspects about the scholarship.

The department has been in a position

to provide South African nationals with an opportunity to do postgraduate stud-ies in scarce and critical skills in the fields of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries so in this regard settling into a cooperative agreement with the People’s Republic of China was very strategic.

Earlier this year DAFF hosted China Agriculture University (CAU) from the People’s Republic of China in a bid to consolidate a joint working agreement. The main aim of the collaboration was to further strengthen the development of agricultural aspects between DAFF and the CAU, as well as the relationship between the two countries.

Many of the speakers during the event said that speaking one of the Chinese languages will be vital, especially for their two-year stay in there. However, the selected awardees were urged to work very hard as this seems to be part of the Chinese culture as they can persevere until they accomplish the greatest results.

Pictured are officials from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Awardees of the DAFF/China Scholarship and delegates from the Chinese Embassy.

No. 8 DAFFnews August 2011 9

Departmental

The R16,5-billion take-over of Mass-mart by United States retail giant Wal-mart poses a risk to the South African economy if more stringent conditions are not applied to the merger agree-ment, the government said.

The merger, as it stood, threatened to cause a decline in local manufacturing and production, it said in a statement is-sued by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Rob Davies, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Tina Joemat- Pettersson and Minister of Economic Development Mr Ebrahim Patel.

The three ministers filed papers with the Competition Appeal Court last month seeking to have the Competition Tribu-nal’s decision to approve the merger set aside.

At a media briefing in Pretoria Patel said the government would be derelict in its duty if it did nothing “when there is a clear and compelling evidence of probable job losses or deterioration in the working conditions of South African workers due to increased imports as a result of the proposed transaction”.

Joemat-Pettersson warned the merger could pose a threat to South Africa’s food security through its impact on the agro-processing and farming sectors.

In their joint statement, the ministers spelled out the main risk they believe the merger poses. “The main risk to South Africa that the merger poses is an increase in imports by Walmart-Massmart, caus-ing a decline in local manufacturing and production.”

This risk was across a wide range of consumer product sectors, including agro-processing, the furniture industry, electron-ics, plastics and household goods, as well as clothing and textiles.

“These effects, if realised, will lead to the closure of a number of local businesses and local job losses,” they said.

The sheer scale of Walmart’s interna-tional operations had made government

intervention necessary.“Walmart’s revenue is estimated to be

$408 billion [about R2,7 trillion]—larger than South Africa’s GDP. In 2004, Wal-mart, if it were measured as a country, would have been China’s eighth largest trade partner and would have a GDP larger than 75% of countries worldwide.

“In 1995, no more than 5% of Walmart products were imported; by 2005, this figure had increased exponentially to 60 percent. Walmart’s procurement division employs 1400 employees, sourcing from 6 000 factories across the world, though largely from China.

“Government believes that given Wal-mart’s global purchasing power, the merged entity will significantly increase imports and reduce purchases from local suppliers in South Africa.

“This will affect entire value chains—from the suppliers of raw materials and components, to the producers of the finished product. “Government believes a ripple effect in the sector is inevitable;

competitors of the merged entity will also respond by importing more and procuring less from local suppliers,” they said.

Davies told the briefing it would be a mistake to construe the government’s intervention in the merger as signalling its attitude towards foreign investment.

“We’re dealing with a large merger between a foreign investor and an entity which is already dominated by foreign interests.

“So the fact is that, as a general propo-sition, this is a statement that says some-thing about the approach of government towards foreign investment, that is just completely mistaken,” he said.

The Walmart-Massmart merger was approved by the Competition Tribunal of SA on 31 May this year, subject to certain conditions. The SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union has appealed against this clearance.

The tribunal’s decision has been wel-comed by both Walmart and Massmart.

Merger could pose threat to food security

From left, Minister of Economic Development, Mr Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Rob Davies and Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson.

August 2011 DAFFnews No. 810

Sector

Veterinary services, both private and government sectors, participated in a two-day workshop recently to discuss the ‘Future of veterinary services in the country’. The Department of Agricul-ture, Fisheries and Forestry and vari-ous sectors of the veterinary services attended the event at Emperor’s Pal-ace in order to discuss the challenges facing veterinary services and possible solutions to these challenges.

A number of speakers shared their pres-entations with those in attendance and the main focus centred on the lack of com-munication between the different sectors. The general challenges in the veterinary regulatory services were presented by Dr Mpho Maja, who covered the following challenges: the loss of accountabil-ity, different priorities between provincial management and government manage-ment, unequal provision of budgets and inconsistent application. Concerning diag-nostics and research she emphasised on the uncoordinated provincial laboratory activities, disease monitoring and disease control. According to Maja 80% of human diseases are contracted by animals. Dr Joule Kangumba, Chairperson of the South African Veterinary Laboratory Scientific Forum presented his findings on the state of laboratories in the country. He mentioned that the world trade has tripled in the last 20 years and the import and export of agricultural prod-ucts are increasing every year. The pressure of international traffic is also posing a threat to possible foreign diseases either intentionally or accidently that enter into South Africa. Exam-ples of such diseases are clas-sical swine fever and porcine respiratory syndrome PRRS.

“As a structure we have be-come dependent on OVI for our diagnostics and tests and this is proving to not work in the

country’s favour because of their capacity as scientists and not veterinarians,” said Kangumba. The same scientists have no practical experience and knowledge of animal disease epidemiology. Challenges facing government laboratories are: lack of support by top management, lack of budget dedicated to quality assurance and old equipment/technology.

The private sector’s challenges were not as severe as those mentioned by the previous speakers. The presenta-tion of Dr Danie Odendaal, Manager Livestock Health and Production Group of the South African Veterinary Asso-ciation was on the role of Veterinarians in food security. He emphasised that the communication between the private sector and government is not where it is needed to be in order to serve the public efficiently.

“As private veterinarians we are driven to provide a need to individuals, either emo-tionally or economically. Their required services are paid for by the individual and that is where we excel,” said Odendaal.

He also touched on the role of veterinar-ians, which is to minimise lose because of disease or loss, add value to the end product by certification of the health status, optimise reproduction and ensure the use of cost- effective and safe inputs.

Building fish health capacity in South Af-rica and its relevance to Africa, presented by Qurban Rouhani was an insightful look at aquaculture and how lack of knowl-edge of fish may result in fatal diseases. In South Africa alone the consumption of fish is a growing market and as harvesters of fish we should carefully inspect the fish brought in at our borders. “DAFF officials have very limited training on fish health issues and therefore protocols for fish health inspection need to be tightened,” said Rouhani.

By the end of the workshop an action plan was drawn to ensure that the chal-lenges that were mentioned in the work-shop were dealt with as soon as possible. Reports and further planning were given to various directorates of DAFF in order to maximise time and share the workload.

The future of veterinary services in the country

By Musa Khumalo

No. 8 DAFFnews August 2011 11

Sector

Now in its 16th year, the Working for Water Programme (WFW) and the family of natural resource manage-ment programmes that it in turn gave rise to, continue to demonstrate the success of the concept that was turned into reality by Professor Kader Asmal many years ago.

The landscape is infested with millions of invasive alien plants that have been imported over the past few centuries. It is estimated that of over 9 000 species introduced into the country, nearly 350 are invasive.

These invasive plants now occupy about 20 million ha, which translates into 8,2% of the country’s surface area, and results in the loss of R6,5 billion worth of ecosystem services. The water loss alone amounts to about 7% of the mean annual runoff and this is simply unaffordable for a country whose average annual rainfall is less than half the global average of 860 mm.

It is estimated that by 2025 South Africa will be among 14 African countries bat-tling severe water scarcity, with less than 1 000 cubic metres of water available per person per year.

Experts have over the years sounded the alarm, but the warnings have fallen on deaf ears. Then, in the mid-1990s, com-pelling scientific arguments were presented and government started supporting the eradication of invasive alien plants. It was Prof. Kader Asmal, Minister of the former Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, who requested that R25 million be allo-cated from the RDP Poverty Relief budget the his department, and subsequently the WFW came into being.

WFW showed how biodiversity could be mainstreamed into the country’s agenda for reconstruction and development by combining the conservation of water re-sources and biodiversity with poverty alle-viation and creation of jobs for thousands of people in the country.

Success of the Working for Water Programme

The WFW is having a significant impact on the availability of water resources, especially in those provinces heavily invaded by aggressive invaders such as black wattle, eucalypt, Port Jackson, pine, Lantana and Solanum.

Results from a recent CSIR study in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal showed an annual decrease in water use of 13% and 6% respectively follow-ing the clearing of invasive alien plants by the WFW in the areas investigated in this study.

To date WFW has more than 300 ongoing invasive alien plant eradication projects throughout the country. A total expenditure of over R5,6 billion between 1995 and 2011 has enabled the pro-

gramme to clear invasive alien plants from over one million ha of land. In the process training and work opportuni-ties have been provided for more than 30 000 previously unemployed people on an anual basis, with a focus on women, the disabled, single-parent households, youth and other vulnerable and margin-alised groups.

Its multi-faceted offensive against in-vasive alien plants included components of education, advocacy and support for research and development of biological control agents.

The accomplishments have meant that the programme has been associated with more than 65 national and international awards.

Working for Water team for the last few months who have been manually removing Water Hyacinth from the dam and have been enjoying good success.

August 2011 DAFFnews No. 812

The long-awaited Regulation Relating to the Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs (R146) was finally published on 1 March 2010.

It is applicable to both the labelling and advertising of both prepackaged and non-prepackaged (or bulk stock) foods, and will be enforceable on all foods produced after 1 March 2012. Although the Agricul-tural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990) and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act, 2008 (Act No. 5 of 2008) have authority over the new regulations, notice should be taken. The R146 regulations contain a plethora of information, including 56 regulations, 6 annexures, 8 guidelines, reference to 18 items of other existing legislation, and 108 definitions.

Over the past few years South African consumers have become more health con-scious and are requesting more relevant information on health and nutrition which they can easily understand. With the surge

Labelling and advertising of foodstuffs

second parallel stream of education is focused directly on the consumer. As con-sumers are increasingly more focused on the quality and nutritional characteristics of meat and meat products, newly deter-mined values on the nutrient composition of South African lamb and mutton form the basis of this campaign.

in contradictory media messages relating to health and nutrition, the credibility of the sources of nutritional information become progressively more important to ensure success in any consumer education campaign. The educational campaign of the Sheep Meat Marketing Forum reaches health professionals (doctors, dieticians, nutritionists, etc.) through their scientific organisations, participation at scientific conferences, peer reviewed articles and advertorials in scientific journals. The messages conveyed include the most recent scientific findings on red meat and its role in health and nutrition. Health professionals are considered as one of the most important sources of nutrition information to consumers. By providing them with new, up-to-date information on the health benefits of consuming mutton, consumers would be getting information from a source they trust.

Along with health professionals, the

Sector

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The 9th Southern African Plant Breed-ing Symposium will be held at the Protea Hotel Kruger Gate, Skukuza, from 12 to 14 March, 2012.Visit the website at www.sapba.co.za regularly for updates and informa-tion regarding the conference. Online registration can also be done on the website from 1 August 2011.

SAPBA symposium