After interacting with farmers, I decided to drive to some small towns of the Karoo to see if the provincial and local governments are doing their part in maintaining roads, service delivery, and improving the quality of life of our people.
If we are to talk about agritourism, profitability of the farming business, education and social well-being of families, adequate and effective service delivery is a bedrock of everything. Failure to deliver this critical function adds costs to family farms and agribusinesses, creating a sense of despair in the communities.
I traversed parts of the Western and Northern Cape within the Karoo region. I must say, the Western Cape government has done a fair job of maintenance on provincial roads and small gravel roads. This makes the journey pleasurable for tourists in all vehicle types. Therefore, tourists should have no concerns about road conditions across the province. Importantly, better roads enable farmers to reliably deliver their goods to markets, and easily go to church, and schools.
In the Northern Cape, there is room for improvement. The main provincial roads are in fair condition and are continuously maintained, bringing much-needed construction jobs to the towns and communities. Still, the small gravel roads seem to have not seen a grader in while. This makes agritourism a challenge. Therefore, one can argue that the potential of tourism is suboptimal in the province.
Moreover, delivering lamb to the abbatior, wool to the Chinese market, becomes a cost burden to the farmers. The ultimate impact on both tourism and agriculture is felt by communities through high levels of unemployment and deepening poverty — leaving some towns in a sense of despair.
Despite some encouraging signs, we would like the provincial government of the Northern Cape to answer some questions about this incomplete housing project, in an area that so deeply needs it. During our visit, we could see spot signs and a few incomplete houses. Even worrying, there were people taking away the building material instead of offloading. One wonders what is going on here.
Therefore, the task of changing this profound challenge is in our hands. We need proper management of limited resources, weed out corruption, and bring capable individuals to municipalities with a sense of urgency and purpose to serve the people.
The programme of action from municipalities and provincial government is clear — let’s get the basics right and focus on improving the network industries, beautifying the towns, water infrastructure issues, etc.
Some may wonder why I speak on matters of local government. The reality is that they impact farmers and agribusiness. This has been clear for some time in the Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index, where respondents (agribusinesses and farmers) have consistently highlighted these matters as constraints to business activity.
So, while I write from the Karoo, this is a reality across most South African provinces and municipalities. Therefore, I cannot agree more with President Ramaphosa’s latest statements that put effective provincial and local government as one of the top priorities for the 7th administration. We await and hope for better outcomes from the administration.
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