News highlights of 2020
JANUARY
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
Cabinet accepted 60 of the 73 recommendations made in the report by the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture, including the recommendation to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation. However, the panel’s report was met with resistance from some agriculture associations.
DROUGHT PERSISTS DESPITE RAIN
Farmers in the drought-stricken regions of South Africa expressed gratitude for the rain that had fallen since the end of the previous year, but follow-up rain was urgently needed to break the ongoing drought. They said it would take a considerable number of years for the veld to recuperate fully, and for farmers to build up their livestock herds.
FREE STATE CRIME SYNDICATES
Organised crime groups and syndicates were increasingly targeting the agriculture sector in the Free State, with at least 50 property theft syndicates operating in the province at the time. Thousands of rands worth of products and other items had been stolen from storage facilities on farms, including copper cables, diesel, farming equipment, livestock, and agricultural produce.
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR GUN OWNERS
A settlement reached with Minister of Police Bheki Cele, National Commissioner of Police General Khehla Sitole, and the National Hunting and Shooting Association with regard to the amnesty on firearms, levelled the playing field for gun owners and would result in a more reasonable administrative process for new firearm licence applications.
FEBRUARY
FALL ARMYWORM OUTBREAKS IN THREE PROVINCES
Serious damage to grain fields due to fall armyworm infestations were reported in Mpumalanga, Gauteng and northern KwaZulu-Natal in the 2019/2020 production season.
NEAR-RECORD MAIZE HARVEST EXPECTED
Prof Johan Willemse, an agricultural economist, predicted a maize harvest of between 15 million and 16 million tons for the 2019/2020 production season. He said a maize surplus was thus possible that would enable exports and result in export parity price levels.
COMMODITIES
Uncertainty about the impact of
