New legislation that could see commercial farmers getting allocated less water would have a devastating impact on agriculture, warns Agri SA.
AlgoaFM reports that the Department of Water and Sanitation’s proposed new water licensing regulations would require successful applicants to have up to a 75% black South African shareholding.
Agri SA says should these regulations be passed in their current form, they will have a devastating impact on the sector and its ability to provide the country with a secure food supply.
The organisation’s Legal and Policy Executive, Janse Rabie, says because the regulations focus solely on ownership, to the exclusion of all other relevant factors, this would mean the loss, or partial loss, of water resources for numerous commercial farming enterprises.
He says according to the draft regulations, certain enterprises applying for water-use licences will in the future have to allocate shares of up to 75% to black South Africans in order for such water licences to be granted.
Rabie is quoted as saying: ‘This means that should those licence procedures be forced, applicants will have to demonstrate the transformation targets. We believe that these prescribed Black Economic Empowerment targets are both unrealistic and unlawful.’
This could not have come at a worse time for the farming sector and the economy, which was already reeling from the impact of load-shedding, rural crime, and deteriorating public infrastructure.
According to Algoa FM, Agri SA acknowledges that water belongs to all of South Africa’s people and fully appreciates the importance of achieving an inclusive and fairly representative agricultural sector.
The window for comment on the proposed Revision of Regulations regarding the Procedural Requirements for Water Use License Applications and Amendments closes on 18 July.