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GAME INDUSTRY TRENDS ANALYSIS 2024
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Role Players Voice Concerns Over Promises Made During SONA 2025
Role players voice concerns over promises made during SONA 2025
By Octavia Avesca Spandiel | 7 February 2025 | 11:45 am
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2025 highlighted key interventions aimed at strengthening South Africa’s agriculture sector.
President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 6 February in Cape Town. Photo: X | @Governmentza
While some stakeholders welcomed the commitments made by Ramaphosa, others remained sceptical about their implementation.
Challenges such as infrastructure deterioration, regulatory inefficiencies, and the global agricultural trade landscape continued to pose obstacles to the sector’s growth, according to some role players.
A balancing act for agriculture
Speaking to Farmer’s Weekly, Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz, said that while South Africa’s agriculture sector had grown over the past three decades, significant challenges remained.
“Although South Africa’s agriculture [sector] has more than doubled in size, inefficiencies at ports, deteriorating roads, rural crime and stock theft, rising global protectionism, and inept municipalities remain significant hurdles,” said Sihlobo.
And while Sihlobo remained cautiously optimistic, he added that the release of 2,5 million hectares of state-owned land to appropriately ed beneficiaries with title deeds for the purposes of land reform was not mentioned during the SONA.
“Combined with the reforms outlined in the SONA and the opening of new export markets, land allocation would help us grow the sector and close the dualism that has made South Africa a ‘Country of Two Agricultures’,” Sihlobo said.
Regulatory challenges in cannabis production
The cannabis industry, which has been positioned as a potential growth sector for agriculture, also featured in the SONA.
Trenton Birch, CEO of Cheeba Africa, told Farmer’s Weekly he had concerns about the regulatory framework surrounding medical cannabis production.
“The industry is very conflicted. The regulatory framework in this country needs to be based on an African solution, not international models that do not fit our unique socio-economic dynamics,” Birch says.
He added that the current EU Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards imposed on local cannabis growers exporting to Europe were “restrictive”, and “monopolised by big pharmaceutical interests”.
“We are allowed to grow medicine [cannabis] for the international market, but not for our own people, which is completely irrational. This is big pharma trying to control the situation,” Birch said.
According to Birch, local markets needed to be developed alongside international trade to ensure sustainable industry growth.
Scepticism over implementation
Bennie van Zyl, general manager of TLU SA, told Farmer’s Weekly, that he was sceptical about government’s ability to deliver on the promises made during the SONA, arguing that implementation had historically fallen short.
“Every year, we hear grand promises, but in practice, we see little to no implementation. Why should we trust the President this time?” Van Zyl said.
He raised concerns about crumbling infrastructure, particularly that of roads and ports, which significantly impacted agricultural operations.
“Farmers in certain areas have to drive an extra 200km just to get their produce to market because roads have collapsed and haven’t been repaired in years,” he said.
Electricity supply remained another critical issue.
“We need a sustainable electricity supply, especially for cold chains, irrigation, and processing. I’m not convinced that Eskom is on the path to recovery,” he added.
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