The Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs, Ms Thoko Didiza, met with the MECs for Agriculture from the nine provinces and Agriculture State Owned Enterprises at a special Minister and MECs (MinMEC) meeting in Pretoria today. One of the most pertinent issues discussed was the formal constitution of MinMEC, which will be known as the National Intergovernmental Forum for Agriculture and Land (NIFAL).
All the comments from these groups were analysed and consolidated into the draft AgriBEE charter proposed by the steering committee. The draft AgriBEE Charter was thus published on 2 November with the objective of such further negotiations by the steering committee and culminating in this AgriBEE Indaba. The AgriBEE steering committee engaged in various pre-indaba stakeholder consultation sessions as a pre-cursor to the indaba.
During the gathering of over 500 Extension Officers of the Department of Agriculture, Eastern Cape at Good News Centre in King Williams Town yesterday, the Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs, Ms Thoko Didiza, expressed her gratefulness for the commitment shown by the officers to serve people despite the challenges in the working environment.