MAILBAG
Drought relief: Maplotters, do your bit
S
ir ~ I have been very
busy trying to acquire
land (veld grass) for a
crowd called "Boere in Nood"
who are ostensibly seeking
large tracts of land where they
can send in a team of tractors
complete with rakes, balers
and transport so as to provide
fodder relief for farmers of all
kinds in need throughout
South Africa.
The drought has hit us
Gautengers hard, but not half
as hard as it has hit other
provinces and let's face it, we
in Gauteng are hardly the
bread basket of the country.
My neighbour, (whose vacant
anyway.
property I care for) has a
At a push it can be justified as reasonable stand of eragrostis
rural development if it is
that could yield 150 bales. I
happening in rural areas. But would normally just cut this
townships cannot be categor- grass and leave it but this year
ised as rural areas. Their
I thought it would be better if
priorities need to be readit could be baled and sent to
dressed!
farmers in need. So, I got
Ramona Vos
hold of Afgri who put me in
East Rand
Continued on page 6
Agri Dept funds rural township mini-parks
S
ir ~ I was appalled to
read recently that the
Gauteng Dept of
Agriculture & Rural
Development (GDARD) has
funded mini-parks for
disadvantaged communities in
rural areas and townships.
There is a department of sport
and recreation: why aren't
they funding recreational
areas? The agriculture
department would do better
to spend its money on greater
support for smallholders,
small scale farmers and
commercial operatives
throughout the province.
Where are the extension
officers when we need them?
What happened to the West
Rand Agricultural training
institute that your magazine
wrote about years ago – has
GDARD helped to make it a
reality?
Instead the department
proudly trumpets the fact it is
spending money on parks,
which should be being
provided by municipalities
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