It is hypocritical for the Mpumalanga Government to talk about job creation while at the same time they are directly contributing to the ever-increasing unemployment rate in the province.
The 2021/22 Annual Report of the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs reveals that out of 1 917 posts within the department, only 1 069 are filled. Translating to a vacancy rate of 44.2%. The DA finds this extremely concerning taking into consideration that Mpumalanga has an expanded unemployment rate of 48.1%. This department is then directly contributing to this unemployment rate.
Agriculture being pivotal to our province’s food security and acknowledging its importance in recent times, it is completely unacceptable that the department has to operate with 44.2% less staff- especially in a province that is facing such huge unemployment rate.
The DA thus questions how this department can ensure sustainable resource management, provide support to farmers and deal with extremely high levels of pollution in the province without the requisite technical staff.
As per the 2021/22 Annual Report, the below-mentioned programmes were identified to have the following vacancy rates:
• Rural Development- 58.50%
• Sustainable Resource Management- 51.8%
• Farmer Support and Development- 50.7%
• Environmental Affairs- 44.10%
• Veterinary Services- 37.70%
Given our extremely high unemployment rate in the province, the DA condemns the above staff shortages as the department failed to meet planned targets in the 2021/22 financial year. As per the 2021/22 annual report, the Department failed to:
• Meet the target of the number of samples collected for targeted animal surveillance by 2 731.
• Meet the target of 179 618 samples/ test for controlled animal disease surveillance by 128 844.
• Meet the target of 507 834 animal vaccinations against controlled animal diseases by 126 107.
• Meet the target of linking 300 farmers to the Government Nutrition Programme by 291.
Acknowledging the above, the DA has written to department’s MEC, Busisiwe Shiba, asking her to ensure that the vacant posts in her department are filled as a matter of urgency as this is compromising job opportunities and severely affecting service delivery in the province.