The Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD), under the leadership of Premier Panyaza Lesufi, continues to fail the people of Gauteng by missing critical job creation and food security targets.
During the first quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year, the department reported zero green jobs created out of a target of 200, zero hectares of land rehabilitated out of a target of 600, and zero hectares cultivated out of a target of 200. This means hundreds of job opportunities were lost, opportunities that could have helped struggling families put food on the table in a province already suffering from crippling unemployment.
These failures are not isolated incidents. In its 2024/2025 Annual Report, GDARD created only 200 jobs, falling short of its target of 650. The pattern is clear: year after year, promises are made, targets are missed, and ordinary residents are left without support.
While GDARD points fingers at delays with conditional grants and national approvals, there is no evidence of urgency, strong intergovernmental engagement, or creative solutions from the provincial department to keep farmers afloat. Excuses do not feed families. Excuses do not build resilient food systems.
Even more alarming is the department’s reckless financial management. Despite spending over 94% of its quarterly budget, nearly all of it was absorbed by administrative overheads and irregular salary payments for the Department of Environment, leaving virtually nothing for real agricultural development. In other words, money was spent, but communities received nothing.
On Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), the contrast between national leadership and Gauteng’s failure could not be starker. Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen and the national department acted swiftly to secure vaccines into the country, and the Minister personally launched a vaccination drive at Karan Beef earlier this year to protect the livestock sector. Yet in Gauteng, critical veterinary staff were pulled away from routine services without a proper plan, paralysing other essential veterinary functions and undermining the effectiveness of the vaccine rollout. National intervention has been strong, but Gauteng’s poor provincial management has left farmers exposed.
Where Premier Lesufi’s government fails, the Democratic Alliance would act decisively. A DA-led Gauteng government would redirect spending from bloated administration to frontline delivery, fast-track approvals for conditional grants, and implement bridge funding to ensure farmers are not left stranded by bureaucratic delays. Every rand spent would translate into tangible benefits for farmers and communities.
Gauteng cannot afford another quarter of empty promises, wasted budgets, and missed opportunities. The DA will continue to fight for accountability, fiscal discipline, and a Gauteng Department of Agriculture that delivers real jobs, stronger food security, and genuine hope for rural communities.