Note to Editors: Attached please find a soundbite in English here and Afrikaans here by Bronwynn Engelbrecht MPL.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng has voted against the 2026/2027 budget for the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) because it fails to give provincial farmers, farmworkers, food producers, and vulnerable households confidence that service delivery will improve.
The department is asking for more money while its own performance report shows weak delivery, delayed procurement, underspending, missed targets and poor accountability. This negatively affects emerging farmers in the province who require assistance from the department regarding training and equipment. This also hinders the creation of more job opportunities in the province.
In the 2025/26 financial year the department spent only 88% of its adjusted budget for the year, and in the fourth quarter, it spent just 66% of the budget. Conditional grants meant to support farmers and agricultural projects were delayed and underspent. Rollovers exceeding R58 million are being requested. This is not a funding problem alone, but a planning, procurement and leadership problem.
The department failed to establish any of its six targeted agricultural infrastructure projects and only achieved 11 hectares out of a target of 200 hectares for conservation agriculture. Furthermore, it rehabilitated only two out of 150 hectares and failed to initiate a single disaster relief scheme despite the FMD crisis.
The department’s R742.6 million budget sees Veterinary Services receiving a 67% increase, with R63.9 million of this being allocated to curbing outbreaks of Foot and Mouth (FMD) disease. However, the DA Gauteng is concerned that no plan has been provided on how the department intends to spend this money. Despite several requests, the department has provided no quarantine support plan or vaccine stock reconciliation. There is no updated list of vaccinated animals, no movement control lists, and no roadblock lists conducted.
Premier Panyaza Lesufi himself admitted in his 2026 State of the Province Address that Gauteng is facing the most severe and prolonged FMD outbreak in recent history. He assured the public that strict controls on livestock movement, quarantine, and vaccination measures would be implemented, along with heightened roadblocks and a coordinated communication campaign. Like many of his promises, the Premier’s assurances on fighting the FMD outbreak have not yet materialised.
The DA would do things differently by reporting publicly on how every rand of the R63.9 million FMD allocation would be spent. We would work directly with municipalities, organised agriculture, private veterinarians, auction houses, livestock owners, and law enforcement to curb the spread of FMD.
We would protect conditional grants by ensuring business plans are approved early, procurement starts on time, and rollovers become the exception rather than the norm. We would publish every capital project with its location, budget, implementing agent, status, and completion date.
Agriculture is not about land and livestock. It is about food, jobs, dignity, and survival. The DA rejected the department’s budget because Gauteng’s farmers deserve better than excuses, delayed procurement, hidden FMD spending and empty promises. We will continue to fight for a budget that delivers, not a budget that disappoints.