MEC Elzabe Rockman delivered her 2026/27 budget vote at Thabo Thokoza Secondary School on Thursday (23/4), where she responded to the debate by stressing the importance of responsible public spending.

She warned departments must remain vigilant about how funds are allocated, highlighting the difference between ineffective and impactful investment.

“A rand spent on a tractor for a farmer who has no water, inadequate production, and no offtake agreement is a scattered rand. But a rand spent on the full value chain, water title, extension, production and market is a transformative rand.

‘Funding allocations must be guided by proper farm plans that clearly 
map out pathways for growth’

“We must continuously ask ourselves before we allocate funding whether we are spending a scattered rand or a transformative rand.”

Funding allocations must be guided by proper farm plans that clearly map out pathways for growth, Rockman said. Commonage management should only be prioritised where management structures comply with relevant by-laws.

She highlighted the urgent need for municipalities to expand land availability for commonage use, noting many existing commonages are overpopulated and overgrazed. Municipalities should work proactively with land reform and rural development authorities to secure additional land.

Commonages remain key enablers of local economic development and hold significant potential to grow the agricultural sector in the province, she said. Municipalities should prioritise the reestablishment of animal pounds, describing them as critical institutions for public safety, managing overpopulation, and ensuring animal welfare.

“We have noted work undertaken by our municipalities such as Dihlabeng, Mohokahare, Maluti-A-Phofung and Mantsopa to reinvest in their pounds. The resuscitation and re-establishment of pounds are critical to maintaining bi-security measures and movement control,” she said.

During the budget vote debate, FF Plus MPL Armand Cloete acknowledged that Rockman’s department is making efforts to listen and consult. But he said the picture looks different at the ground level. (FMD) vaccines are simply not reaching the areas where they are most needed in time.

An impossible choice

“In Harrismith, for example, a farmer with a herd of 10,000 cattle has only received 3,000 vaccines. How does that farmer decide which animals to vaccinate and which not? It is an impossible choice.”

It highlights a core problem: the department must ensure effective systems are in place to channel resources first to the areas and farmers most severely affected, Cloete said. “The province does not only need vaccines, but very urgently, many more. We hope that the R26m (the MEC) referred to will be directed purposefully toward this.”

The Free State agricultural sector is functioning under “tremendous pressure”, he added. “Rising input costs, deteriorating infrastructure, stock theft, biosecurity threats, and limited access to markets are daily realities.

“In this environment, the department’s role should be clear: to support, empower, and protect. But too often, the department becomes a stumbling block rather than a partner.”

Under-expenditure on critical programmes, while communities at ground level receive little to no support, remained the norm, he said. “Glamorous plans are presented, but implementation remains weak, fragmented, and inconsistent.”

Rockman pushed back against claims that commonages are a primary driver of the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. More than 80% of outbreaks in the province have occurred on commercial farms, arguing that some sectors are unfairly targeting government-managed commonages in the ongoing FMD debate.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi sm

• Have a news tip to share? Phone or whatsapp the OFM News Hotline: 066 487 1427.