Latest news with #LandBank
IOL News
20 hours ago
- Business
- IOL News
Land Bank launches Wine and Spirits Fund to boost transformation in industry
The Land Bank has launched a Wine and Spirits Fund aimed at accelerating transformation in the country's wine and spirits sector, in a partnership backed by the European Union and the South African government. Image: Supplied The Land Bank has launched a Wine and Spirits Fund aimed at accelerating transformation in the country's wine and spirits sector, in a partnership backed by the European Union and the South African government. The initiative forms part of a broader support programme, under Financing Agreement No. ZA/DCI-AFS/040-854, designed to increase the participation of Black-owned businesses in the wine and spirits value chain and enhance global market access for South African products, it said in a statement on Thursday. South Africa, ranked seventh among the world's top wine-producing countries, produced nearly 934 million litres of wine in 2023. The sector contributes an estimated R56.5 billion to gross domestic product. The programme is divided into two components: a R195 million transformation component, managed by Land Bank, and a R98 million marketing and distribution component, led by the National Agricultural Marketing Council. The transformation component will focus on improving access to land, infrastructure, education, and financial resources for Black-owned enterprises. Land Bank CEO Themba Rikhotso said, 'South Africa is recognised as one of the leading countries in the production of wine, which is exported throughout the world. Land Bank is delighted by the support of the EU. It will drive a transformation agenda in the wine and spirits sector, which has historically not been fully inclusive in its production value chain.' Applications for the fund open on June 19, 2025. Qualifying applicants must be Black-owned and managed enterprises within the wine and spirits industry. (For more information go to Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ EU Ambassador to South Africa Sandra Kramer described the partnership as 'ground-breaking' and said it would promote equitable access to land and education while strengthening export capabilities for Black-owned brands in non-EU markets. The EU's contribution of €10 million (R207m) will provide successful applicants with access to either direct grants of between R500 000 and R3.5 million or equity-linked funding of up to R10m in partnership with Land Bank and other financial institutions. BUSINESS REPORT Visit:
Daily Maverick
12-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Retail giants step in with millions of rands to help entrepreneurs on their way up
South Africa's small businesses shoulder a heavy load, employing about 13.4 million people, and more than 70% of them don't make it past the seven-year mark. This week, Woolworths and Mr Price joined the growing queue of corporates trying to fix that, pledging millions towards entrepreneurship and empowerment. The business of doing good Woolworths is framing its new Inclusive Justice Institute as a practical demonstration of corporate empowerment, with the minister of small business development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, endorsing it as a model for retail-led development. Backed by R300-million in funding — R200-million from Woolworths and R100-million from the Land Bank for emerging farmers — the institute will operate through two non-profit arms. One focuses on developing suppliers and the other on community programmes like food security and education. The retailer says it increased its procurement from SMMEs by 42% to R4-billion last year, and donated R816-million worth of surplus food to under-resourced communities. Woolworths' corporate social justice director, Zinzi Mgolodela, said: 'Our support for MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises] has helped stimulate economic growth by empowering beneficiaries to create jobs and expand their businesses. 'Through our NGO partnerships, we support rural and semi-urban communities to grow food and become self-sufficient, and our education initiatives have improved learning in under-resourced schools and promoted child safety, giving children the opportunity to thrive in safe, supportive environments.' The Land Bank's CEO, Themba Rikhotso, said: 'This initiative aligns directly with Land Bank's mission of empowering previously disadvantaged communities and to increase the inclusion of emerging farmers in the commercial agricultural sector, thereby enhancing the country's long-term food security.' Fishing for hustlers under 35 Meanwhile, Mr Price's Bindzu Youth Fund offers black and youth-owned businesses the chance to apply for R3-million in grant funding, spread across bootcamp training, mentorship and seed capital. The retailer's efforts seem to be focused on the right goal. Data from FinScope indicate that 30% of SMME owners are under the age of 35. To qualify, applicants must have been operating for at least 12 months, be between the ages of 18 and 34, and earn less than R5-million in annual turnover. The foundation says the goal is to help young entrepreneurs cross the resource chasm, which kills most early startups. 'The country has no shortage of young minds with bright ideas and business know-how,' said the foundation. 'So, although training and mentorship have been foundational to the success of young entrepreneurs, a greater need lies in real resources, and the willingness to release these resources to the youth.' The closing date to apply to the Mr Price Foundation is 30 June. Credit desert According to the Tips State of Small Business in South Africa 2024 report, SMMEs secure considerably less external funding than large corporations. They receive a paltry 13% of total bank credit. Corporations gobble up 51%, while regular consumer clients get 36%, which leaves small enterprises starved of working capital. The Woolworths and Mr Price programmes signal that retailers are no longer content to just manage supply chains but want to manufacture credibility. With government interventions slow and often mired in inefficiency, the private sector is positioning itself as both rescuer and reinforcer of South Africa's SMME ecosystem. DM
IOL News
12-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Government's commitment to empowering smallholder farmers through land reform and financial support
Deputy President Paul Mashatile Mashatile also said several strides have been made towards improving access to funding and resource support for small-scale and smallholder farmers in terms of production support and market access. Image: Siyabulela Duda/GCIS Deputy President Paul Mashatile said on Thursday that the government is playing a crucial role in ensuring that small farmers become sustainable and thriving enterprises, aligned to the country's land reform and rural development objectives. Responding during the question-and-answer session, Mashatile said the government supported smallholder farmers in rural areas through the agriculture agro-processing master plan. 'The master plan aims to enhance agricultural products, promote agro-processing, and enhance market access by creating capacity, accelerating land reform, and offering financial assistance to farmers,' he said. He was responding to ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli, who observed that the smallholder farming sector is still unable to access credit from commercial banks due to the rigid qualification criteria of the banks, which have the effect of being discriminatory and exclusionary. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ntuli asked about the government's measures to accelerate agricultural support, implemented, and considered to assess the extent to which commercial banks can contribute towards growing the agricultural sector by adjusting their qualification criteria to smallholder farmers in rural and underdeveloped provinces. Mashatile said the government was implementing support instruments to allow qualified potential producers to participate in the agricultural sector. 'These instruments are provided to eligible producers in the form of grants, loans, or a mix of both. This includes the grant-based Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme and the loan and grant-based blended finance scheme.' He stated that through the blended finance scheme, the Land Bank, the Development Bank of South Africa, and the Department of Agriculture offer blended finance where grants were combined with loans to provide a more manageable financial package for emerging farmers. 'These interventions are implemented to ensure optimal participation of smallholder farmers, particularly from rural areas, and other producers in the agricultural sector, regardless of their scale of production.' Mashatile also said several strides have been made towards improving access to funding and resource support for small-scale and smallholder farmers in terms of production support and market access. 'We are also committed to leveraging trade agreements in agricultural products through the Africa Continental Free Trade Area to boost intra-Africa trade, eliminate trade barriers and promote regional value chains. If we effectively utilise regional structures like the Africa continental free trade area, our smallholder farmers will have a platform to access larger regional markets and potentially benefit from increased demand for their products.' He said they were actively seeking to expand agricultural market access to countries like Japan, particularly for citrus fruits and avocados. In a follow-up question, DA MP Willie Aucamp said most smallholder farmers still do not own the land they farm on, and they, therefore, cannot provide that land as security for the loans. Aucamp asked about steps being taken to ensure that the title deeds of land were transferred from the State to the people who farm on it so that they can easily obtain loans for working capital. In response, Mashatile said one of the programmes that they were busy with was to ensure that most of those who have land transferred to them should also get title deeds to those pieces of land. "That programme is on the table as we speak.' He also said that the Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, and the Minister of Land Reform, Mzwanele Nyhontso, are collaborating to ensure that the problem of smallholder farmers still without title deeds to their land was addressed. 'You may have noticed that the Minister of Land Reform has been going around releasing more land, but also dealing with this very issue of ensuring titles. There is a bit of a challenge in rural areas because we also have to engage with the chiefs and the traditional leaders, and so on. Sometimes in some areas, the traditional leaders will say no, they must hold the title for everybody, and there is tension there, but we are busy dealing with it.'
IOL News
12-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Mashatile promises land back to the people —without the banks taking it again
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has promised to return the land to the people and take it from the banks. Image: Bongiwe Mchunu / Independent Newspapers Deputy President Paul Mashatile delivered a firm commitment in Parliament: the new government will return the land to the people - and ensure they don't lose it again to banks. Answering questions in the National Assembly on Thursday, Mashatile said the government was determined to protect land reform beneficiaries from being trapped by commercial debt. 'Our role as a new government is to return the land to the people and do it in such a way that we protect them from the commercial banks,' he said. 'We don't want a situation where they lose land again because of loans.' The questions about land ownership were asked by the DA MP, Willie Aucamp and MK Party MP, Andile Mngxitama. Mashatile also explained that most land-related funding currently comes from state institutions like the Land Bank and other government financial entities. But he acknowledged that commercial finance still plays a role - one that must be tightly regulated to prevent exploitation. 'We must also tap into resources in commercial banks, but with state support so people are not exploited. We are doing exactly that, he said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Addressing concerns over support for emerging farmers, Mashatile pointed to the estimated two million small-scale farmers already receiving government assistance. 'It's not enough to give land,' he said. 'You must support people to till that land. That's what we're doing with the Land Bank and other institutions.' One of the key challenges, Mashatile admitted, is the lack of title deeds - particularly among older farmers and those in rural areas. This limits access to credit, as commercial banks demand security. A programme is underway, he said, to issue title deeds to land reform beneficiaries. Earlier this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Act. The Act aims to allow the government to acquire private property for public purposes or in the public interest. But the government must tread carefully in traditional areas. 'Sometimes traditional leaders say they must hold the title for everyone,' Mashatile noted. 'We have to engage with them.' Collaboration between the Ministers of Agriculture and Land Reform, he added, is ongoing to resolve these complexities - and ensure land reform delivers real, lasting change IOL Politics
GMA Network
24-05-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
DMW insists OWWA land deal 'anomalous'
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has refuted former Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Arnell Ignacio's claim that the P1.4-billion land acquisition deal went through proper legal channels. Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac, along with other DMW officials, said that critical steps—most notably, obtaining approval from the OWWA Board of Trustees—were entirely bypassed. According to Cacdac, under established law, any transaction and subsequent modifications involving OWWA properties must be presented to and approved by the Board of Trustees—which includes DMW representatives. However, the decision to purchase the property and alter key provisions in the Deed of Absolute Sale was never disclosed to the board. 'What we observed was an anomalous process. The money, which was refunded following our intervention, should have been produced as proof immediately,' Cacdac stated during an interview with GMA Integrated News. DMW officials detailed that in September 2024, Ignacio amended the deed to shift the responsibility for the local transfer tax. The original document clearly held OWWA accountable for the tax, but a later version redirected this obligation to involve a P36 million payment—a significant change that was made without notifying the board. The investigation uncovered that Ignacio failed to disclose the presence of a leasing tenant occupying the property. The board later discovered that OWWA had, in effect, assumed the role of 'landlord' without formal approval. In a pointed exchange, Cacdac questioned Ignacio's account of the transaction. 'I asked, 'Where is the rent?' and learned that it was still being collected by the previous landowner—someone who, without board approval, was authorized to act as a private rent collector for an amount reportedly around P1.4 million,' Cacdac explained. He added that such practices run counter to standard procedures and exacerbate concerns over financial transparency. Ignacio had earlier defended his actions by insisting that all transactions were reported to the board and that the property's valuation was properly assessed by the Land Bank of the Philippines—the designated government financial institution. 'It is the LandBank that determined the value, and the amount paid by OWWA reflects that assessment,' Ignacio said. However, Cacdac argued that the LandBank's reliance on the Right of Way Law was misplaced. 'That law is not applicable to this purchase, especially when there's no approved national infrastructure project and no board sanction to invoke it,' he said. DMW officials have already expanded their inquiry to the tax aspects of the deal. They are currently consulting with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to determine whether the proper tax—possibly value-added tax rather than capital gains tax—was applied, given that the seller is a realty corporation. As the investigation continues, DMW remains committed to demanding full transparency and adherence to protocol in all transactions involving public funds. — VBL, GMA Integrated News
