'i Don't Want To Lose A Single Farmer': Steenhuisen Amid Agriculture Storm

Minister of agriculture John Steenhuisen said South Africa needed to be proactive about protecting its agriculture sector. The country is threatened by tariffs from the US and could be excluded from the African Growth and Opportunity Act Agoa.

His remarks came after the US accused the South African government of confiscating land, and offered Afrikaners asylum in the US. Organisations such as AfriForum have declined the offer.

Briefing reporters on Tuesday in Cape Town, the minister was asked if he knew of any Afrikaans farmers accepting the asylum offer, to which he said he was not aware of any who wanted to leave, nor would he want to lose any farmer to the US.

I dont want to lose a single farmer from South Africa whether they are Afrikaans, English, whether they are black, white, Indian or coloured, we cannot afford to lose a single farmer.

Im not surprised that people want our farmers because we have the best farmers and farmworkers in the world. The fact that we are able to compete as an agricultural sector against heavily subsidised northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere competitors and still are able to hold our own is attributed to the fact that our farmers and farm workers are the best in the world. We cant afford to lose them.