Members of the portfolio committee on Agriculture in the National Assembly have expressed deep concerns over the collapse of the Ncera Macadamia Farming Project, one of Buffalo City Metro and the province’s key agricultural initiatives.
The parliamentary delegation and portfolio committee members on Agriculture conducted a week-long oversight visit to various agricultural projects across the Eastern Cape.
The committee first visited the Ncera Macadamia Farming Project, one of the province’s flagship agricultural projects meant to empower several villages in Ncera in the Buffalo City Metro, and were shocked by the poor and dilapidated state of the project.
The committee members have since expressed concerns over the collapse of the project, calling for all individuals involved in the project’s failure to be held accountable.
Agriculture MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe confirmed that the project has collapsed and ceased operations in 2024.
“The committee members have called on all individuals involved in the Ncera Macadamia Farming Project’s failure to be held accountable,” said Kontsiwe.
The project’s financial problems started in 2023 when protesting workers and their supervisors failed to resolve salary grievances, leading to workers downing tools.
Through the District Development Model (DDM), a government initiative aimed at improving the functioning of municipalities, Deputy President Paul Mashatile visited the Buffalo City Metro and met with business representatives, small-scale farmers and farm workers, where he highlighted the importance of the Ncera farming project.
The Ncera Macadamia Farming Project, which produced and sold macadamia nuts on the open market, was started in 2008 and ceased operations in 2024.
Meanwhile, Kontsiwe also officially handed over a multipurpose shearing shed to 50 farmers from Pirie Mission near Dimbaza as part of ‘Taking the legislature to the people’ legacy projects.
The Amahleke Woolgrowers Association is a community-based group formed by local sheep-owners. The association consists of 50 members, 27 males and 23 females, and is now managing 2,088 sheep.
