Pretoria - Agri SA has congratulated the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on the successful 2019 national and provincial elections.
"It is no small task to manage a fundamental democratic task on such a large scale. Agri SA also wishes to thank every South African who exercised their right to vote," Agri SA executive director Omri van Zyl said on Sunday.
“Agri SA works closely with parliament to inform our national representatives on various issues affecting agriculture as a whole. A new parliament brings new opportunities to further strengthen trusted relationships with the representatives of South Africa. It is a new parliament with some new faces, but luckily Agri SA has built up the trust and position of authority among parliamentarians to pick up where we left off,” he said.
Agri SA would continue to advocate for sound economic policy supportive of agriculture and aimed at job creation. Agri SA focused on five policy areas related to agriculture - labour and development, farm safety, trade and economics, natural resources, and land. Each of these areas were staffed with experts who regularly engaged with various stakeholders, including government officials and members of parliament, Van Zyl said.
Agri SA head of communication and corporate affairs Pietman Roos said a lot was made about election predictions, but the real work began now and it entailed a coherent strategy to inform individual decision makers while communicating policy concepts to the public.
”Constitutional democracy entails more than voting, it is about actively engaging on policy issues that impact the country. Some may feel parliament is often a rubber-stamp, it is certainly not if advocacy is approached in the right way,” Roos said.
Agri SA looked forward to the constituting of the sixth parliament and the policy development that would be driven by this institution.