SA farmers owe R29.8bn
2002-11-12 13:51
Cape Town - South African farmers are in debt to the tune of R29.8bn, parliament's select committee on land and agricultural affairs heard on Tuesday.
Briefing members of the committee, agriculture department senior manager Johan Venter said R12.5bn of this amount was owed to commercial banks.
Venter defined agricultural debt as "loans granted by financial institutions to farmers".
Besides the money owed to commercial banks, a further R8.9bn was owed to the Land Bank; R3.2m to co-operatives; R4.5bn to other institutions, including private companies; and R783.6m to the department itself.
Venter said debt to the department was "a very small part of the total picture".
About a third of it, R258m, was owed by farmers in North West province.
According to figures handed out to members, R241m of the total amount owed by farmers to the department is "capital in arrears".
- SAPA