John Steenhuisen and ‘podbro’ Roman Cabanac have a hard row to hoe

By Tracey Lomax-Nixon

The appointment of Roman Cabanac, podcaster and member of the Purple Cow Party, to the position of Chief of Staff to the Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has raised numerous eyebrows, with people citing his previous tweets and utterances as proof of his racism.

This article won’t deal with that. What I find astonishing about the appointment is that Steenhuisen appears to have no experience in agriculture. He will need to surround himself with people who do have such experience. Cabanac is not such a person.

As Chief of Staff, Cabanac’s role will be that of a strategic advisor to Steenhuisen. He will have to formulate strategies, set priorities and ensure that the vision of the Minister is implemented.

Yes, he will also have a role in co-ordinating activities and communication but that will, in itself, require him to oversee staff members. How do you act as overseer when you don’t know the subject? More alarming, chiefs of staff are often made project leaders on specific initiatives.

Is this a case of the blind leading the blind?

Is this a case of the blind leading the blind? Or do Steenhuisen and Cabanac intend to surround themselves with experts in this field and be led by them? I have my doubts that either of these men are comfortable being led and have no doubt that both of them are capable of deciding that they know better than the experts.

Have I mentioned that this is the Ministry of Agriculture? One of our key departments, responsible for food security, a major department in trade and responsible for sustainable land use. Not to mention having to deal with land claims and land reform. Agriculture faces the following threats at the moment:

• Climate change – something Cabanac denies;
• Water scarcity – exacerbated by climate change (see above), and which requires a strong leader to address at National and Provincial level because our infrastructure is crumbling.
• Soil degradation – something which requires a long and short term plan to overcome. Does Cabanac even know what causes it?
• Land reform and tenure – uncertainty in these areas discourages investment. Of course, Cabanac will blame this on the claimants, but I bet you dollars to donuts that neither Cabanac nor Steenhuisen have considered the negative impact boutique game and wine farms have, and whether those farms could be put to better use.
• Market access and infrastructure
• Fluctuating commodity prices and increasing input costs – but will a Libertarian interfere with this in any way?
• Skills and knowledge gaps, especially when it comes to modern farming technologies and sustainable methods of farming. Cabanac does not have those skills.
• Scarcity of veterinarians. We are losing our graduates to emigration as fast as they graduate.
• Vaccine shortages due to Onderstepoort Biological Products not having the necessary equipment to manufacture them (the African horse sickness vaccine is currently unavailable. This affects our ability to export horses to Europe).

In short, we have a minister and chief of staff who are not equipped to manage this vital ministry. Instead of drawing upon the skills of someone like Willem de Villiers, who has enormous experience in this area, the minister appointed a … podbro?

More alarming is that Cabanac is divisive, and he will be chief of staff in a ministry which will require him to work with DTI, Water, Environmental Affairs, Education and Training as well as Public Works.

Does he have the skills to do this, or will he (like his boss), shoot his mouth off with insults and not co-operate with people he needs to get things done?

The most important portfolio he will need to liaise with is with Land Reform and Rural Development. This topic is brought up regularly by people who claim that land reform will affect food security.

Does Cabanac understand that only 13% of our land is arable and far less of that land produces the majority of our food? Land reform will not have an effect on food security. But when the people you listen to are of the AfriForum mould, will you know that?

I guess time will tell. I just hope that Agriculture doesn’t pay the cost.

* Tracey Lomax-Nixon is an attorney and part-time small-scale farmer with a passion for sustainable farming, land redistribution and food security.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.