The Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) has called for the immediate withdrawal of the Mpumalanga Nutrition Sourcing Bill, 2025, describing it as a “constitutionally indefensible and economically catastrophic” attempt at central planning that will devastate the province’s agricultural sector and compromise food security.
In its official submission to the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs, Saai warns that the Bill, under the guise of transformation, seeks to monopolise agricultural procurement, exclude family farmers, and erode the constitutional procurement discretion of provincial departments.
“This Bill does not create a market. It builds a gate. And only those aligned with a narrow racial and political identity will be allowed to pass through,” said Francois Rossouw, CEO of Saai.
Key concerns raised by Saai include, unlawful centralisation of procurement in the so-called “Mpumalanga International Fresh Produce Market”, giving it monopoly power to determine if and when any other supplier may be used. Exclusion of established family farmers, with race-based criteria that fail constitutional tests of equality and proportionality. Opaque permit and contract requirements that replace entrepreneurial merit with bureaucratic favouritism. Risk of market collapse and disinvestment, as rational actors flee a rigged system in which price signals and innovation are suppressed. Severe service delivery delays, particularly in nutrition provision to vulnerable groups in schools, hospitals, and correctional facilities.
“The Bill turns the government into both referee and player in the agricultural economy. It will not level the playing field, it will tear it up and fence it off,” Rossouw added.
The Bill also faces a slew of legal red flags, including violations of section 217 of the Constitution, which demands that procurement by organs of state must be fair, equitable, transparent, competitive, and cost-effective. Instead, the Bill compels all provincial departments to procure through a centralised market, unless that market itself issues a formal declaration of incapacity.
Saai warns this structure will not uplift emerging farmers but create an illusion of empowerment, while starving them of capital, market access, mentorship, and meaningful competition.
A Call for Withdrawal and Redrafting
Saai is calling for the complete withdrawal of the Bill in its current form and urges the Department to undertake a proper consultation process with constitutional experts, market economists, and real agricultural stakeholders.
“At Saai, we fully support positive transformation that empowers and uplifts those who have been left behind. But we reject any form of transformation built on exclusion, punishment, or the deliberate disadvantaging of others. Progress should be about inclusion- not division” says Dr Theo de Jager, Executive Board Chairman, Saai.
Saai will continue to represent the interests of family farmers and defend the principles of open markets, decentralised governance, and fair access for all South Africans, regardless of race or political affiliation.
Read the proposed Act here: https://saai.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/250704proposedmpumalanganutritionsourcingbill.pdf
Read Saai’s full commentary here: https://saai.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Written-Comments-SAAI-Mpumalanga-Nutrition-Sourcing-Bill-2025-20250803-2025-08-03-3Q52T81949.pdf
