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Minister of finance, Enoch Godongwana, said the Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa will have to wait in line to plead its case for a bailout, like other cash-strapped entities.
The minister was briefing parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance with a team from the National Treasury on Tuesday. The meeting concerned the National Treasury’s annual performance plan and strategic plan.
If [the Land Bank] wants recapitalisation, they must go into the queue like everybody else in the budget process. And government will make the necessary assessment [as to] whether it’s worth it.
— Enoch Godongwana, finance minister
The meeting also came the week after the Land Bank indicated that it had asked National Treasury for a R50bn bailout, warning that it would run out of cash for projects by 2028 without financial assistance.
Godongwana said the Land Bank’s request was in two parts, namely a guarantee for R10bn and an allocation of much-needed capital. He said both aspects of the Land Bank’s request were being considered.
“The second R10bn, the Land Bank is asking for recapitalisation. So the total amount takes you to R20bn. On the second process, we have said that one is a budget process. If they want recapitalisation, they must go into the queue like everybody else in the budget process. And government will make the necessary assessment [as to] whether it’s worth it.”
The Land Bank’s woes are not only financial. Earlier in the year, it was targeted by malefactors in a cyberattack which affected the entity’s ability to table documents to parliament.
Godongwana has told parliament that a recent cyberattack on the Land Bank has compromised its ability to complete and table its corporate plan and he has approved its request for an extension.
In a letter to National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza, Godongwana said at the time that the cyberattack would influence the Land Bank’s Corporate Plan tabling in accordance with the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act.
“There was a recent cyber incident affecting the Land Bank’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) environment. The entity is unable to access crucial systems and source information required to finalise the corporate plan submission”.
Godongwana said he has approved the Land Bank’s request to extend the deadline for submitting its 2026/27 corporate plan later than the originally stipulated deadline of February 28.
TimesLIVE
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