Die tyd vir n nuwe rigting is hier

- ons't goeie onderskeidingsvermoë nodig

My vrou is besig om ‘n boek te lees oor die kerkhervormer, Martin Luther. Elke nou en dan deel sy gedeeltes met ons as gesin en dan doen ons ‘n paar vergelykings met vandag se tyd. Wanneer kom ‘n mens by ‘n punt wat praat nie meer genoeg is nie en jy ‘n standpunt moet inneem? Vandag is ek Luther ewig dankbaar dat hy daardie onderskeidingsvermoë gehad het.

In die georganiseerde landbou praat ons dikwels van die “stem van redelikheid” van beide partye wat nou by ‘n punt moet kom en ‘n paar stellings teen die mure in ons land moet vasspyker. Die tyd het voorwaar aangebreek dat ‘n nuwe rigting in geen onduidelike terme uitgeroep moet word. Hierdie is nie net ‘n samevoeging van ou “vyande” wat nou skielik ‘n gesamentlike visie het nie. Nee, hierdie beweging tot vennootskap is gegrond daarop dat elkeen sy eie trots en geskiedenis (en tradisie) in sy sak moet steek en ‘n beter toekoms vir ons kinders en kleinkinders kom bewerkstellig.

My verstaan is dat Christus juis dit kom doen het met Sy koms na die aarde. Hy wou versoening bring tussen mens en God en het Sy posisie van mag en heerskappy in die hemel opgesê om ‘n beter toekoms vir die mens te bewerkstellig. Hy het verby die versoekings van die satan gekyk wat van Hom ‘n tipe aardse held in die kort termyn wou maak en die groter prentjie van die ewigheid raakgesien. My wens vir jou is dié soort onderskeiding wat sal meewerk dat jy sal weet wanneer om stil te bly en wanneer om standpunt in te neem ter wille van ‘n groter saak.

Jou onderskeidingsvermoë kan versoening bring tussen familielede wat jare lank nie met mekaar praat nie, of tussen ouers en kinders of bure of die stem van redelikheid wat oor die toekoms van ons land moet besin.

Mag jy hierdie versoeningstyd met só ‘n gesindheid ingaan om ‘n beter toekoms vir almal te soek. Wees dus ‘n seën vir ander en gee jouself en ander rondom jou ‘n positiewe vertrekpunt vir 2013.

Geseënde Kersfees.

Jannie en Retha de Villiers
Uitvoerende hoofbestuurder: Graan SA

Cry the beloved country

This Christmas message, usually an easy and pleasant task for me, this year is most probably the most difficulttask I have ever had to fulfil given the magnitude of the challenges that face us. In writing this message, I have a responsibility not only to the agricultural sector and the grain farmers of our country, but to civil society in general.

We are guided by our conscience and our responsibility to our fellow countrymen to address the issues with true honesty; for nothing short of that would be acceptable given the fact that we do this for our descendants, for it is they who will inherit the functionality or disfunctionality of society.

Op die vooraand van Kersfees 2012 en die nuwe jaar 2013, staan die landbou en ons land voor ‘n verskeidenheid probleme en uitdagings. Ter wille van oorlewing in landbou en die toekoms van die land, moet hierdie aspekte geïdentifiseer en aangespreek word.

The premise of departure as a modern agricultural organisation and for our society in general, must be the Constitution and Rule of Law. If this is not achieved successfully, the challenges of poverty alleviation and food security in our country will be undermined irrevocably with disastrous consequences which will deny the hopes and dreams of a better future for all. Foremost, issues of good governance need to be addressed. Issues such as corruption, nepotism and absence of accountability, will have to be acknowledged and forcefully addressed. This is a prerequisite for a flourishing economic environment in which wealth creation means an enabling environment for all sectors of society. To achieve growth and prosperity, sound leadership is an imperative applicable to all levels of society, starting with government and all structures of civil society. Currently in South Africa we suffer from a leadership vacuum threatening the total fabric of our society and this will have to be foremost in the road to prosperity and functionality.

This leadership vacuum is responsible for the prominence of various self-interest groupings that place their own agendas above the common wellbeing of us all. These groups are promoting their nefarious causes at the expense of economic prosperity and to the detriment of poverty alleviation and job creation. They are abusing political structures and poverty to promote their own short-term goals.

Government understandably seeks to provide food to society at the cheapest possible prices, but that impinges on agriculture’s ability to achieve this food security imperative because of the current import tariff dispensation further undermining the profitability of agricultural commodity production which prohibits agriculture’s ability to pay employees more. The net spin-off being job losses and spiraling rural poverty which should concern all responsible South Africans, because poverty breeds extremism.

All these issues contribute to divestment nationally and internationally with resultant mass layoffs in the rest of industry which the country can ill afford and have to be countered by deeply concerned South Africans. We need the coming together of hearts and minds to achieve a common goal of good governance and growth and prosperity for all South Africans. We need to return to the example set by our first president, Mr Nelson Mandela, during whose tenure the voice of reason, non-racialism and broad participation of society flourished which resulted in the enabling environment so conducive to growth.

Graan SA gee hiermee die onderneming aan die graanboere en die breë landbougemeenskap van ons land dat ons hulle grondwetlike regte na die beste van ons vermoë sal beskerm en dat ons beide grondwetlike en ekonomiese redelikheid sal nastreef ter wille van die gemeenskaplike welsyn van almal in ons land.

Omdat ons glo in die Almagtige God, vrees ons nie die toekoms nie en is dit vir my besonder aangenaam om elke landbouer en hul werknemers ‘n baie Geseënde Kersfees 2012 toe te wens en alle voorspoed vir u in 2013. Mag ons versugtinge en die moed van ons oortuiginge seëvier.

Aan Andries Theron, visevoorsitter van Graan SA, my mede-dagbestuurslede, hoofbestuurs lede, Jannie de Villiers en die personeel by Graan SA: Baie dankie vir julle onbaatsugtige diens aan landbou. Dit word raakgesien.

Dankie ook aan ons lede vir hulle volgehoue ondersteuning – julle is die spil waarom alles draai. Geniet die Feestyd.

Louw Steytler
Voorsitter: Graan SA