Speech by the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan at the presentation of Land Bank's 2009 annual results, Midrand, August 17 2009
Leading the Land Bank towards its centenary in a challenging economic and developmental environment
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tina Joemat-Pettersson,
Deputy Minister of Finance Nhanhla Nene
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Finance, Mr Thaba Mufamadi,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Mr Lulu Johnson,
Interim chairperson of the board Professor Herman van Schalkwyk and members of the board,
CEO of Land Bank,
Clients, investors and partners of the Land Bank,
Members of the media, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen
South Africa finds itself in an interesting space, as does the rest of the world.
While grappling with the current recession, there has recently been much talk of green shoots in the international economy as well as in South Africa, although these are still very few. Just as the impact of the recession on South Africa lagged somewhat behind the rest of the world's, it seems our recovery will lag too.
There are four issues to address in dealing with economic circumstances that presently confront us. The first is to acknowledge that there is a crisis; secondly to understand the crisis and work out how to deal with it; thirdly to have the right people in the right posts, and lastly to understand the risks. In some ways, these issues in the story of the recession are mirrored in the story of the Land Bank.