A plan to reduce the impact of rising food prices on the poor was tabled during an ordinary meeting of the Cabinet in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The proposed short-, medium- and long-term interventions were also aimed at ensuring household and national food security, the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) said in a statement.
They included broadening and strengthening the coverage of social safety-net measures and enhancing the implementation of an integrated food security and nutrition programme, as well as fast-tracking implementation of the land- and agrarian-reform programmes.
The recommendations were contained in a report by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on food prices, consisting of the ministers of education, public works, social development, health, minerals and energy, and trade and industry, and those in the Presidency and Treasury.
In noting the report, the Cabinet urged the committee to ensure that the proposed interventions focused on providing a safety net to the poor.
It also asked that the measures be designed to strengthen existing poverty-alleviation programmes such as school-feeding schemes.
The National Agricultural Marketing Council was also helping develop the strategy on food prices and it was expected that other parties, including the private sector, will be invited to contribute to the programme.
”The details of the interventions will be announced in due course,” said GCIS.
At the meeting, the Cabinet was also briefed on the latest developments on the proposed electricity tariff hikes, it said.
The government would continue consultations, in addition to the public hearings to be conducted by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, it added.
Reiterating that the impact of electricity price increases on the poor be minimised, the Cabinet endorsed a proposal for the convening of an energy summit to discuss the electricity emergency.
At the meeting, the Cabinet approved the General Law Amendment Bill; the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill; the Diplomatic Immunities Amendment Bill; the Special Pensions Amendment Bill; the Insurance Laws Amendment Bill; the National Energy Bill; the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency Bill; and the Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill.
The General Law Amendment Bill and National Prosecuting Authority Bill aimed to strengthen the country’s capability to fight organised crime and give effect to the decision to relocate the Directorate of Special Operations — better known as the Scorpions — from the National Prosecuting Authority to the South African Police Service.
The Bills will be tabled in Parliament.
The Smart ID card project was also approved. This will replace the green identity book over five to eight years, with a pilot project in December and implementation in 2009. — Sapa