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Cape Town - Government is, in some instances, populated by technocrats who are overly concerned about regulations rather than work, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said on Tuesday,
"Mostly what government heard from several scientists was 'what you cannot do' and they end up doing little or no work, thus impacting on service delivery," said the ministry in a statement detailing a quarterly meeting between the minister and MECs.
"Science has to become more relevant in addressing the core objectives of government."
She urged officials and MECs to fast-track job creation - the focus of the department in the current term.
She listed five priorities to help achieve this.
These included food security, enabling farmers to access finance, skills development and research.
To develop the requisite skills, she said the government had to speed up the reopening of agricultural colleges.
The priorities also included looking towards new markets for produce and commodities including Brazil, India, China, Russia and other African countries.
Joemat-Pettersson also called on the government to step up the procurement of agricultural extension officers, saying if they could not be produced by government the work should be outsourced.
