Background
The actions of the SAAU are constantly focused on creating a favourable environment within which it will be possible for the farmer as entrepreneur to be financially independent.

A Strong United Front
The South African farmer has over many years established and enhanced agriculture's role in and contribution to the national economy with skill and entrepreneurship and in the process satisfied the country's primary needs, viz. the availability of sufficient supplies of quality food and fibre.

These and many other achievements can be largely attributed to the fact that South African farmers, for urgent economic reasons, joined hands and united their own interest in the SAAU and by means of collective action negotiated for themselves the best possible economic, socio-economic and security position. The SAAU represents a strong united front where the farmer's general, commodity and co-operative interests are co-ordinated within one national organisation.

The individual farmer is the life-artery of organised agriculture.

The entire structure of organised agriculture rests with the farmer. The farmer on his land and his involvement in his farmers' association, commodity organisation and co-operative filters through the district organisation and provincial union to the SAAU on national level. This offers each farmer the opportunity to participate and also involves responsibility.

The SAAU's Constitution places no racial restrictions on membership and 40 000 commercial farmers and 45 000 small scale farmers countrywide are incorporated in the SAAU via the affiliation of their provincial union, commodity organisation and co-operative.

General Issues
The highest authority within the structure of the united agricultural front lies with the representatively composed SAAU Annual Congress, where all three legs of organised agriculture are represented. Here collective decisions are made on general issues, directives are established and the President and Vice-President elected.

The General Council, composed representatively from the Congress, provincial unions, the co-operative movement and commodity organisations, give continuous attention to matters of general interests to the farming community. The President, Vice-President, Chairman of the ACB and a representative of provincial unions and commodity organisations form the Executive Committee and make the day-to-day decisions within accepted policy.

Commodity Matters
Commodity matters are handled by different forms of commodity organisations within their own specialised structures. Matters of common interests are referred to the National Commodity Chamber.

Co-operative matters
The highest authority on co-operative matters is the biennial Agricultural Co-operative Business Chamber Congress, while the Executive handles all co-operative matters when Congress is not in session.

Staff
On national level the small and dynamic personnel corps are divided in accordance with the three legs of the organisation into a General Affairs Section, Commodity Section and Co-operative Section, under the overall guidance of the Executive Director of the Union. Supporting service are rendered as required to the three legs of the organisation by an expert Economic, Training and Public Relations Section respectively. Administrative and financial personnel provide the necessary substructure to allow the Union to function.

What does the SAAU do?
The SAAU, true to its mission, is intent on negotiating continuously as a united front on national level for the farmer's economic, socio-economic and security situation.

The negotiating environment includes many activities and SAAU offers a wide spectrum of service to members. The areas in which added value on products must be facilitated for producers on national level are extensive : Soil Conservation and environmental affairs; land reform; aspects affecting small scale farmers; water resources; labour legislation; safety, law and order; rural local government; monetary policy; fiscal policy; financing; trade policy; industrial policy; agricultural extention; marketing; economical; financial market information; input costs; liquid fuel; transport; disease and pest control and food security.

In this negotiating environment the Union has an extremely important liaising function with the Government as well as other sectors and groupings in the national economy. As representative body and national mouthpiece of the agricultural sector in South Africa, the Union has representation in numerous official bodies, international and private organisations.

The SAAU also has an obligation to farmers to keep them informed of actions taken in their interest, e.g. each farmer who is a member of a farmers' association receives the Union's monthly newspaper "Die Boer / The Farmer". Farmers are also informed continuously by means of the weekly television programme "Agriforum", radio news bulletins on Radiosondergrense and 18 community radio stations every Tuesday and Thursday, through Agrinet on Internet with general as well as exclusive information and press releases through more than 200 media contacts country-wide, including the electronic media, daily press, popular agric media and regional newspapers.

Media liaison activities and a strategic communication strategy are also maintained on various levels to promote understanding and support for the farmer and agriculture amongst the general public and the rest of the national economy.

How does it benefit the individual farmer?

In drawing up a balance sheet of the SAAU's actions on behalf of the farmer it must be kept in mind that the SAAU primarily operates in a negotiating capacity and not so much through physical transfers or services.

The actions of the SAAU are constantly focused on creating a favourable environment within which it will be possible for the farmer as entrepreneur to be financially independent.

BIOGRAPHY
Christiaan Jacobus Du Toit

Address:
Paarl Vallei,
NOORDER-PAARL, 7646
Tel: 021 872-2856
Fax: 021 872-9354

Date Of Birth:
1 March 1946

Training:
1963
Matriculated at Hoër Jongens School, Paarl

1965
Studied Agriculture at the University of Stellenbosch

1968
Majors: Fruit Production II; Viticulture II; Economics III; and Agricultural Economics III

Career:
1969
Started farming on the farm "Paarl-Vallei"

1970
Elected to the Executive of the Paarl Farmers' Association

1970-79
Served as Treasurer, Secretary and Vice-Chairman of Paarl Farmers' Association

1979-Present
Director of the Boland Co-operative Wine Cellars

1979-80
Chairman of the Paarl Farmers'Association

1980-82
Chairman of the Berg River Farmers'Union

1981
Elected to the Executive of Western Cape Agricultural Union

1982-85
Chairman of the Paarl Wine Show Association

1984-90
Vice President of the Western Cape Agricultural Union

1984-94
Representative of the Western Cape Agricultural Union in the General Council of the South African Agricultural Union

1990-Present
President of the Western Cape Agricultural Union

1990-Present
Chairman of the Educational Committee of the South African Agricultural Union

1990-94
Chairman of the Manpower Committee of the South African Agricultural Union

1991-Present
Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on present Labour Legislation

1991-Present
Member of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC)

1993-Present
Office Bearer of SAAU, member of the Executive Committee of SAAU

1993-94
Member of the Marketing Policy Evaluation Committee for the Revision of the Marketing Act(AMPEC)

1993-Present
Member of the Unemployment Insurance Council

1993-Present
Member of the National Manpower Commission (NMC)

1993-95
Vice President of the South African Agricultural Union

1994-Present
Director of WP Co-operative Limited

1995-Present
President of the South African Agricultural Union

Interests:
Economics and Agricultural Economics
Wine and fruit industry
The sea (fishing and diving) and hunting
Making a fire for friends