South Africa is in a process of change. This is also true for the agricultural sector and thus all related services. Agricultural finance, as a segment of rural finance, is the topic of an intended commission of inquiry. The current and intended public sector agricultural financial support structure should be measured against a set of guidelines. These are elaborated on in this paper. In addition, given the framework, some views are put forward as to what direction rural finance, and specifically agricultural finance should take, and what structure should be applicable, given the principles as outlined. The paper is concluded with some remarks about institutional change in South Africa and the intended rural financial services commission of inquiry.