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While the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape welcomes additional drought relief funding of R36 million for the province, we are calling on MEC of Agriculture, Nomandla Bloem, to ensure that her department urgently cooperates with the National Department of Cooperative Governance in a concerted effort to secure extra drought funds for the province.

Following the proclamation of the drought as a National Disaster, additional funds are being made available to provinces, including the Northern Cape, through the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC).

The R36 million for allocation to the Northern Cape, is divided up between the five districts and is scheduled to be utilized for water savings systems as well as for the provision and transportation of livestock feed. This is in contrast to the last disaster funding allocation, which was mainly set aside for the drilling of boreholes and beefing up of water related infrastructure at ailing municipalities.

The DA welcomes the planned allocation. It may be a drop in the ocean, and we will continue to lobby for more funds given the dire impact of the drought on the province, but every bit helps. The last allocation also failed to address the critical issue of feed for starving animals, and we are pleased that this now appears to have been taken into consideration.

The DA is calling on MEC Bloem to take ownership of bringing the allocated funds home. In this regard, the NDMC has given provinces until 25 March 2020 to submit all required documentation, including: the number of people affected, the extent of damage and losses; copy of contingency plans; cost-benefit analysis of projects to be implemented; and details of projects to be implemented.

Given this department’s poor track record in submitting documentation, which ultimately delayed the provincial proclamation of a disaster, we urge Bloem to ensure that the Northern Cape doesn’t again let administrative bungles get in the way of meeting the NDMC deadline.

Unfortunately, the drought is not the only national disaster that this country is now faced with. Agriculture must do its part to help streamline processes for the NDMC, so that the drought funding can be finalized so that adequate attention can also be given to the Covid19-pandemic.

Issued by DA