COGTA Minister Zweli Mkhize announces approval of funds for drought measures funding
22 March 2018
Since the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Drought and Water Scarcity held its last media briefing announcing the declaration of drought as a national disaster on 13 March 2018 in Cape Town, the severity of the drought is still evident in all the Cape Provinces (Western, Eastern and Northern). Other provinces are also affected with pockets of drought in varying scales in some of the areas.
The reclassification of the drought as a national disaster by the Head of the National Disaster Management Centre, under Government Notice 107/2017 published in Government Gazette 41439 on 13 February 2018, designated the primary responsibility for the coordination and management of the disaster to the national executive who must act in close cooperation with the other spheres of government to deal with the disaster and its consequences.
In the last media briefing, we indicated that looking at the prevailing drought, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) has the legal authority in terms of the Disaster Management Act 2002 to declare a national state of disaster through notice in the Government Gazette, and this was done in Gazette No.41493 on 13 March 2018. The CoGTA Minister, in consultation with the relevant cabinet members came to this decision after a recognition that special circumstances exist to declare the drought as a national state of disaster, in terms of Section 27(1) of the Act.
I would like to emphasise that the declaration of a state of disaster at any level is not primarily aimed at requesting funding, but it is aimed at activating extra-ordinary measures, which might include funding, based on the need and other relevant conditions to address the impact of such a disaster. We are busy engaging all the relevant stakeholders and communities to implement intervention measures for recovery in the long term.