Did Mantashe receive priority treatment from DAFF?

Following a fire that affected several farms in Cala, Eastern Cape last week, disaster relief was provided within 48 hours to a farm owned by ANC Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe.

The DA welcomes the timeous relief afforded to farmers in the area including Mantashe - who received bales of feed from the state and farmers who wanted to assist. This is evidence that timeous disaster relief is possible especially for those that have been waiting for years to receive funding from the state for disaster relief.

Communities such as those affected by the severe flooding of 2006 in Langkloof are still waiting for assistance from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Other communities in the North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo are also still waiting for relief after floods that occurred between December 2010 and February 2011.

During a portfolio committee meeting in Parliament last week, officials from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries revealed that several applications for disaster relief were still pending and funds had not been paid out, years after some incidents had occurred.

The DA will write to Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson requesting that her department present a report on what the current status is for all applications, for relief by farming communities.

Should she fail to provide this list, I will make an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act to ensure that progress is being made on all applications for relief.

The same treatment that has been afforded to Mr Mantashe must be afforded to all farmers and communities in similar positions. What is good for the ANC's elite should be good for the rest of the country.

Statement issued by Annette Steyn MP, DA Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, August 25 2013

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