Drought crisis: Gov must urgently intervene
The DA is concerned that national government does not appear to have taken any aggressive action to mitigate the effects of what is reported to be South Africa's ‘worst drought since 1933' (see report in Die Burger).
According to media reports, as a result of the drought, farmers in some parts of the country have had to cull up to a third of their livestock. This could result in meat shortages in five months, seriously affecting South Africa's food security.
The DA will write to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Presidency and National Treasury requesting that an urgent Summit be convened to formulate a plan to safeguard the country's food security.
At the Summit, all stakeholders, including farmers, farming organisations, and the relevant government departments should discuss the allocation of disaster management funding for drought relief as contained in the following budgets:
Each province has a provincial disaster grant that is managed by the National Disaster Management Centre in the Department of Cooperative Governance. This grant allows for the immediate release of funds if a disaster is declared.