Drought relief for province
A drought relief fund allocated by KZN provincial government is limited to assisting subsistence farmers, not commercial.
WHILE a R114-million drought relief fund has been allocated to assist KZN’s hardest hit areas, authorities said at a media briefing in Hluhluwe last week the amount is ‘miniscule’, putting the true cost of the drought in the province at R2.1-billion.
Livestock associations and commodity organisations specialising in beef and dairy will benefit from a government subsidy which will see subsistence farmers receiving 100% of the subsidy while ‘those in the upper market’ will receive 20%.
Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu noted that government subsidies are not aimed at commercial farmers, only subsistence farmers, adding that citizens must realise government does not have resources to help everyone.
Amid ongoing, violent water- and other service delivery-related protests in northern KZN, Premier Senzo Mchunu said officials are taking a multi-pronged approach to address the situation.
This includes the drilling of boreholes where necessary, assistance in the purchasing of livestock and feed for subsistence farmers and improved water distribution from the Jozini Dam to surrounding communities.
Water leaks
Referring to Umgeni Water’s assistance, COGTA MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube said, ‘A team of engineers has been brought into uMkhanyakude to work on various programmes to fast-track the delivery of water to various communities’.
More than 300 leaks have been reported in uMkhanyakude District alone, resulting from poor infrastructure maintenance.
‘We are focusing on maintenance operations, ensuring water is getting to people,’ said Dube-Ncube.
Umgeni Water is also mandated to reticulate water to overcome the many illegal connections.
Read more on the Zululand drought HERE
