This is according to DA Northern Cape National Council of Provinces (NCOP) member, Willie Aucamp.

The R30 million, which was less than five percent of the minimum amount of R612 million required to alleviate the effects of the five-year drought, was also too little to mitigate the resultant threat of 62,000 direct and indirect job losses in the agricultural sector, he said in a statement.

"The DA sincerely hopes that the R30 million is just the first tranche of a much bigger allocation." The DA also hoped that the trusted coupon system, as preferred by both small and commercial farmers, would again be used by government to "prevent even one cent being wasted on implementing agents", he said.

On Friday, Deputy President David Mabuza announced urgent intervention mechanisms to address the drought problem in the Northern Cape. The Northern Cape is experiencing persistent drought in all of its five districts. Almost 15,500 farms with a carrying capacity of about 613,447 large stock units are in distress. 

In a statement afterwards, the presidency said government held a successful meeting with organised agriculture to develop intervention mechanisms to respond to this problem. Mabuza committed government to provide urgent relief to the Northern Cape farming community whose livestock was mostly affected by the drought conditions. 

Government had reprioritised about R30 million for immediate intervention in the procurement and distribution of fodder for the farming community as a short-term measure. Government had also committed to provide assistance for the production of fodder to increase the capacity of the Fodder Bank established by the province.  

With regard to the problem of water availability, Mabuza had directed government to increase the capacity of water provision by drilling more boreholes through the human settlements, water, and sanitation department. 

Government would engage with the Land Bank to establish ways to provide relief for defaulting farmers affected by drought. Various government departments would work together to resolve issues around the declaration and classification of the drought in the Northern Cape, the presidency said. 

On Saturday, Aucamp said that while the DA appreciated the fact that Mabuza finally conducted an oversight inspection to the drought affected areas of the Northern Cape, it believed his visit should have happened much sooner. The drought had crippled thousands of farmers, causing some to close shop, pull their children out of school, and others even to commit suicide, and should have been treated as an emergency by all spheres of government, not as an afterthought.

"We expect that Mabuza, who was seemingly unaware of the severity of the drought, has learnt a valuable lesson and that he will see to it that government never again underestimates the suffering and damage incurred by natural disasters. We also expect that premier Zamani Saul will get his government’s house in order so as to prevent any further delays in getting provincial disasters gazetted as soon as possible.

"We trust that government will be liaising with all respective stakeholders to ensure that the available drought relief is rolled-out as quickly and efficiently as possible," Aucamp said.

The DA further encouraged national and provincial government to include all interested role-players in future deliberations regarding the drought. He advised Mabuza "not to use the drought in political games".

"People’s lives and livelihoods are at stake. This must take precedence over the well-being of political parties, as must the speedy allocation of additional funds for drought relief in the province," Aucamp said.

African News Agency (ANA)