CONCERNS are rising about the fact that the Eastern Cape provincial government has not yet gazetted the province’s drought declaration.
Despite numerous meetings between the organised farming sector and the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR), farmers’ pleas that the province should be declared a drought disaster area, have not yet been heeded.
The effect of the prolonged drought is not limited to commercial and upcoming farmers. The increasing number of job losses in the agricultural sector have also caused the economy of rural towns to suffer significantly.
While residents in the Eastern Cape fight for survival during what meteorologists describe as the worst drought in a 220 year cycle, concern is growing over the DRDAR’s lack of action.
“We met with deputy director general Leon Coetzee in March to discuss the crippling effect of the drought on the agricultural sector,” said operations manager of Agri Eastern Cape, Brent McNamara.
The farmers’ organisation is disappointed by the department’s failure to monitor the situation and take proactive steps towards assisting farmers in the region.
“We have also been informed by the Provincial Disaster Management Centre that the department had not adequately accounted for R55 million agricultural drought relief received late last year.”
In order to apply for relief funding from the national Treasury (as required by the Disaster Management Act of 2002), a provincial state of disaster must be declared and maintained for as long as necessary.
“If we do not gazette the drought declaration soon, the earliest we can expect any drought relief from the department will be in March/April 2021,” said Retief Odendaal, shadow MEC of DRDAR and a member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature.
Odendaal had requested Premier Oscar Mabuyane to submit a plan to have the province declared a disaster area by Monday, September 30. After not receiving any reaction from the office of the premier, Odendaal has now turned to President Cyril Ramaphosa for intervention.
“The DA implores Ramaphosa to acknowledge the devastating effect of this inaction and to order Mabuyane and his government to declare a disaster before it is too late for Eastern Cape agriculture and the rural economy,” Odendaal said last week.
