Almost R75 million would be allocated to drought relief measures in the Western Cape, Cooperative Governance Minister Des Van Rooyen announced on Tuesday.
“The total cost of providing emergency disaster relief to Western Cape Province is R74,866,263. Of this amount, R40 million will be allocated towards livestock feed to be expended by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture in light of the drought situation and the fires experienced recently in the province,” van Rooyen told journalists.
The department will spend R35 million on drought relief projects in municipalities and provincial departments. The bulk of this money, R40 million would go to the agricultural sector, followed by the City of Cape Town would receive close to R21 million.
The Bitou Municipality would be allocated almost R11 million while the Theewaterskloof Local Municipality would be given R3.1 million for drought relief projects.
Most of the money has already been disbursed, said Van Rooyen.
“These funds were transferred to the recipients on 21 August 2017. The funds earmarked for agriculture will be transferred on 31 August 2017.
Van Rooyen pointed out that while dam levels have increased slightly they were still far below that of last year.
“In the positive front, the forecast indicates the likelihood of some favourable rainfall conditions in the Western Cape Province during the late winter season, towards early spring. This, however, does not call for complacency on water,” he said.
“Water conservation measures have to continue and heightened as the future is unpredictable. On the other front, it calls for measures to manage flood risk associated with rainfall conditions particularly in the built environment.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
