Question NW4228 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
21 December 2015 - NW4228
Gqada, Ms T to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
(1)Whether each of the five provinces which have been declared drought disaster areas have been gazetted; if not, (a) why not and (b) when will this be done; if so, on what date in each case; (2) (a) how much money has been allocated for drought relief for each affected province and (b) from which budgets will the specified funds be allocated; (3) (a) which areas are affected in each province, (b) what kind of intervention measures are planned and (c) when will the specified measures commence?
Reply:
- Yes. All the provinces have been gazetted. The details are in the table below:
|
Province |
Gazette date for drought |
|
17 December 2014 and 20 November 2015 |
|
24 July 2015 |
|
4 September 2015 |
|
13 November 2015 |
|
25 November 2015 (Premier’s Notice) |
2. (a) The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) allocated an amount of R24.6 million to KwaZulu-Natal in March 2015 as the province was the first to declare a state of drought disaster in this current drought cycle. The amount was made available to address immediate needs regarding water supply for human consumption in the declared areas. The Department of Water and Sanitation also allocated an amount of R352 million for affected municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal Province.
(b) The funds allocated to KwaZulu-Natal by the National Disaster Management Centre is from the Disaster Grant within the departmental budget vote. The indication from the Department of Water and Sanitation is that allocated funds were reprioritised from existing departmental grants.
3. (a) Areas affected in provinces:
|
Province |
Areas affected by drought |
|
Ugu District Municpality
Umgungundlovu District Municipality
Uthukela District Municipality
Amajuba District Municipality
Umzinyathi District Municipality
Zululand District Municipality
uMkhanyakude District Municipality
|
|
Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality Ruth Mompati District Municipality Bojanala District Municipality Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality |
|
Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality
Fezile Dabi District Municipality
Xhariep District Municipality
Lejweleputswa District Municipality
Mangaung Metropolitan (Premier’s Notice) |
|
Capricorn District Municipality
Mopani District Municipality
Sekhukhune District Municipality
Waterberg
Vhembe
|
(Premier’s Notice) |
|
(b) The priority currently regarding interventions is to address the immediate needs of the affected communities. The priority is on water for human consumption, water for livestock consumption as well as livestock feed.
(c) The implementation of specified measures have commenced already by the various sector departments. The affected sector departments have reprioritised resources from existing resources to address drought related challenges in the affected areas.