Question NW2 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
18 April 2018 - NW2
Madisha, Mr WM to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
(a) What was the total amount in funding that the Western Cape provincial government and its municipalities have requested from national government to mitigate the drought disaster, (b) what total amount has national government committed thereto and (c) what total amount of the funding has actually been made available?
Reply:
a) The Western Cape provincial government and municipalities requested a total amount of R138.3 million for drought intervention measures. (b) The Department of Cooperative Government (DCOG) committed an amount of R74.8 million from the Emergency Disaster Grants (c) An amount of R74.8 million was made available to the provincial government in August 2017. The details of the allocation are as follows:
(i) The Provincial Department of Agriculture was allocated R40 million for the provision and transportation of livestock feed to the affected farmers.
(ii) The allocations to municipalities for water infrastructure are as follows:
-
- City of Cape Town - R20.8 million
- Bitou Local Municipality – R10.9 million
- Theewaterskloof Local Municipality - R3.1 million.
Background Information
The allocated funds have assisted in alleviating the impact of drought situation and the province is reporting significant improvement with regard to the conditions on the ground. The department further establishes partnerships with the private sector and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) where intervention measures with significant impacts and contributions have been implemented within the province. The City of Cape Town has been able to avert chronic water scarcity situation, other municipalities such as Hessequa and George have moved from a red status to a green status in terms of drought and water shortages. The improvements are due to amongst other factors, the intervention measures by government, private sector and NGO’s, stringent water use and management measures as well as the rains received in some parts of the province.
Notable is that the focus for the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (DCOGTA) is on Disaster Risk Reduction measures, particularly on anticipating future disaster risks, reducing existing exposure, hazard or vulnerability as well as improving resilience within the communities in line with the Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002). In this case, the department is working closely with the relevant government departments and organs of state such as the South African Weather Service (SAWS), Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) as well as the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) for the predictions of future risks and dissemination of warnings and advisories to enable informed decision making and resilience within provinces and communities.
The department has appropriate institutional arrangements within the country for continuous engagements to enable inputs and feedback from the relevant stakeholders across the spheres of government for the enhancement of government programmes in line with the Batho Pele Principles.