R114m to assist drought-hit KZN farmers
Updated | By Steve Bhengu
Details of how the R114-million that has been set aside to assist the province's farmers will be revealed at the weekend.
The value of the drought relief funding was announced by the provincial government in Hluhluwe in northern KwaZulu-Natal yesterday.
Officials also said they had tackled water issues by plugging leaks in major pipelines and buying additional tankers among other things.
Agriculture MEC Cyril Xaba told reporters the agricultural and tourism sectors have been hardest hit by the severe drought.
''I've convened a meeting with the livestock associations, commodity organisations - specialising in beef and dairy - to inform them that we have a subsidy that we're making available [to them] which will then be distributed on a sliding scale.
''Subsistence farmers will get 100% of the subsidy and those who are in the upper market will get 20% of the subsidy,'' he said.
KZN Premier Senzo Mchunu says he is confident in the provincial government's ability to handle the drought.
While some communities feel left out of plans to supply them with water, Mchunu says officials are taking a multi-pronged approach to address the situation.
''We are now overlapping to intermediate interventions in the form of the scheme, for instance that is going to supply 40-mega litres of water, down in Jozini, to communities being supplied by Jozini dam and this is due for commissioning around June next year,'' he said.
(File photo: Gallo Images)
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