It is a disgrace that Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) failed to apply for national drought relief after the Free State was declared a drought disaster area.
National Treasury allocated R138 489 000 for drought relief to provinces in the 2020/21 financial year and, while other provinces received between R4 million and R35 million, the Free State did not receive a cent.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) requested the Premier to declare the Free State a provincial disaster area in 2019 which was done. It was the responsibility of the Free State DARD to apply for the necessary funding after many requests were made from local farmers for drought relief assistance. The agricultural sector in the Free State has been badly affected by the drought, and the effects of this are felt even after the first rains of a new season. The economic impact of drought on farmers has serious implications for the province’s rural economies and employment.
Drought disaster relief for the agricultural sector, that supplies our country’s food under difficult conditions, requires immediate action and should be planned for way in advance. Our agricultural sector bears the negative burdens of climate change and political, economic, social and rural security threats. Many farmers have had to sell capital assets required for production in order to survive during droughts, while others and their employees remain destitute.
It is criminal that the Free State DARD continues to be plagued by allegations of corruption amounting to millions of Rands while one many farming enterprises have fallen into financial ruin, simply because the Department did not bother to apply for assistance. It appears that the DARD does not understand how economic and seasonal cycles in the agricultural sector function. One would expect the DARD to understand that a farming business takes many seasons to recover from the financial impacts of a severe drought.
Even though the Coronavirus will consume many financial resources, a healthy agricultural sector is a prerequisite for a healthy population. Our farmers (commercial, emerging and subsistence) require as much support as the victims of this epidemic.
It remains problematic that MECs of the DARD in the Free State continue to be appointed on a political basis, and show little understanding for the diverse aspects relating to this important portfolio.