Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Des Van Rooyen has announced an allocation of more than R74 million in drought relief to the Western Cape.
Various municipalities in the Western Cape have instituted water use restrictions in a bid to save water. Rains that have fallen since the drought struck have not rescued the province from its dry spell.
Van Rooyen said the department and an inter-ministerial task team had concluded that risk reduction measures should be introduced in provinces on a continual basis to mitigate the impact of water shortages.
“The national Department of Water and Sanitation is monitoring the levels of 43 dams in the Western Cape province on a weekly basis‚ some of which are in the winter rainfall areas of the province‚ while others lie in the transitional area between winter and summer rainfall areas‚” Van Rooyen said.
He said the key setback in the Western Cape was a considerable shortage in animal feed‚ which had a severe impact on livestock. Hence‚ the bulk of the allocation to the Western Cape government would go towards animal feed.
“An amount of R34 886 263 will be used for relief projects within the identified municipalities of City of Cape Town (R20.8m)‚ Bitou Local Municipality (R10.9m) as well as Theewaterskloof Local Municipality (R3.1m)‚” Van Rooyen said.
He said the transfer of funds was based on conditions stipulated in the applicable Grant Frameworks to ensure accountability.
-BusinessLIVE
Source: TMG Digital.
Van Rooyen gives Western Cape R74m anti-drought war chest
Various municipalities in the Western Cape have instituted water use restrictions in a bid to save water. Rains that have fallen since the drought struck have not rescued the province from its dry spell.
Van Rooyen said the department and an inter-ministerial task team had concluded that risk reduction measures should be introduced in provinces on a continual basis to mitigate the impact of water shortages.
“The national Department of Water and Sanitation is monitoring the levels of 43 dams in the Western Cape province on a weekly basis‚ some of which are in the winter rainfall areas of the province‚ while others lie in the transitional area between winter and summer rainfall areas‚” Van Rooyen said.
He said the key setback in the Western Cape was a considerable shortage in animal feed‚ which had a severe impact on livestock. Hence‚ the bulk of the allocation to the Western Cape government would go towards animal feed.
“An amount of R34 886 263 will be used for relief projects within the identified municipalities of City of Cape Town (R20.8m)‚ Bitou Local Municipality (R10.9m) as well as Theewaterskloof Local Municipality (R3.1m)‚” Van Rooyen said.
He said the transfer of funds was based on conditions stipulated in the applicable Grant Frameworks to ensure accountability.
-BusinessLIVE
Source: TMG Digital.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos