Drought debate heats up

DA says ANC playing politics and lacks leadership to tackle countrywide crisis

ADEBATE on the crippling effects of the drought heated up as the DA criticised the national government for failing to declare the drought a disaster.

DA MPLs accused the ANC of playing politics and “lacking the necessary leadership” to tackle the crisis.

Describing the drought as a catastrophe, DA MPL Beverley Schäfer said the people of the province couldn’t wait any longer.

“We are a ticking time bomb. Give us our R88 million,” she urged.

Schäfer said on the West Coast and in the Karoo, the extreme drought was affecting almost 400 settlements.

“In total, almost 1 600 settlements in the Western Cape are affected by the drought. The National Minister of Agriculture says there’s no national disaster, but nationally, more than 28000 settlements are suffering.”

She said it was a shame that the government “stubbornly refuses” to declare a national disaster, “with the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana’s only response being an announcement of a measly R381million for the entire country’s need”.

ANC MPL Richard Dyantyi blamed the DA for using the issue to “play political football”. Dyantyi said although water was becoming a scarce resource, demand for water was increasing, leaving the government with a big challenge.

“Drought affects everyone and we should not make the issue a political football as the DA seeks to do… Drought is not manufactured at Luthuli House or the Union Buildings,” he said.

Dyantyi said the Western Cape wanted Treasury to make R80m available for drought relief when the province itself had not “invested half of that amount” in drought prevention projects.

The ACDP’s Ferlon Christians stressed the issue should not be politicised as it affected the poorest of the poor and affected food security.

Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell said the latest data on water supply suggested dam levels on average had increased slightly since the beginning of the month, but remained low when compared with the same period last year.

He added that in the Western Cape, the dam levels for drinking water were 30 percent compared with 58 percent last year. Bredell said rainfall forecasts for the rest of winter were not promising.

Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde said the biggest problem in the country was a lack of leadership in dealing with the drought issues.

“From a Presidency space there is no leadership and that’s why the country is facing a downgrade again because there’s no leadership. Where is there leadership?

“It is crazy leadership who do things like fire finance ministers,” he said. The MEC sketched a grim picture, saying: “Our towns are going to run out of water.”