The KZN MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) has welcomed additional funding to the tune of R24-million from the National Disaster Management Centre which will go a long way towards relieving drought in the province’s long suffering municipalities.
Umzinyathi is one of the municipalities
“This additional financial assistance is a good example of well-functioning intergovernmental relations and a proof that the national government has its finger on the pulse when it comes to the needs of our municipalities where a prolonged drought has created numerous challenges for farmers and communities over the past year,” said KZN MEC for Cogta Nomusa Dube-Ncube.
The R24-million in direct payments to KZN’s drought stricken municipalities is aimed at specific drought relief programmes such as the drilling of boreholes and this assistance comes a short while after the province’s municipalities received R352-million in wide-ranging drought relief assistance from the Department of Water and Sanitation.
“Although the monies are being paid directly to municipalities, we as Cogta will exercise general oversight over their expenditure to ensure that this drought relief funding is spent for its intended purpose in its entirety and that it makes a difference on the ground where it matters most,” said Dube-Ncube.
KZN Cogta also reiterated its repeated calls on municipalities and their residents to conserve water ever more vigorously to minimise the impact of water shortages in the province’s numerous catchment areas on the public consumption of water and farming activities throughout KZN.
“Unless we all join hands, we will simply not be able to pull through this prolonged drought. We have a shared interest in ensuring a steady flow of water for our basic needs and for our farming activities and unless we limit all non-essential use of water, we will not have enough of this precious commodity to sustain ourselves in the long term,” said Dube-Ncube.