UPDATE: Mtuba farmer receives drought relief aid
After his story was published, Mbukeni Mchunu received the agricultural items for which he had registered last week in Mtubatuba
AFTER last week’s outcry over a Mtubatuba small holder farmer who claimed his share of the province’s R114-million drought relief fund, but could not take his agricultural items home, Mbukeni Mchunu confirmed he was on Friday contacted by the Mtubatuba DARD (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) office and advised to collect his allocated items.
Mchunu arrived at the Mtubatuba outlet on Monday morning, one week after registering, where he received the bags of livestock feed and the 5000litre JoJo tank for which he had registered.
Mchunu had been the first farmer in line to register in Mtubatuba when the programme rolled out last week.
‘Last Friday I received a telephone call from the Mtubatuba DARD office, then from the DARD office in Pietermaritzburg and then also from the manager of the outlet,’ said Mchunu.
ALSO READ: Drought relief fund misleads Mtubatuba farmers
‘They all told me I could collect my items on Monday morning.’
After months of writing letters to KZN Agriculture MEC Cyril Xaba, Mchunu was happy that he would finally be getting his hands on the feed and water tank for which his cattle were so desperate, and expected to see the other farmers who had also registered the previous week.
On arriving at the outlet on Monday, Mchunu noticed he was the only one collecting his items and was concerned that none of the other farmers had been telephoned to collect theirs.
While the DARD Media Liaison Officer, Lelethu Manentsa, said there were ‘minor hiccups’, with too few agricultural items for the number of farmers who turned out to register, these were soon rectified.
When contacted for verification, the manager of the Mtubatuba outlet said he ‘could not comment’ on the issue.
Read more about the drought here.
