HA-RAVELE – As the government had declared Mutale, Musina and Makhado Municipalies as drought-stricken areas on June 11, 2003, Min Sydney Mufamadi visited the area on January 8, as part of government's efforts to mitigate the effects of the drought.

While addressing members of the community and farmers at the Ravele Community Hall, Mufamadi said that the government is faced with a great challenge, bringing drought relief in the province, as the drought is worsening and extending to other municipalities. "In most places within these three municipalities, people did not plant crops, because the rain that we were expecting disappointed us, while in other places livestock are dying because there is no water in dams," said the Minister.

Mufamadi added that a package of R23 million has been put aside by the national government to aid farmers and their workers in Limpopo province.

"As government we understand that the amount is not enough because there is no rain and the drought is worsening. We are appealing to members of the community to support us in order to overcome the drought problem in the province," he said. In the recent past, about R17 million was utilised to drill boreholes across the province. Meanwhile, another R16 million is reportedly also going to be allocated to the provincial department of Agriculture, again to drill more boreholes.

"As a result of the unavaibility of rain, the crop failure and the loss of livestock in the agricultural sector, South Africa is under threat of decreased food production and water scarcity, with up to four million people in need of emergency assistance."

Presently there are only two provinces that are not affected by drought, namely Gauteng Province and Western Cape Province. The chairperson of the Northern Livestock Association and the Limpopo Emergency Red Meat Producer's organisation, Mr MW Muvhalawa, said that the drought is worse at the Blouberg, Waterberg, Makhado and Mutale areas. He said that with AgriSA, they requested the government to declare the above-mentioned areas as the drought disaster areas and to assist them with grant relief to buy animal fodder. He said the scheme ended on December 31, 2003.

"In our region the drought has reached its climax, where most farmers have lost their livestock as a result of the drought. We as farmers appreciate the visit of the minister and we believe that they would assist us to overcome the problem. It is also important for farmers to keep limited livestock, as the drought is worsening drastically," he said.