1. a) The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) has developed a Framework meant to give direction to all provinces on the implementation of assistance being provided in the event of a disaster occurrence. In terms of that framework, farmers are classified into three categories namely Small scale (farmer who owns 30 or less LSU); Subsistence (farmer who owns 31 to 50 LSUs) and Commercial (farmer who owns 51 and more LSU). Due to the insufficiency of funds to cater for all farmers, they were prioritised by provinces based on the impact of the drought conditions.
b) According to records at our disposal, farmers assisted to date were as follows: Free State (FS) (3 418), KwaZulu Natal (KZN) (8 300), Limpopo (LP) (22 524), Mpumalanga (MP) (10 670,) North West (NW) (21 383), Northern Cape (NC) (2 108), Gauteng (GP) P (1150), Eastern Cape (EC) (8 025) and Western Cape (WC) (885).
c) The average amount of assistance differs because it depends on the provincial allocation and the number of farmers to be assisted as well as number of livestock affected.
2. The South African Weather services (SAWS) forecasted normal to below normal rainfall for winter season throughout the country and that indicates that all provinces are still experiencing dry conditions with declarations still in force in all six declared provinces and municipalities in the Eastern and Western Cape. It should also be noted that the recent showers received throughout the country were a relief to the farming communities.
3.No, DAFF has submitted the original requests to the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) for further processing to the National Treasury to assist farmers affected by drought throughout the country. While waiting for the response DAFF and provinces have prioritised funds for drought assistance further into the 2016/17 financial year from their grants and equitable share allocations.