R200m for drought relief – KZN mayor wants to know where it went

29 August 2017 - 13:58 By Bongani Mthethwa
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Starving cattle seen near the dried up river bed of the Umfolozi River on November 5, 2015 in Nongoma, South Africa. The rivers in the area became dry due to extreme drought and there wasn't enough water for communities in surrounding areas.
Starving cattle seen near the dried up river bed of the Umfolozi River on November 5, 2015 in Nongoma, South Africa. The rivers in the area became dry due to extreme drought and there wasn't enough water for communities in surrounding areas.
Image: Gallo Images / City Press / Tebogo Letsie

Nongoma mayor Albert Mncwango has welcomed a forensic investigation into how the KwaZulu-Natal government spent more than R200-million earmarked for drought-relief in the province.

Nongoma was one of the areas hardest hit by drought after four major rivers and dams ran dry last year. These included White Umfolozi‚ Black Umfolozi and Mona rivers.

In a statement issued on Tuesday‚ Mncwango said at the time Nongoma residents were promised that dams would be built and they would be compensated for the loss of their livestock.

“But none of this has materialised even though huge amounts of money was set aside by the provincial government for drought relief‚” he said.

He also revealed that cattle feed had come late and was insufficient to help all those who were affected by the devastating drought.

“The citizens were promised that fields would be fenced but even this has not happened so far. This makes us believe that we were misled into believing that people will be assisted by the provincial government.”

KZN agriculture MEC Themba Mthembu announced last Friday that the investigation‚ expected to be completed before the end of the year‚ was sparked by complaints about how the money had been spent and whether it had its desired impact.

Mncwango said the IFP-led municipality wanted the forensic investigation to “uncover what has happened to the funds allocated to drought relief".

He said it was unacceptable that public funds that are allocated for a specific purpose do not reach the people they are intended for.

“We are aware that in the 2016/2017 provincial budget an amount of R200-million was allocated towards drought relief. This was in addition to the R114-million that was reprioritised during the 2015/16 adjustments by the department of agriculture. The taxpayer needs to know what has happened to this money‚” said Mncwango.

In February last year‚ former Premier Senzo Mchunu announced after his State of the Province Address that the province had injected R872-million into various municipalities for drought relief projects.

Mncwango said if Mthembu was serious about clamping down on corruption‚ officials implicated must be named and shamed.

“He must also commit himself to taking action against those politicians at the very top if any are found to be involved in any unlawful activity. The citizens of Nongoma must get what is due to them‚” he said.

 

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