S. African gov't urged to declare severe drought "national crisis"

As a persistent drought is worsening in South Africa, calls emerged on Thursday for the government to declare the drought a "national crisis".

It is in accordance with the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA) to declare the drought a national disaster, the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said.

The declaration would mean the dispatch of the South African National Defence Force, South African Police Service and any other organ of state to assist the disaster management structures.

The DA has also written to Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, requesting the establishment of an ad hoc committee to deal with the drought.

The committee will urgently need to be briefed by the inter-ministerial (IMC) task team specifically charged to deal with drought alleviation.

"A national task team comprising of private sector, experts and government must be established to coordinate a disaster alleviation plan," the DA said.

The drought currently being faced by South Africa has reached crisis point. Provincial dam levels are down in all provinces, standing at 57 percent of capacity as of last week, compared to 82 percent for the same time last year.

This represents a major economic and humanitarian crisis as food security is placed under threat and the livelihood of those in the agricultural sector is placed in jeopardy.

"This is not a crisis limited to commercial farming, but extends to each and every South African and the poor in particular," said DA Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Annette Steyn.

As South Africans already suffer from an economy under strain, the drought will only serve to make matters worse and will have a direct impact on unemployment, Steyn said.

The most recent GDP figures for Quarter 3 of 2015 reveal that the agricultural sector contracted by more than 12 percent quarter on quarter, largely because of the drought's effects. Moreover, the sector has contracted 16.2 percent year-on-year.

Due to the drought, South Africa, previously a grain exporter, has begun to import grain.

Grain SA said South Africa imported about 750, 000 tonnes of maize to meet the country's needs in the 2013/2014 season. The 2015/16 season will see this increase to five million tonnes of maize.

It is expected that South Africa will also have to impt about 10 million tonnes of grain, rice and soya into the country.

"This would put a heavy burden on our harbour and transport infrastructure while the decline in the rand over December will increase the cost of this exercise greatly," Steyn said. Enditem