Photo by: Reuters
More than half a billion rand would be allocated to drought relief measures, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan revealed when he tabled the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) in Parliament on Wednesday.
“The 2016 adjusted estimates of national expenditure allocates a further R553.3-million for the acquisition of a mobile desalination plant and animal feed, ahead of rains expected later in the year,” the document said.
Between 2015 and this year, the country was hit hard by its worst drought in two decades. This led to water shortages and various municipalities and production and job losses in the agricultural sector.