Relief for drought-affected provinces

The South African government has allocated R130 million (about US $22 million) to provide drought relief in seven of the country's nine provinces.

The Western, Eastern and Northern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga, North West and KwaZulu-Natal have all been declared disaster areas by President Thabo Mbeki. "The cabinet last week decided to continue with the relief efforts under last year's declaration," provincial and local government spokesman Xolani Xundu told IRIN.

Most of the funds will go towards providing fodder and transport to farmers. Last month the Western Cape, which has not received adequate rainfall for three consecutive years since 2003, called for an additional R26 million (about $4.3 million) to buy feed for livestock and keep farm workers employed.

The Eastern Cape government is continuing its efforts to provide relief to affected people, including farm labourers and farmers. Local media said more than 19,000 beneficiaries had been identified for drought relief during the 2004/05 financial year.

In the first phase of the programme each beneficiary will receive R900 (about $152) from the national department of social development's R60 million ($10.1 million) allocation, which kicks off in the province this week. The second phase will start in March.

Many parts of South Africa have been facing drought conditions since 2002.