The DA hopes that President Jacob Zuma will throw a lifeline to farmers during his State of the Nation Address on Thursday in order to prevent the agriculture sector in the Northern Cape from going under.

The DA has previously warned that if adequate funds are not soon forthcoming from government, the face of farming in the Northern Cape could change forever, with a number of farmers, including stock farmers, being left with no choice but to give up on their farming enterprises, which would create instability for the many families who live on these farms.

This will also have a knock-on effect on food security, the provincial economy and jobs in the Northern Cape.

According to the most recently released labour force survey for the 3rd quarter of 2015, there are currently 34 000 people in the province employed by the agriculture sector. This is almost half of the total number of people who were employed in the agriculture sector in the province in the 4th quarter of 2014. A further blow to the provincial agriculture sector could drastically further reduce this number and possibly even push the expanded unemployment rate in the province, which currently stands at 42,4%, to over 50%.

While provincial and national ministers have seemingly tried to play down the severity of the drought conditions by delaying declarations of provincial disasters, and refusing to declare a national disaster, the severity of the situation speaks for itself.

President Zuma must save what is left of the agriculture sector on Thursday or set in motion the end of a number of farming enterprises in the Northern Cape and the rest of the country.

The DA hopes that aside from committing a substantial amount of drought relief funding to the agriculture sector, he also commits government to implementing coordinated disaster management strategies, as well as streamlining efficient systems to dispense disaster relief funds. The DA hopes that this relief can be properly managed and maintained, so that the President stops relying on citizens, such as those at Operation Hydrate, to do his job for him!

Agriculture is a fundamentally important part of the Northern Cape and the South African economy, and it is also one of the few sectors that can employ large numbers of unskilled labour, however, its role as a major employer and job creator is diminishing. Almost ten million people rely directly and indirectly on the employment created in the agricultural sector. The growth of this sector, not its demise, must be supported as a matter of urgency to prevent agriculture from losing its capacity for job creation.

Issued by DA Northern Cape