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The Democratic Alliance (DA) will write to the MEC for Agriculture, Nandi Ndalane, to scrutinise the Covid-19 relief support fund supplied by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD).

The pandemic caused undue hardship to subsistence farmers and more so those who farm in drought-stricken areas like the Molemole municipality.

DALRRD made funds available for a Covid-19 disaster support fund for smallholder and communal farmers. Eligible farmers received vouchers worth R8 500 that could be used at specific agents to purchase agricultural supplies like seed, fodder and day old chicks to enable them to continue with their farming activities.

The DA is concerned that, whilst this project has noble intentions to assist struggling farmers, the prices charged by the agents were massively inflated and that farmers received little value for the vouchers.

Farmers in the Molemole area complained to the DA about specifically the inflated price charged by the agents on lucerne bales.

The agent in the Molemole areas charged R399.30 for a 25 kg bale of lucerne whereas the same quantity of lucerne is sold along roadsides across the province for between R50.00 and R150.00 per bale.

This price inflation is just another example that funding allocated for Covid-19 disaster aid was not used prudently and transparently for the sole purposes of alleviating the plight of the desperate and the needy.

The DA is requesting MEC Ndalane to investigate how much funding was made available for the disaster support in our province, how many farmers were assisted, what the criteria were for appointing the distributing agents and if they were on the database, how prices for products were determined and at what costs these products were purchased by the agents.

MEC Ndalane needs to make public her findings and suppliers who unfairly inflated prices need to be dealt with decisively.

Our subsistence farmers do not have infinite resources and they cannot face droughts, pandemics and regular outbreak of foot and mouth disease alone.

The DA will continue to put pressure on the Department of Agriculture to ensure that support programmes are rolled out timeously and that funding available is spent prudently to maximise benefit for our subsistence and communal farmers.

Issued by The DA