Minister of Agriculture

1. a) i.  The Department’s role in assessing the flood damage in the province is to articulate the extent of the physical damages suffered by farmers and the agricultural community as a result of the floods. In addition to the afore-mentioned, to identify where the damages occurred (area/location) and the identity of affected farmers/farming communities. This information will be used to provide the Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC) with the necessary information (reports) to assist with the Post-Disaster Recovery operations as well as with information to support the submission to the National Disaster Management Centre for a disaster declaration.
2. The department forms an integral part of the Provincial Joint Operations Centre (JOC). Based on the outcomes of the various stakeholder investigations, a motivation will be submitted to the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) for a disaster declaration. The Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC) will form part of the process in drafting the submission. Once approved, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development (DALRRD) will make a request for disaster funding from the NDMC.

My department is in the process of identifying the extent of the damages as well as the affected areas, farmers and farming communities.

2. My department recently completed a Rapid Assessment of the Flood Damages in all the affected areas. This was followed by a more detailed verification process of the affected areas and engagement with the affected farmers were held.  My Department, in collaboration with representatives from the DALRRD and the PDMC, led the verification process.

It has been confirmed that much of the flood damages are in the Cape Winelands and the West Coast districts.

The verification of the impact of the flood also allowed us to verify the extent of the damages, interact with affected farmers and communities, and obtain the necessary inputs for the submission to declare the flood damage as a disaster either at a Provincial, district or municipal level.

2. a)  It is crucial that the department speedily finalises all the necessary flood damage assessments (Rapid Assessment, Verification Process and Final Assessment) so that it can make a submission to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) to facilitate disaster funding.

The submission must reflect a commitment on the part of the department to assist with post-disaster recovery operations.

2. My Department will continue to engage with the NDMC and DALRRD to ensure that funding is allocated and transferred as quickly as possible, once the necessary declaration had been made.