R6 billion allocated for drought

Gigaba was delivering his maiden budget speech in parliament on Wednesday.

The minister says drought conditions are affecting large parts of the country, and it is placing extreme strain on the supply of water to nearly 4 million people in Cape Town.

Government recently reclassified the drought as a national disaster.

"Some smaller towns in Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, including Nelson Mandela Bay, and Western Cape are also facing water shortages. South Africa is a water-scarce country, and our climate is changing in ways that make rainfall patterns far less predictable than in the past," says Gigaba.

Watch the video below:

Gigaba adds the country has among the highest levels of per capita daily domestic water consumption levels in the world.

"But also some of the highest levels of inequality in reliable access to water. The national government will continue to work with municipalities to respond effectively to the water crisis," says Gigaba.

Government stands ready to provide financial assistance where necessary:

- A provisional allocation of R6 billion has been set aside in 2018/19 for several purposes, including drought relief and to augment public infrastructure investment.

- Government is concerned by the potential job losses in vulnerable farming communities as a result of the drought. We are therefore exploring the option of partially mitigating losses by temporarily increasing intake in the Working for Water programme.

- Allocation for drought response funds for water infrastructure projects and EPWP will be made in the Adjustment Budget.

- To provide short-term assistance, this budget includes disaster relief grants for provinces and municipalities worth R473 million in 2018/19. 

Gigaba says other conditional grants can also be reprioritized to respond to disasters if necessary.

Read the full speech below: