Zuma's drought relief aid paused

The N$100 million drought relief aid offered to Namibia by South Africa President Jacob Zuma in 2013 has not been utilised completely.The deputy head of mission of the South African High Commission, Eli Bitzer, confirmed to Namibian Sun that only the first phase of the donation consisting seed and maize meal from South Africa was delivered in 2015. The second phase of the relief covering provisions in water, health and agriculture sectors to drought-stricken communities has not yet been completed.During the Ohangwena Aquifer's Steering Committee media briefing at Eenhana in Ohangwena Region last week, the deputy director of rural services, Natalia Ndaitwah expressed her disappointment over 16 boreholes that were drilled in Okongo and Oshikunde constituencies in 2014 to provide water to people and animals that were hard hit by the drought, saying to date, these boreholes are not functional.She said the communities intended to benefit from the donation cannot use the boreholes because they are not fitted with pumps.“These boreholes were drilled as an emergency during the crisis to provide water to people and animals heavily affected by drought in 2013. They were drilled in 2014, but cannot be used as no pumping equipment was installed. Even though we received better rainfall this year, the people and animals in those areas are still suffering,” Ndaitwah said.The deputy permanent secretary of water affairs in the agriculture ministry, Abraham Nehemia, reiterated that the boreholes were drilled as part of the N$100 million drought relief aid offered to Namibia by the South African government in 2013.He explained that as part of the agreement, drilling and installation of the borehole pumps were supposed to be done by South African companies.“These boreholes were funded by the South African government which also said their companies would do the work. After the boreholes were drilled, the South African government did not identify companies to do the installations. Currently, this has been resolved and they will be installed soon,” Nehemia said.He also explained that the companies have started installing borehole pumps drilled under the same programme in Zambezi Region and very soon they will be doing the pump installations in Ohangwena Region.Bitzer, who said he is still seeking clarity on the debacle, told Namibian Sun that “the first phase of the drought relief programme relating to the provision of seed and maize to the value of N$50 million was concluded some time ago. Rehabilitation of boreholes falls under the second phase of the programme.”Namibian Sun also learned that N$45 million of N$100 million was allocated to financing the drilling of boreholes, provision of water tankers and acquisition of technical skills to support the installation of boreholes in five of Namibia's 14 regions.The agriculture ministry could not provide information about the number of boreholes drilled thus far and the regions that benefitted. ILENI NANDJATO

Zuma's drought relief aid paused

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-14

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Zuma's drought relief aid paused

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-14

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