Poor people would be able to buy a 12,5kg bag of maize at nearly half price in terms of a deal struck between the government and the private sector, Cabinet announced on Thursday.
It had also agreed to increase welfare grants, Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza told reporters in Pretoria.
She said certain companies had agreed to make non-branded maize available at R25,99 a bag, compared to the current price of about R46.
The private sector had donated 400 tons of maize to be sold at the reduced price.
Didiza was briefing reporters on decisions taken by Cabinet on Wednesday in a bid to curb the effects of rocketing food prices.
The old-age pension would rise by R20 to R640 a month from later this month. At the same time the grant for child support would increase by R10 to R140, that for foster care by R10 to R460 and the care dependency grant by R20 to R640. As a long-term measure Cabinet decided an investigation should be launched into the re-establishment of a strategic grain reserve to act as buffer stock in times of crisis.
”South Africa will work towards the introduction of incentives for expanded food production in the region as well as the lowering of food tariffs within SADC (the Southern African Development Community) as part of its free trade agreement.”
Government would also investigate the impact of a VAT zero-rating system on some basic foods to see whether relief was in fact passed on to consumers.
In other related news, South Africa had volunteered to help the 800 000 Basothos facing serious food shortages, Lesotho’s Foreign Minister Mohlabi Tsekoa said on Thursday.
”Scores of our people need urgent assistance and South Africa has volunteered to help,” he told reporters in Pretoria.
Tsekoa said Lesotho and South Africa’s governments had discussed South African aid in the farming and food crisis.
Tsekoa was speaking at a joint press conference with his South African counterpart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on efforts, through the SA-Lesotho joint bilateral commission, to help Lesotho to emerge from its classification as one of the least developed countries in the world. He said Lesotho presented to the commission a number of projects aimed at developing that country’s infrastructure, economy and the agricultural industry.
”These initiatives will help us drag ourselves from the list of less developed countries in the world,” Tsekoa said.
”South Africa, at a recent Southern African Development Community summit in Angola, made a voluntary offer to help countries in the region afflicted by famine and Lesotho is one of them.”
Lesotho has a total population of around 2,2-million. – Sapa