The Democratic Alliance on Thursday accused the government of using drought aid to buy the votes of farm workers.
“The ANC [African National Congress] government’s ‘drought assistance’ to farm workers who still receive salaries and haven’t lost their jobs amounts to buying votes,” DA agriculture spokesperson Andries Botha said.
Government disaster management official Jaco Gouws clearly stated in Bloemfontein on Tuesday that employers are legally obliged to pay farm workers their full salaries, in spite of the drought.
A large percentage of the proposed R1-billion drought relief envisioned by the government is meant to help small farmers, who would not have a crop, to feed their families.
“However, this measure has now been extended to include farm workers on commercial farms,” Botha said.
“Drought relief of this kind makes little sense as long as workers are still employed and receiving salaries.
“The number of workers from a particular farm who can apply for the ‘relief’ will also not be limited.
“This while the number of livestock that farmers can request assistance for is limited to 30.”
The only justification for the extension of drought relief would be to assist employers to avoid farm workers losing their jobs. However, this was clearly not what the ANC was trying to do.
“The DA will do everything in its power to put a stop to the buying of votes in this manner. We invite all affected parties — that is all tax payers — to support us in this venture,” Botha said. — Sapa