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Welcome to the first media briefing in 2004. I hope like the Free State Government you are all looking forward to an exciting year. Each one of us, you the media, the general public and the Government should work together towards a common and united national effort, build a caring nation.

This we will do by working together. This government, by enhancing democracy dividends and you through responsible reporting. Recently, journalists were newsmakers themselves for various reasons that we are not going to enter into here.

Drought Mitigation Programme

Like many parts of the country, the Free State has been ravaged by the continuing drought. This has been a great source of distress, particularly to the agricultural and local government sectors. In response to this, the Government drew up a comprehensive drought mitigation programme.

This programme will be rolled out by the Drought Relief Committee that is co-ordinated by the Department of Local Government and Housing. This committee's mandate is to prepare a briefing report on the status of drought in the province and to familiarise government structures with the extent of the problem.

Three departments are directly affected in the mitigation programme. These are the departments of Agriculture, Social Development and Health. Urgent relief is needed in several areas of the Free State with the farming community being the worst hit.

Grazing land, agricultural and household water, crops, livestock and job losses are the biggest problems. About 6000 cattle and 80 000 sheep have been lost due to drought. In some cases only 5% of summer crops were planted with no expectation of yield.

It is estimated that almost R99 000 000 will be needed to alleviate the situation in the Free State. This will be used for the following activities

• purchase of fodder
• transportation
• water supply
• boreholes
• child health and nutrition
• Non personal health services
• Food parcels

Greater Xhariep Complex Initiative

Inter-Governmental relations between the Free State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape provinces will receive a boost when the Xhariep Complex Initiative gains momentum.

The Free State Provincial Government has initiated a process of the amalgamation of the Xhariep and Tussen die Revier Reserves in the Free State, the Oviston reserve in the Eastern Cape and the 100Km stretch of land reaching the Vander Kloof Dam in the Northern Cape.

The Greater Xhariep Complex will be the biggest tourism and conservation development in the southern Free State, which is the second poorest area in our province.

120 permanent jobs and 150 temporary jobs per year will be created through this project. Tourism related activities will include hunting, power boating, an international gliding competition, boat houses, fishing, 4X4 trails and game drives.

Conservation benefits include providing the Free State with the opportunity to meet the resolutions of the World Parks Congress. Among others, this will include the introduction of new and endangered species like:

• Cheetah
• Raptors
• Hippopotamus
• Wild dogs

The reserve will be home to 4 of the big 5 animal species. The breeding of the black rhino will generate much needed income for the three provinces

Deputy President's visit to the Xhariep District

I am pleased to announce that the Deputy President, Mr Jacob Zuma, will be visiting the Xhariep district in the Southern Free State on the 29th January 2004. The purpose of the visit is primarily to assess the output by government departments towards addressing delivery backlogs in the communities that were part of the Deputy President's Imbizo in November 2001. The visit will also serve as a platform to give feedback to those communities on the extent and nature of progress made regarding service delivery in their area.

Contact: Kgotso Tau
FSPG: Spokesperson
Cell: 082 564 3396
Tel: (051) 405 4917
E-mail: taukc@preimer.fs.gov.za

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Free State Provincial Government
28 January 2004

Source: Free State Provincial Government (http://www.fs.gov.za)