The DA has submitted a series of parliamentary questions to the Ministers of Water and Sanitation and Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development following the draft regulations recently published around agricultural water use licenses.
Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, introduced race quotas for the allocation of water use licenses on May 19.
The new quotas state that applicants who exceed certain water usage thresholds or withdraw a minimum amount from streams will be required to meet strict racial quotas to access water.
Under the regulations, farmers are required to have at least a 25%, 50%, or 75% black shareholding when applying to be allowed to draw a certain amount of water.
Failure to comply with these quotas will result in the denial of water access.
The DA’s spokesperson for Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development, Noko Masipa, said the party seeks to establish the potential consequences of these racial quotas on water and food security, as well as their impact on farmers and farming operations.
According to Masipa, the race quotas, including the recently gazetted draft regulations for water use licenses, pose an immense threat to the agriculture sector and the overall well-being of South Africa.
Masipa further said the consequences of implementing such water race quotas would be devastating, particularly for the farmers who play a vital role in feeding the nation.
He highlighted that the agriculture sector currently utilises 60% of SA’s water resources to produce the food we all depend on. “These race quotas will result in livestock dying of thirst and fields going fallow simply because farmers have the "wrong" skin colour,” he said.
Masipa accused the ANC of reintroducing racial discrimination on an unprecedented scale, reminiscent of the pre-1994 era, to divide and rule as they face the possibility of losing their majority in the 2024 elections.
The DA further called on all citizens to join them in rejecting both the Employment Equity Amendment Act's regulations and the proposed water race quotas. “We will continue to spearhead opposition to these destructive regulations, taking legal action to challenge the quotas and highlight their unconstitutional nature,” it said.
It said it was preparing to challenge the Employment Equity Amendment Act's regulations in court and is seeking legal advice to declare the water race quotas unconstitutional, as they will transform our agricultural and mining sectors into parched economic wastelands.
The DA has given Mchunu 10 days, as mandated by the Rules of the National Assembly, to provide a written response.
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