Status on wheter South Africa supplies Zimbabwe with any aid.

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NO: 1520

PUBLISHED IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO: 20 OF 09 OCTOBER 2009

Mr WG James (DA) to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation:

(1)        Whether South Africa supplies Zimbabwe with any aid, either directly or through the SADC and/or other multilateral institutions; if not, why not, if so, what are the relevant details?

REPLY:

1. The Government of South Africa has provided financial support to assist the economic recovery of Zimbabwe. The support includes a contribution of R300 million to the SADC led Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development Assistance Framework, and a contribution of R300 million to finance the Short Term Emergency Recovery Plan of Zimbabwe. The first contribution of R300 million was utilised for Agricultural inputs (seeds, fertiliser and diesel) from South African suppliers. The financial reports on the expenditure indicate that the funds were spent in accordance with the intended purposes.

The second amount of R300 million is in the form of direct budget support that is governed by an agreement signed by the respective Ministers of Finance. As per the agreement, the funds were transferred to the Zimbabwean Ministry of Finance in three equal tranches of R100 million in May, June and August 2009. The financial reports on the expenditure of the latter amount shows that the funds are being used for the rehabilitation and maintenance of municipal infrastructure.
           
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