Drought caught us off-guard, govt admits

GOVERNMENT has admitted that the El Niño-induced drought currently ravaging southern African caught them off guard.

Appearing yesterday before the joint Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Budget and Finance and Industry and Commerce, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said this will force the government to rearrange the 2024 National Budget by diverting funds from other budget votes to cover food imports to avert hunger.

The El Niño-induced drought has affected the southern African region where some countries have banned maize exports.

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