The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) on Tuesday warned the public about a scam in which farmers were allegedly offered large drought relief grants in exchange for a lesser cash payment.

In a statement, the department said: “Daff would like to alert drought affected farmers about a scammer who promises farmers a grant of R270 000,00 from the department. The scammer allegedly tells farmers to pay him R20 000, 00 in return for getting cash grant for drought relief from DAFF.

“DAFF would therefore like to bring to the attention of the drought affected farmers that are assisted through the Provincial Departments of Agriculture, that, assistance is done through the appointing of the service provider by the province to distribute animal feed.

“It is the responsibility of the farmers to collect the assistance relief goods (such as animal feed) from the various depots at local agricultural offices. In terms of own contribution, farmers are allowed to group themselves and procure diesel/petrol to collect the animal feed from the various depots. (Based on the above, no payment is done to any individual).”

The department said farmers were warned to stay alert and “never pay money to any individual promising them assistance” as the department would “never make farmers pay for drought relief grants”.

African News Agency