The government has committed more funds to help Somalia

By Lelethu Mquqo
11 August 2011

The government has committed more funds to help Somalia as it experiences one of the most severe droughts in its recent history.

Deputy International Relations Minister Marius Fransman says R8 million has been put aside to assist starving Somalis.

Fransman was speaking at the OR International Airport where he welcomed aid group Gift of the Givers back home.

The group took doctors and specialists to Somalia where they were able to assist over five-thousand Somalis at a temporary clinic they had set up in Mogadishu.

Meanwhile, the United States is giving an additional R700 million n humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa.

The White House says the money, from President Barack Obama's Emergency Relief and Migration Assistance Fund, will provide urgently needed food, health, shelter, water and sanitation assistance.

It stresses that a large-scale international response is underway to prevent the further decline of an already dire situation, but there will be no quick fix.