The drought has dried up surface water and reduced grazing lands to dust bowls. Reports indicate that there has been a scramble to sell livestock. Hendrik Botha, chairman of the KZN Red Meat Producers’ Organisation, said conditions were very bad, especially in the areas around Newcastle, Dundee and Vryheid, with Utrecht bordering on a disaster situation.
“Even in February, some areas looked like deserts because of the below-average summer rain.” Botha said there was no free water or grazing for livestock, and that hay bales were selling for more than R200 each. Many farmers took the calculated risk of significantly reducing livestock numbers, but had to accept undesirably low red meat prices typically associated with pre-winter sales. Botha estimated that it would take three to four years for affected farmers to recover from production and financial losses should the drought break this year.
KZN Agricultural Union, CEO, Sandy la Marque, said that assessments of current livestock production conditions had been submitted by farmers’ associations to the KZN Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs (KZN DAEA). La Marque urged the department to act swiftly. “We can’t afford to wait. Government must recognise the severity of the situation.” Kwanalu said that the knock-on effects of the drought included cutbacks on farm labour, and weakening of local rural economies.
KZN DAEA spokesman, Jeffrey Zikhali, said that an assessment-based plan would be compiled by 22 June. Zikhali said that the necessary interventions would be arranged according to the report. “If a disaster is declared, then more complex interactions between various departments will be needed to come up with a collective strategy to tackle the problem,” Zikhali said.
