South Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic and resultant national lockdown in South Africa have produced a plethora of negative socio-economic consequences. Amongst these is a wave of crime against the country’s farmers. Lloyd Phillips reports on this phenomenon and on how government’s consistent failures have made a difficult problem significantly worse.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has announced that it will allow the controlled use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 in humans.

While some South African farmers received good rainfall over the weekend of 23 and 24 January, storm Eloise resulted in several regions in neighbouring Mozambique being flooded or experiencing water damage.

The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, said she had noted with concern claims by the EFF regarding the submission of annual reports from the former Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and its entities.

A group of South African medical professionals and AfriForum are separately pressuring government to fast-track authorisation for the use of human-approved ivermectin products as a potential preventative and curative treatment against COVID-19 infections.

Stock theft remains one of the greatest threats to the long-term sustainability of livestock production in North West.The scourge was being compounded by poor reporting of incidences of stock theft, poor policing, and a failing judicial system in the province.

The UK government has announced that imports of citrus fruit to that country will be deregulated post-Brexit, which means that the original EU phytosanitary restrictions will likely no longer be in place.

Updated weather models and information about cyclone Eloise are suggesting the possibility of widespread flooding, damage to roads and bridges, as well as the possible displacement of affected communities in the northern and eastern parts of South Africa, according to the South African Weather Service (SAWS).

Two of South Africa’s major organised agriculture bodies have expressed concern that farmers who have temporarily handed in their firearms to the South African Police Service (SAPS) during the current amnesty are now defenceless against would-be attackers and other threats.

In a year that will probably go down in history as one of the most challenging years ever for the South African wine industry, wine exports managed to increase 7,7% in value, according to Wines of South Africa.

Free State Agriculture (FSA) has strongly condemned the latest farm attack in the province in which a farm foreman, Simon Mokhala (77), was attacked and nearly drowned in a septic tank.

Farmer’s Weekly celebrates its 110th anniversary this year and this is your chance to get involved and be featured in the collectors’ commemorative edition.

The South African Weather Services (SAWS) has issued a warned about Tropical Storm Eloise, which was currently moving over the northern parts of Madagascar and was expected to enter the Mozambique Channel by 21 January.

The spill-over of the liquor ban to the agriculture sector is going to be serious, but the impact is yet to be determined, according to Agri SA executive director, Christo van der Rheede.

After three difficult years, the 2020/2021 Bulida apricot crop was an example of how quickly nature can recover due to favourable conditions.

With early rain experienced in different parts of the country, high infestation levels of the fall armyworm (FAW) can be expected. Farmers and community members were therefore encouraged to regularly scout for FAW during the 2020/2021 crop production season, particularly in younger plantings.

A hailstorm that recently struck parts of the Langkloof caused substantial damage in the area with apples and pears among the main crops affected.

Farmworker wages could increase as much as 16,1% in 2021. This followed the National Minimum Wage Commission recommending in November 2020 that the minimum wage for farmworkers be aligned with the national minimum wage (NMW) in 2021, based on the argument that the agriculture sector was not as severely affected as other sectors by the COVID-19-related lockdown.

Many South Africans fearful of COVID-19 are reportedly throwing caution to the wind by orally consuming ivermectin-based products registered nationally only for administration to livestock in oral, injectable or pour-on formats.

Farmers in the Northern Cape and Klein Karoo have described the recent heavy rainfall received in these regions as a blessing after years of crippling drought.