Disaster looms for communities
Mr Eugene Roux, of PLM Boerdery said the situation was getting worse and the evaporation from rivers like Waterfall was high. "We are experiencing water shortages, we have experienced a huge drop in water levels. This has also resulted in farmers suspending the cultivating of some plants like maize as we are not sure how they will cope with the worse drought."
BURGERSFORT – With the worst drought since 1983 having struck Limpopo Province, locals are already feeling the wrath of El Niño.
It looks like the future of subsistence farming is at risk. Thousands of impoverished villagers have also been left without drinking water.
Local communities are facing a water crisis where taps are dry, infrastructure is deteroriating and people share water sources with animals. Community members in and around Tubatse believe water was supposed to be the least of their concerns.
“We have a gigantic dam which is reportedly 95 per cent full but it is still not delivering water to the masses. The dam is just a tourist attraction and it its not helping,” the residents said.
During the past weeks the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development announced it had set aside R3 million to assist local farmers with feed for their animals.
The farmers in the province have welcomed government’s intervention, but say it might be too little too late.
“We welcome the intervention by the government, but we are concerned about the amount of money that has been set aside because there are many affected farmers and the damage has been done already,” said Limpopo president of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (Afasa),
Mr Tshianeo Mathidi.
“Farmers continue to lose their livestock as we speak and by the time they receive the fodder or animal feed to feed the surviving cattle, it will be too late.”
He said it was unfortunate that although the weather services had issued the El Niño warning in time, government had failed to establish subsidised insurance for farmers in time.
Instead, most farmers were advised to sell their livestock to minimise losses and inputs, but this warning also came very late, he said.
“Those who farm on communal land were badly affected and who will buy skinny cattle? Buyers buy well-fed cattle because they want a profit too,” said Mathidi.
Some of the farmers, said Nguni cattle needed good management for optional production, but that it was difficult for farmers under the current difficult conditions. “The input cost is high and there is no breeding at the moment. Even though Ngunis can resist drought, they still need feed because there is no grazing at all,” they said.
Mr Eugene Roux, of PLM Boerdery said the situation was getting worse and the evaporation from rivers like Waterfall was high. “We are experiencing water shortages, we have experienced a huge drop in water levels. This has also resulted in farmers suspending the cultivating of some plants like maize as we are not sure how they will cope with the worse drought.”
Ms Maria Shulze of Bronrich Farm in Ohrigstad said the drought was affecting their cattle badly, “There is no grass at all, and the worse part is that the trees don’t have leaves. We often relied on the leaves but this season they are not there. Its actually the second season of drought, as we did not have much rain last year,” she said.
Meanwhile Limpopo provincial government spokesman, Mr Phuti Seloba said the entire province was facing the worst drought in years. He said livestock should not exceed the veld’s carrying capacity and should be provided with additional feed, including licks, to get sufficient nutrition.
He said the government advised farmers to further reduce livestock to protect the limited pastures by selling off their animals.
The paper spoke to the spokesman of the Sekhukhune District Municipality (SDM), Mr Willy Mosoma on how the municipality would ensure the water crisis is resolved in Tubatse and how the De Hoop dam was benefiting communities.
“We can confirm that from June 2015, communities of Ngwaabe area have been drinking water from the dam. The pipeline from Steelbridge waste- water treatment works to the Steelpoort treatment works has been completed and is currently undergoing testing. When that is done, water will be supplied to areas of GTM.”
Mosoma said the process of supplying water involved other stakeholders like Eskom which was required to energise the system of purification and supply of water with enough capacity.
“We are emphasising this point because the construction might be completed but could result in a lack of water provisioning, due to the lack of enough power,” he said.
Mosoma added that the SDM was heavily dependent on interventions by both national and provincial government when it came to measures to assist farmers and they were confident that the state was capable of dealing decisively with this matter.
Meanwhile, Lepelle Nothern Water (LNW) revealed that the situation in Burgersfort was dire since the Spekboom River had dropped significantly and this was affecting the supply of water to their plants.
According to LNW they are currently assessing the situation where the danger is that there will be no water to abstract from the river for purification.
We need to work with both SDM and GTM in equipping available boreholes and to encourage affected communities to conserve water since they will receive reduced volume.
The SDM’s executive mayor, Cllr David Magabe will issue a communique to the broader public on November 16 about the drought and water crisis affecting Sekhukhune and the Limpopo province.
