Load shedding threatens farmers lives, physically and financially

Farmers struggling to irrigate and plant, dark, dangerous walks home for workers and days without productivity are just a few of the problems brought on by load shedding in rural South Africa.

The National African Farmers’ Union (Nafu) has sounded the alarm on increased threats to safety and the livelihoods of farm workers, farmers and rural communities. The union warns that food security is already a growing concern.

This is in the backdrop of increasing interruptions in the national power grid, as Eskom scrambles to halt the domino-effect of generating unit breakdowns at its major power stations.

While urban areas have seen billions lost across various industries over the last few weeks amid rolling blackouts, agricultural businesses and the economies of rural areas also have concerns.

A lack of electricity during production hours can cripple an agricultural business in a matter of days, says Nafu president Motsepe Matlala.

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Load shedding could not have come at a worse time for the recovering agricultural sector. Planting season for grain farmers is currently underway and this is an especially important time for irrigation and other activities reliant on a power source.

“Farming is an ongoing 24/7 business and these days you can’t do anything without electricity,” says Matlala.

When the sun goes down, a more sinister threat befalls rural communities, which suffer from lack of policing and an endemic housebreaking and robbery challenge.

Community policing groups in Wonderfontein have increased manpower and patrols because of the increased security threat posed by power cuts.

“We are living in fear when we don’t have lights on the farms, because it is more threatening in terms of security,” Matlala said. “Everybody in South Africa knows that a lack of security on farms has become unbearable and many people have been killed.

“Even if you sleep with a gun, that is not something any human can tolerate.”

While Matlala commends farming communities working with police to secure their communities during the last few weeks, he is concerned that this has been brought on by ongoing load shedding.

The government’s plans to amend power regulations will enable municipalities to self-generate or procure power directly from independent power producers.

While this could be seen as a solution for the rural and agricultural problems, Matlala fears that political influence at Eskom is behind the constant breakdowns which have taken bread out of the mouths of thousands of farm workers, who don’t get an income when production stops.

– simnikiweh@citizen.co.za

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