Tongaat farmers reel from tornado: Stewart and Govender face huge losses
Farms in Isenembe and Compensation were badly damaged.
Local farms suffered losses exceeding millions of rands from the tornado that hit the North Coast a few weeks ago.
Andrew Stewart, a sugar cane and macadamia nut farmer and Pravanie Govender, a poultry farmer, were both struck hard when their farms and homes were destroyed in the tornado’s wake.
Stewart’s farm at Compensation suffered a loss of five hectares of mature macadamia trees worth more than R3 million.
“The affected areas will experience a setback of six years in production. Orchards will take six to eight weeks to clear and then replant trees in September.”
“The house roof and garden were destroyed. It took us a full week to clear the property of trees and other debris,” said Stewart.
While Govender’s home in Seatides was badly damaged, the poultry houses sustaining her entire business on her farm in Isenembe were completely destroyed, as well as cages, tunnels, 90% of livestock, seedlings, and equipment.
“Hardest hit were the rearing and laying houses where livestock was kept. They were the main operation that sustained everything. We are struggling to keep afloat.”
Govender’s recovery plan isn’t clear yet. The farm which has been in operation for the past five years, suffered massive losses,
“We are currently working on cleaning up, which will take a few months because we are relying on manual labour. We might be able to resume operations in a year if we get enough funds to rebuild from scratch,” said Govender.
Electricity supply was interrupted in many areas following the tornado and for Govender, it meant losing the little livestock they had left.
“We’ve been without electricity since the tornado which means we can’t pump water or provide heat and lighting for the little stock we have left and that has resulted in us losing more livestock,” she said.
With an estimated loss of R7 million, Govender fears that her farm which employs seven people might have to close until they can secure funds to rebuild.
“We cannot expect to bring in any revenue until we rebuild” she said.
People wishing to assist can call her at 076 098 0036.
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