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Northern Cape without good rainfall in 5 years

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The drought has a ripple effect on farmers in the Northern Cape. Farmers in Strydenburg say they haven’t had good rain in five years.

Hundreds of farmworkers lost jobs.

Farmers are experiencing parched land first-hand and with the little they have, they must make ends meet.

Farmer Hennie Zwiegers says the water situation is problematic.

”Your economic circumstances leads to retrenchments. Permanent workers are not there anymore and we make use of seasonal workers. Our water situation is also problematic.”

The farmers’ struggle with land has prompted a re-declaration of disaster.

Nomandla Bloem from the Northern Cape Agriculture Department says they are advising Cogta to advise municipalities to declare disaster.

”We are at a stage where the department and organized agriculture are advising our sister department of Cogta, which houses the provincial disaster management, to advise the municipalities to re-declare their districts where those declarations have expired.”

Some farmworkers had to be retrenched. 20-year-old Vaughgen Hendriks embraces the cold to try and make a living.

”The farmers tell me there are no jobs if the rain doesn’t fall. If it does there will be jobs. People don’t get work to keep them busy. The teenagers get pregnant everyday because they don’t have choices, and the men drink or use drugs to avoid their problems.”

Hendriks and his friends hope for a breakthrough to curb the social-ills plaguing their community.

While the drought has a severe impact on farmers and communities, the Northern Cape Agriculture Department says its hopeful the declaration of disaster will be concluded shortly for financial relief to kick in with earnest.

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