SA drought disaster

Desperate farmers look abroad for assistance THE drought in South Africa is so severe that farmers are looking abroad for assistance as the government urges cattle owners to scale back livestock numbers. Five provinces have been declared drought disaster zones and farmers, already crippled by months of drought, have started culling their herds. The government has ramped up relief efforts, trucking in water to the worst-affected provinces, including KwaZulu-Natal and North West. Water from the Katse Dam in Lesotho is being pumped into the Eastern Cape in an attempt to prevent the province being declared a disaster zone. Water and Sanitation Ministry spokesman Mlimandlela Ndamase said the situation was dire. He said the government was taking steps to alleviate the effects of the drought, including increasing watertanker supplies to affected provinces, refurbishing boreholes and speeding up relief for small-scale farmers in rural areas. “The Rural Development Department has identified pockets of land in rural areas for cattle rotation to ensure animals have necessary food.” He said KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Free State and North West remained disaster areas. Agricultural Research Council climatologist Johan Malherbe said the whole of southern Africa was affected, especially Lesotho and Mozambique, which were vital in supplying water to South Africa. But he said global seasonal forecast models did not predict aboveaverage rain for the remainder of summer, with temperatures likely to remain above normal. He said while scattered thundershowers from tomorrow were expected to bring short-term relief, for many farmers it was too late. “White maize farmers in large parts of the country have been negatively affected. If some farmers have managed to plant, the continuing hot conditions could be detrimental to their crops.” He warned that January’s very dry conditions were usually a precursor to similar conditions in February. Emergency services are on high alert across the country today, with record-breaking temperatures expected. Children, the elderly and the sick are most vulnerable and have been advised to take precautions.

Today’s maximum temperatures are expected to be well above 40°C across large parts of the country. The South African Weather Service said that on Tuesday 55 highest maximum temperatures had been recorded in several areas. The highest temperature was at Augrabies Falls, where the mercury touched 48.6°C. ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said paramedics were on high alert. Ekhurhuleni Emergency Services had brought in additional firefighters to assist with emergencies, and Tshwane Emergency Services was preparing to deal with temperatures expected to peak above 40°C. In the North West town of Swartruggens, the hospital’s toilets have stopped working and nurses have resorted to bringing in water. The hospital survives on tanked water delivered by the municipality. World Vision director Paula Barnard said people in Limpopo were cashing in on the drought and selling their borehole water. “As the situation worsens we are becoming more concerned for the health and safety of children.” She said the organisation had already seen cases of diarrhoea, cholera and other water-borne diseases in KwaZulu-Natal children. University of the Western Cape public health professor David Sanders said that during a drought and hot weather the risk of diarrhoea, especially in children, increased. “Because of limited water supplies, people limit their use of water. “The biggest danger is poor hand hygiene. “Diarrhoea is the main cause of death in children under the age of five.” Free State provincial Department of Health spokesman Mondli Mvambi said their greatest fear was an outbreak of diarrhoea. – Additional reporting Aphiwe Deklerk