Northern Cape farmers beneath the Spitskop dam want the region to be declared a disaster area due to flood conditions that have stopped all production for almost a month, a representative said on Thursday.
”We have already warned the MEC [provincial minister] of agriculture, the Department of Agriculture [and Land Affairs] and Parliament representatives that an application to be declared a disaster area was on its way,” Wessel van der Merwe, deputy president of Agric Northern Cape, said.
”Some arable land beneath the Spitskop dam has been under water for about a month due to previous floods. Some has drained but recent floods have worsened the situation.”
Van der Merwe said further flooding is expected within the next few days.
”Yesterday [Wednesday], the water flow over the Spitskop dam was about 350 cubic metres per second — they expect it to be about 500 cubic metres by Friday.”
Van der Merwe said farmers are currently estimating ”expected damage” because many cannot enter their fields.
The floods have caused damage to crops, arable land (due to erosion), irrigation systems and structures. One farm has lost 286ha of lucerne.
Van der Merwe said the concern is that many of the farmers will not be able to rebuild farms and keep their workers.
”There is a fundamental danger that people [workers] will be fired. Nobody can keep their workers in this situation unless there were some options available.”
Van der Merwe said farmers want to prevent a socio-economic crisis developing within the next few months.
Many farmers in the region had made preparations for the flood conditions, but according to Van der Merwe the water levels rose to beyond ”known” flood levels.
Farmers in the area produce mainly cash crops such as lucerne and maize.
Taung
The Taung area in the North West province — upstream from the Spitskop dam — has already been declared a disaster area.
The worst appeared to be over in the flood-stricken area, mayor Boitumelo Mahlangu said on Thursday morning.
”It’s getting better. The only thing we fear is more rain within coming days,” she said.
She said supplies of clothing, paraffin, wood and food to flooded areas were due to arrive by truck later in the morning. Paraffin is on the list of priorities because most of the people affected rely on use paraffin stoves to cook.
Scores of families had to evacuate their homes because of flooding caused by heavy rains in the area in the past few days. They are being housed in shelters as a temporary measure.
Mahlangu said the health department has done a good job in purifying water and keeping the number of cases of diarrhoea to a minimum.
Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi was to visit Taung later in the day.
”He is visiting the area around 1.30pm to see the extent of the damage and will fly over to see the affected areas,” Mahlangu said.
Mufamadi’s spokesperson, Zandile Nkuta, said a total of 543 houses were affected in the community of about 182 000 people. ”We are doing all we can to assist the community with immediate needs.”
A disaster-management team is on standby in the area and will continue keeping an eye on the situation. — Sapa