The current endemic brown locust outbreak, which is razing through large tracts of agricultural land, is one of the worst in a decade, and has the country’s locust-fighting teams overwhelmed, from Pofadder to Somerset East.
A month ago, a sheep farmer, who asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorised to speak to the media, was helping to battle as many as 250 roosting brown locust hopper bands a week in the Northern Cape.