The year in caricature

A picture is worth a thousand words. Denene Erasmus, editor of Farmer’s Weekly, presents her favourite news cartoons of 2018.

10 August (right): Farmers were warned to be on their guard against fraudsters posing as official members of the South African Police Service, who claimed that the farmer’s stolen property could be returned for a fee. Victims were contacted by these ‘officers’ after a case of theft had been reported, and claimed that the stolen property had been recovered. They then demanded a fee for the return of the property. The callers often had confidential knowledge about the case.

13 April (below): The tariffs imposed on steel and aluminium from China by the US was expected to have little direct impact on South Africa. In fact, industry experts expected that the country could even benefit from a gap in the market to export products such as pecan nuts to China if the Asian country retaliated. However, a trade war could also result in US producers looking for other markets in Europe, leading to greater competition for South African producers in this market.

23 March (below ): While the Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport was responsible for the maintenance of all gravel roads in the province, only 4,7% of these roads were deemed to be in good condition. This was because the depa rtment’s budget was insuffi cient to ensure roads were mai ntai ned. According to Jack Armour, operations manager at Free State Agriculture, farmers were also offering officials ‘incentives’ to ensure that the roads in their areas received attention at the expense of other roads that needed maintenance. This also resulted in higher labour and fuel costs.

29 June (below left): If coal mining companies continued to buy up the best agricultural land in Mpumalanga, South Africa could fa ce food security problems in the future, according to Jannie de Villiers, CEO of Grain SA. A 2012 pilot study conducted by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy, which examined the impact of coal mining on maize production in the province, indicated that in an area of almost 80 000ha, or more than 284 000t of maize, was being lost to mining every year. A further 160 000t per annum was potentially being lost as a result of prospecting in the area. This alone could result in a 5% increase in the maize meal price in the long term.