Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
Learning about the goodness of South Africans
The incessant drought and the suffering it brought with it formed a major part of 2018 for me. Bleak vistas burned to a cinder by the relentless sun dotted with visibly weak and even dead animals near Calvinia in the Northern Cape were some of the most distressing scenes I have encountered in my more than 30 years of agricultural reporting.
The drought, which covered vast areas of the Southern Cape region, the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, as well as Limpopo, has sucked farmers dry financially, emotionally and physically.
They live in trepidation about the future of their families, the welfare of their workers and the few animals they are left with. Some could simply not face the future, and committed suicide.
Despite this, the year has also taught me a lot about the goodness of people. These people are ordinary South Africans, who rose to the challenge to donate to farmers in crisis. Boere in Nood, Agri SA, Gift of the Givers, Burre Burger and his team, and many others deserve the gratitude of all South Africans for their ongoing work to keep as many farmers as possible on their farms. These people have literally worked night and day on behalf of their fellow citizens. The arrival of trucks carrying animal feed at various distribution points was a poignant affair.
The gratitude farmers showed for the slight reprieve it brought was almost tangible. Starving animals received a new lease on life for the next few weeks. However, everything in these drought-stricken areas was based on one thing: the everpresent hope that the rain would come. My hope too is that the rain will come in 2019.