SA to choke on food prices after floods

Published Jan 17, 2011

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More than 20 municipal areas in six provinces are expected to be declared disaster areas following the floods of the past two weeks.

And while the floods recede, food prices and unemployment are expected to rise.

The worst-hit areas are in the Northern Cape, followed by North West.

In the Northern Cape, the disaster areas are expected to include the Francis Baard, Siyanda, Pixley Ka Seme and Namakwa municipalities. The disaster areas in North West include the municipalities of Ruth Mompati, Kenneth Kaunda and Ngaka Modiri Molema.

In Gauteng, the disaster areas are expected to include Sedibeng, Tshwane, Joburg, Ekurhuleni and the West Rand.

In the Free State they are expected to include the Fezile Dabi, Xhariep and Thabo Mofutsanyane municipalities, while in KwaZulu-Natal they are the uThukela, iLembe, eThekwini, Sisonke and Amajuba municipalities. In Mpumalanga, the areas are Nkangala and Ehlanzeni.

The municipalities were identified by sources in the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

KZN was hardest hit in terms of the loss of human life, with 39 people dying due to lightning and floods.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tina Joemat-Pettersson warned that food supplies would be affected, inflation could rise and the effect would be felt in the agricultural sector.

Yesterday, Joemat-Pettersson flew over flood areas in Gauteng, the Northern Cape, Free State and North West.

“Anticipate food prices to go up. We can’t give the exact statistics or figures yet as we are still investigating the effects of the floods, as well as those in Australia, which could impact on our food supply and our markets. The fear is that more rain is still to come, and we can only make a proper assessment when the water levels have subsided,” she said during her tour.

“Already, 20 000 hectares of farmland in Keimoes have been washed away. It is a grape farm area and has been completely devastated.

“I am also deeply concerned about unemployment in these areas, as last year we had 100 000 job losses in agriculture. We were just recovering from that and had already created 50 000 jobs in the sector, but these floods have reversed that and could possibly result in even more losses,” said Joemat-Pettersson.

She could not estimate the total cost of damage or how much the state would spend on interventions.

“After the rains have subsided, the land will still be fertile, but the farmers will not be able to farm right away. This also places our ‘zero hunger’ campaign at risk, as black women in these areas who worked on the farms will be left vulnerable and unable to feed or shelter their children.”

The minister’s trip extended to Prieska, Northern Cape, where irrigation pivots used on farms had to be removed from the rivers, cutting water for inland farms.

At Christiana, North West, the aircraft carrying the minister could not land on the narrow landing strip because it was filled with mud. The Bloemhof dam had water flowing fast and free over the floodgates.

“This flood damage, for most parts, is not as a result of rain, but because of the overflowing dams. The Orange River has already burst its banks.

“There is also a lot of underground water coming to the surface - thus increasing fears of the rise in acid mine drainage levels, which could harm plant and animal life,” Joemat-Pettersson said.

Sapa reports that SA National Defence Force spokesman Colonel Kobus Etzebeth said they were receiving more and more requests to monitor or help with food parcels lower down the Orange River towards Pofadder in the Northern Cape.

He said air force aircraft fly twice a day to help with the distribution of food parcels to people on islands in the river or help people cut off from the outside world due to the rising water.

Three people were airlifted between Witbank and Pella after floodwater cut them off from their route home. - The Star

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