Durban -
As the water crisis north of Durban deepens, both large and small-scale farmers have already begun counting the cost of lost production.
Residents of several suburbs were urged this week to reduce their water usage by 10 percent as Hazelmere Dam dropped to a critical level of 51 percent.
The eThekwini Municipality, warning of the imminent danger of water stocks running out, blamed El Niño – a series of climatic changes – for the drought-like conditions.
The dam serves Verulam, Grange, Redcliffe, Everest Heights, Waterloo, Trenance, oThongathi (Tongaat), Westbrook, La Mercy, Sea Tides, Hambanati, Emona, Burbreeze and eMdloti (Umdloti).
Emritha Maharaj, 48, and her mother, Shunoo Basanth, 69, have been hard hit by the water restrictions and drought-like conditions.
The women have been selling their fresh produce – including coriander (dhania), mint and fenugreek (methi) – for over 20 years.
The mother-daughter duo – who are members of the iLembe Chamber of Commer-ce, Industry and Tourism – operate under the name Amy’s Fruit and Veg, and sell their goods from the back of a bakkie at the KwaDukuza Market.
“We have a small patch at our home and another five-acre (1.7 hectare) farm about 20km from our home. For us, the water shortages for the past few months since July have been disastrous,” Maharaj said yesterday.
“Most of our greens have just burnt out and died.”
She said that they supplied these herbs to both shoppers at the market and to a few restaurants in the area.
“Every month, on our vegetables and herbs alone, we used to bring in about R5 000. This has now dropped to between R500 and nil. It really is devastating for small farmers like us.”
Her mother used the earnings to supplement her pension.
She added: “We also have to use what we make to pay the staff members we have, who help tend the vegetable and fruit patches.”
Maharaj added that their brinjals and green chillies had also suffered, with many plants not even sprouting.
She said that, because of the water shortages, fruit like bananas which were especially popular among her customers had not reached the proper size, meaning they were more difficult to sell.
“This is heartbreaking. It has put a dent in our pockets. I just hope we recover, even though I know that won’t happen in the near future.”
The executive director of the South African Cane Growers’ Association, David Wayne, said that due to the absence of late summer rains at the beginning of this year in many of the cane growing regions, most growers started the 2014/15 season with very dry conditions.
The national association represents 23 866 cane growers, the majority of whom operate on small family-owned farms and annually produce on average 21 million tons of sugar cane from 14 cane supply areas, extending from Northern Pondoland in the Eastern Cape to the Mpumalanga Lowveld.
“During the period February to September, the rainfall has been significantly below the long-term mean (average). This has resulted in much of the cane crop being water-stressed,” he said.
“The situation was made worse by the unseasonably high temperatures experienced in some areas and by frost conditions in some regions in the Midlands.
“This will, unfortunately, have a negative impact on crop yields.”
Wayne added that farmers were “eternal optimists” and the rains experienced last week would “go some way” towards alleviating the stress of the drought conditions.
“The latest crop estimate of just over 18 million tons of cane is approximately 8 percent down on the initial crop estimates of March. This compares with an average crop of about 21 million tons of cane.”
He said that many growers were in a stretched financial position as a result of the ongoing cost squeeze with increasing input costs and a protracted period of low returns to sugar cane production.
“The impact of the dry conditions on the capacity of growers to implement proper ratoon (a new shoot or sprout springing from the base of a crop plant) management is of particular concern.”
Wayne added that grower structures and the mills in the regions would monitor the crop on an ongoing basis and assess mill closing dates as the season progressed.
But other business owners in areas with water restrictions, such as Ashleigh Naicker of Ashleigh D Hair and Nails in Salt Rock, had not been having any problems.
“We are trying our best to save as much as we can and to cut down on unnecessary usage. ”
The chief executive of the iLembe Chamber, Cobus Oelofse, said member businesses had not reported any specific challenges but explained that nurseries, golfing estates as well as farms had been accommodating the water restrictions as well as they could.
“They understand that if the situation does not improve we could be facing a crisis.”