As South Africa continues to feel the devastating effects of El-Nino, these images are no longer at the back of our minds. They are more real.
And if we don’t become proactive, there are going to be serious repercussions for South Africans, says Professor Coleen Vogel, a professor at the Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute at Wits University.
“We knew this was coming, we knew the effects of El-Nino would occur,” Vogel adds.
She says droughts aren't new to the country.
“I’ve researched droughts in South Africa going back for the last 150 years. Dry periods in South Africa are normal, heavy rain is actually abnormal,” she points out.
“There has been a change from years of good rains and floods to dry conditions, but now we are feeling the effects of El-Nino and we have to manage it to the best of our abilities.”
The main way to be proactive is to focus on being water wise and educating the public, says Vogel.
“We have to start with young children and enable them to be water wise. We have to raise awareness. The mindset has to change. We take water for granted just because we can turn on a tap and have water flowing out of it.”
She says a drought forum, as occurred in the early 1990s, where small-scale and large-scale farmers, the government, industry and civic society met to discuss these issues, would be an ideal way to deal with the challenges of climate change.
“There should be a consistent national consultation. Instead of only discussing these issues when we face droughts, we should be making such forums more permanent. We need to be more astute about the fact that we are facing a situation of decreasing water. We need to look at what this means and what can change,” Vogel adds.
South Africa, she says, has good water and energy policies, which “we are trying to implement through various processes, including education at universities”.
The consequences of the drought are the result not only of atmospheric “drivers”, but human causes as well, such as poor infrastructural management, leaking pipes and governance challenges like water leadership changes in government.
According to Free State Agriculture Department media officer Alani Janeke, what farmers in the Free State and surrounding areas are worried about is that the time to plant is running out.
“A few have started planting in the belief the rain will come, but planting time in the Free State is from the beginning of October to the end of December. The time to plant in the eastern parts is running out, as they have to plant earlier, due to the frost they have in the autumn and winter,” she says.
“Some farmers in the eastern Free State planted wheat in winter and are also hoping for rain, as their crops are in a sensitive time of growing, Janeke says.
“Even if it does rain, access to financing is a big challenge for many farmers, as many of them have been struggling for two of three seasons.”
She notes that the hardest hit areas are Mangaung, which includes Bloemfontein, Thaba Nchu and Botshabelo, and Nala, which includes Bothaville and Wesselsbron.
“Municipal areas report that conditions are critically dry and that they have bigchallenges to get hold of feed to buy for their stock,” says Janeke.
With regard to dealing with the damage caused by the current drought, Vogel says the situation is concerning but that it’s still early days.
“There is still time; farmers need to make adjustments to diversify if they can. An example of this would be to plant a mix of soya beans and yellow maize.”
With regard to the losses that have already occurred, Vogel says there will be a knock-on effect which goes all the way down the chain.