As farmers welcomed the recently announced agri-energy relief fund, there is a growing concern that it might be a little too late to save farmers’ operations going down the drain as stage 6 load shedding settled in.
Over the past weeks, farmers have seen higher stages of power cuts resulting in the loss of revenue and productivity. Farmers have said the higher the stages of load shedding, the more difficult it is to operate their farming enterprise.
A new phenomenon is that crime escalates during the power cuts, as power cables are being stolen in various parts of the country. Farmers in Kimberley, Warrenton Upington and Pampierstad in the Northern Cape have raised concerns about the scheduling of load shedding at night as it gives opportunity to criminals to steal.
‘This is a disaster’
Sehularo Sehularo of Saamtrek Saamwerk said load shedding is equivalent to the state of disaster, not only faced by farmers but by communities also.
“You cannot adjust to suffering and losing income. Higher stages of load shedding are not only impacting farmers’ businesses but also impacts food prices and availability of food.
“We are yet to see the impact of the energy action plan and Agri-Energy Fund, that is while farmers need to keep going in the meantime. It has become tougher to do business in South Africa,” he added.
General manager at Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa Bennie Van Zyl, said higher stages of load shedding were not sustainable for farmers in any commodity, especially those who rely on electricity.
“The power cuts from the agricultural point of view is a crisis, we can talk about irrigation farms which are not coping with the load-shedding schedules.
“If you break one cycle of the irrigation system there is already a loss of production and the yield is lower than it should be. The same with the cold chain; if you break it, there will be a problem with food that is not of good quality,” he said.
The whole value chain is affected
Van Zyl said the dairy, crop and beef industries are being affected negatively by load shedding because these products need to be kept in cold conditions which isn’t possible right now.
“What we need now is the best expertise to be hired to run this institution because the impact of these power cuts is going to hit the consumer hard in the pocket, while they are not sustainable for the farmer.
“Most of the problems that we face as the country go back to policies that the government have created, and that is a problem for us because the is a policy of uncertainty and people will not come and invest in such an environment,” he said.
Just too much to handle
Martin Rooi, a raisin farmer in the Northern Cape said the higher the stages of load shedding make it difficult to even think of farming.
“We just started with our season and from last week we have been facing cold weather. To add to our pain, we have to endure escalated stages of load shedding,” he said.
Poultry farmer Ntsako Shipalana from Tzaneen in Limpopo said surviving load shedding as a farmer in rural communities is a challenge she is not sure how to overcome.
“With the way it’s going, backups are needed. I have resorted to having a generator and rechargeable lights.
“Small businesses will not survive. We are barely surviving currently. Imagine being without electricity during the most crucial part of the business day which is 13:00-17:00, it is as good as being closed,” he said.
‘Stage 6 is a short-term phase’
In addressing the media on the recent developments in Pretoria, minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshaveni said it was regrettable that stage 6 load shedding had to be introduced following weeks of stable power supply.
“Cabinet was assured that the current implementation of increased stages of load shedding is a short-term phase as Eskom prepares for more sustained and lessened stages of load shedding in the not-so-distant future,” she said.
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