Last Wednesday morning, the worst thing that could happen to any livestock farmer happened to Aobakwe Selebogo and his uncle Vincent Lobaleng. Twenty-one of their cattle were struck by lightning and killed at Entry Farm near Morokweng, North West.
Lighting struck the area in the early hours of the morning at around 02:00. The loss of cattle Selebogo and his uncle reared was valued at around R280 000, money which the pair would have used to support their families and buy cows.
“It really hurts, it’s a disaster,” said Selebogo. “My uncle is a pensioner, and he relies on that livestock.”
Seeing the pile of dead cows was too much for Lobaleng. “My uncle normally suffers from high blood pressure and he almost fainted, we had to help him stand,” Selebogo told Food For Mzansi.
According to the farmer, the financial blow has forced them to sell one of their older bulls to generate capital.
Giving up isn’t an option
“My uncle wanted to give up on farming [but] we’re not going to give up. We won’t leave farming, not when South Africa is suffering from a shortage of red meat.”
“There is nothing we can do because this was a natural thing and it’s not going to be easy, but we will stay. We won’t give up,” Selebogo said.
South African Stud Book vice president, J J Bezuidenhout, explained to Food For Mzansi that in South Africa, livestock is often lost due to lightning, and unfortunately there are no other means of preventing it from happening.
“Some farmers take out insurance, but it is expensive and not easy to prove damage to insurance companies,” he said.
Department yet to respond to pleas for help
Selebogo, however, needs help and has called for assistance from the North West department of agriculture and rural development.
He is struggling to bury the cows as he does not have access to proper machinery such as a tractor loader backhoe (TLB) and labour. Selebogo said he cannot afford to hire machinery to dig holes to bury the cows.
Selebogo said he reached out to the department of agriculture offices in two municipalities, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District and Kagisano-Molopo Local Municipality.
Selebogo added that attempts to reach out to the department have not yielded any assistance. “I spoke to two extension officers at our local agriculture offices, they both spoke to seniors but still we didn’t get any help.”
The department’s lack of urgency and the possible environmental contamination worries Selebogo as the bodies of the dead cattle have not been buried.
Neighbouring farmers have started complaining about the very unpleasant smell and wild animals attracted from nearby bushes which pose a threat to livestock.
“I just wish that the department or any disaster management teams could assist me with recovery. I bought a bull for R84 000 last year and a year later that bull is dead, so I hope that even if they pay a portion of the price, it will really help me.”
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