Food or SAA? Time for government to prioritise

Last week I was in Oudsthoorn, where I addressed a large group of farmers. Having grown up with grandparents who were farmers, I love these types of events. 

Farmers are people of the earth. They are straightforward and you always know where you stand with them.

They are also proud and the men in particularly don't easily show emotion. This is why it broke my heart when they started to talk about the devastating effect of the drought on their farming.

A number of them struggled to contain tears as they talked about the desperation they felt.

As bad as it is, the Klein Karoo is still slightly better off than other parts of South Africa. According to the Weather Bureau we are experiencing the worst drought since 1992.

Almost all provinces are affected to some degree.

When you live in urban areas, it is hard to understand the effect of this, unless of course the taps start running dry. It is only when you see the carcasses of animals that fell because they could no longer walk, when there is only dust as far as the eye can see, when farmers well up when they talk about having to kill livestock – that you realise how big the crisis is.

Although government has allocated some money for drought relief it is a drop in the ocean (or perhaps we should rather say desert). This year the state allocated R260 million to help offset the effects of the drought, but even the President acknowledged that this was "woefully inadequate".