Limpopo farmers could shed jobs due to water shortages

Thousands of farm workers in Sekhukhune, Limpopo, may lose their jobs because of the chronic water shortages in the area.

According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2022 Limpopo’s unemployment rate has risen to 35.6%, from 32.5% in the previous year.

The province, according to the survey, now has 700,000 people who are desperate for jobs and 511,000 who have given up hope of ever finding the means to earn a living.

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Despite the gloomy picture, agriculture was able to create jobs and save thousands others, even at the height of Covid.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said farmers in the Loskop Valley were threatening to close or move because of the dire water shortages.

The party said two farmers in Elias Motsoaledi and Ephraim Mogale local municipalities, had allegedly vowed to shutdown, relocate their operations due to the seriousness of the problem.

The Sekhukhune district municipality spokesperson Khomotso Ndhlovu said water supply was affected by load shedding.

“But now that load shedding has stopped, water supply is sustainable,” he said.

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