A grim tale of starving animals, a parched land and plunging hopes of food security has been painted as the drought cripples the area.
Statistics, dating back 113 years, show that this is the driest it has been in 73 years.
Disturbingly, should the trend continue in November, this will be the driest it has been since statistics started.
Herman de Wet, a prominent farmer near Rorke’s Drift, who also grew up in the area, said streams that normally stopped flowing in September – just before the onset of the rainy season – had already dried up in May.
“We have just come out of a dry season and headed straight into an even drier one.
Depending where you are in the area, we have received only between 40% and 60% of the average rainfall. The underground water supply is drying up and sandstorms – unheard of in November – are now the norm.”
With no grass for animals to graze on, farmers have to give their livestock ‘feed out of a bag’ – a very costly exercise, Mr de Wet told the Courier.
“No one planned for such a harsh drought. Commercial farmers are going to have their budgets cut to shreds and already many are off-loading cattle to cut costs. Some may also be forced to lay off workers which will impact heavily on the buying power of consumers.”
With so many cattle being sent to the abattoirs, the price of slaughter animals has decreased by up to R2 a kilogram, he said.
This translates into about R900 to R1000 a unit price. The price of weaners has also plummeted to between R23 to R24 a kilogram.
“Another concern is that breeding conditions are such that cows will not take to bulls which means a possible 50% reduction in calving next season.”

He said at a Disaster Management meeting at Cedara, where farmers and Provincial government officials met, that R730-million would be needed to feed all cattle in the province for just one month.
“Emerging farmers are especially affected. The Government decreed only to help these farmers – paying out R7,6-million to feed just six animals for 30 days per emerging farmer.”
Speculation is that up to 100 000 animals have already died as a result of the drought in KZN since March. “A cow with a calf drinks up to 50-80 litres of water a day. If a farmer has 200 animals he would now have to cart up to 10 000 litres a day on his land.
“Drilling for water is also costly – a borehole of around 60 metres can cost up to R35 000 excluding the pump and accessories. In the Rorke’s Drift area, two farmers had to drill up to a depth of 141 metres before striking water. Fifteen years ago the average successful borehole was at a depth of 47 metres.”
The situation is such that food security is in jeopardy. “Clearly, the national government must intervene to prevent a looming crisis as our ability to produce food and fibre is now at the mercy of the elements.”
Mr de Wet said that delays – of up to five years – by the Department of Water Affairs to grant farmers permission to build dams on their land has also impacted.
On a more spiritual note, he said that as a young boy – when faced with a similar drought 45 years ago – the Government of the day called for a national shut-down where factories, shops and schools closed for an hour and the nation went down on its knees to pray for rain.
“In ‘n meer geestelike sin is dit nou noodsaaklik vir die Suid-Afrikaanse volk op sy kniëe te gaan voor ons Hemelse Vader om vir reën te pleit…”