A prominent businessman in Evaton – a township in northern Gauteng – lost a flock of sheep, goats and two cows due to heavy downpours in the region last week.

Just under 100 of his livestock were killed when his steel kraals, which are enforced with correlated zinc, situated in a low-lying area were filled with water.

According to eyewitnesses, the kraals couldn’t be seen from a distance as rainwater ‘swallowed’ them.

The affected farmer, Usizo Thuso Livestock director Mishack Mokhema, tells Sedibeng Ster he has experienced heavy rain before, but nothing compared to the recent disaster.

“I was home when I received a call that my cattle and sheep were swept away by water. We tried to redirect water but nothing could be done,” he explains.

“I received another call from a member of the community who told me he couldn’t see my kraals, right there I knew this was very serious. We tried to save the livestock but we couldn’t. There was no way that we could try and save those cattle because had we tried, we would have died,” he adds.

Mokhema says a combined 98 sheep and goats died during the heavy rain.

“We also lost one cow and while another is missing. I haven’t calculated monetary value because I’m avoiding losing my mind. But you can imagine [approximately] R2 500 [each] multiplied by that number is a lot of money,” he adds.

Mokhema says this was his biggest loss since the commencement of his livestock business.

“I have lost livestock before due to theft, some of my cattle were run over by a taxi on the Golden highway, but this is the biggest lost since the start of business,” he reiterates.

The businessman says he is really affected by the disaster because he still owes money for the dead livestock.

“I buy livestock on a certain arrangement with suppliers and this stock, I had planned to sell it over the weekend and settle the arrangement. This is the same stock that died. I am badly affected by this great loss,” he concludes.

https://twitter.com/pmcafrica/status/1627295271011876867