Emerging farmers who were affected by the 2022 floods are frustrated with the Department of Agriculture.
They have complained that despite commitments made to assist them there was nothing to show for this more than two years later.
This despite meeting all the requirements in order to get assistance for the damages incurred in their farms two years ago.
African Farmers Association Chairperson Mbongeni Sikhakhane confirmed that a number of their members had been badly affected by the April 2022 floods and had not received any form of assistance.
Sikhakhane added that the delay and apparent silence from government had caused a lot of discord among members. “It has come to the point that our members no longer trust us when we are taking their details and they point to the period in 2022 when we did the same thing,” said Sikhakhane.
He cited a meeting and the commitment which had been made by then Agriculture and Land Reform Minister as well as then MEC Bongi Sithole Moloi to assist the affected farmers, adding that such engagements had not yielded anything positive for the farmers.
“The problem is we understand that there were funds set aside to assist, but as to what has happened we have no idea because we have farmers that were affected, and asked for help but there has been no movement on that front,” he said.
With a number of their members also affected by the recent inclement weather that included snow, Skhakhane said they would apply the wait and see approach following their experience.
A KZN Midlands farmer who asked not to be named said he was frsutrated.
“It has been a serious battle for me because although we filled the forms and attended meetings called by officials, I have not received any assistance,” he said.
As a small -scale vegetable farmer who supplies the Pietermaritzburg market among other customers, the farmer lamented the difficulty in getting back to the pre-floods conditions.
Another farmer who also did not want to be named echoed the same sentiments pointing out to how she had to re-start her potato farming operation on her own after waiting a long while for government assistance.
African Farmers Association President Matlala Motsepe said that the failure to assist emerging African farmers who had been affected by the floods merely reflected a lack of a strategy by government to ensure the development of emerging farmers.
In addition to this, he cited corruption in the department, and disunity among farmers as the reasons that help was not forthcoming as quickly as needed.
It is believed that the floods damaged properties and infrastructure belonging to African and white farmers, emerging African farmers have faced difficulty as they did not have insurance for their businesses.
“It is a very difficult problem, one that demands a level of political will in order to ensure that farmers get the assistance that they need,” said Motsepe.
South African Development Farmers Association indicated that a number of its members had been affected by the 2022 floods but could not immediately confirm the ones who had received government assistance.
KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu) Ashley Robinson said they would not be commenting on the matter.
KwaZulu-Natal Agriculture and Rural Development MEC Thembi Madlopha-Mthethwa was not available for comment, but her spokesperson Vusi Khumalo indicated that the matter had been referred to the relevant department officials.
“I have forwarded your query and have been told that the report is not out yet,” he said.