Discussions about declaring the Western Cape a state of disaster were ongoing after the recent rains affected agricultural infrastructure.
Agri SA Western Cape chief executive Jannie Strydom said a survey showed that the Cederberg region was the most affected.
“We had anticipated that the amount of the damage to agriculture would be substantial.
“The majority of what has been affected is the access to roads to the farms.
“The irrigation equipment was washed away, it’s very substantial.
“The department is engaged in discussions and will apply to declare the province a disaster so that we can get assistance and funds can be allocated,” he said.
Owner of Jamaka Organic Farm in Clanwilliam, Jannie Niewberg, said farmers had lost “a lot” of income due to the flood damage.
“We are busy repairing as we speak, the heavy rains have really affected us a lot.
“Infrastructure has been affected severely and a lot has been washed away.
“From what I gather, the Citrusdal has been a big problem.
“We have had to repair the roads ourselves.
“There was no access to the areas, with rocks rolling down the river.
“We even have had to cancel all our bookings, it’s a big loss,” he said.
The DA’s provincial spokesperson for infrastructure, Matlhodi Maseko, said the Cederberg Municipality had suffered extensive infrastructure damage amounting to R309 million so far, with R97m in losses due to damage caused to agriculture and farms infrastructure.
“The breakdown of the damages is R56m for civils, R6m for electrical, R97m for farms and agriculture infrastructure and municipal roads, specifically the Citrusdal main road costing R150m.
“Efforts are currently under way to calculate the damages to district, provincial and national roads and more than 100 water and sewerage pumps.
“Access roads to and from Citrusdal have been washed away, effectively cutting off the town from services, transportation, exports and imports, neighbouring farming communities and tourists.
“The R303 road has since been reopened.
“The Cederberg Municipality has been absolutely devastated by the recent floods, but the Western Cape Government, alongside the various other stakeholders, are making great strides in repairing critical infrastructure,” said Matlhodi.
She added that the R303 road has been opened, electricity supply to various towns had been secured, water supply had been restored, and relief and shelter had been provided to displaced residents.
Executive director of the Rural and Farmworkers Development Organisation, Billy Claasen, said farmworkers in the area were also affected by the heavy downpours.
“In many cases, the implementation of the relief doesn’t speak to farmworkers.
“Some of the houses that farmworkers live in are in a terrible state, and when there is floods, it also affects them.
“We are calling on the government to also take these into considerations because these are human rights violations,” he said.
Cape Times