For many years, Thubelihle Sithole, a small-scale livestock farmer in the rural village of Nkandla in northern KwaZulu-Natal, has depended on his goats and cattle to support his family.
His and many other farmers’ livelihoods, nevertheless, are currently in jeopardy in the remote village of Nkandla.
Sithole bemoaned to Sunday World that pockets of farmers were reduced to ashes by the wildfires that consumed the area and other rural KwaZulu-Natal areas two weeks ago.
“Farmers in this part of the world do not have big capital,” he explained.
“We survive from hand to mouth by selling our livestock. One cattle loss means a family is deprived of R12 000 in monetary value.”
Appeal for government to help
Five of his cattle were lost in the fires. The sudden emergence of fires while the cattle were grazing reduced them to ashes.
“Fortunately, my other livestock, such as goats and other cows, survived because I had placed them on another grazing land,” he said.
Mbuzeni Cebekhulu, another farmer, stated that they were appealing with the government to help the farmers buy livestock feed, like cattle fodder.
“We do not want any money from the government. What we only need is cattle fodder to feed the animals,” said Cebekhulu.
“Our cattle are suffering; the raging fires have destroyed all of the grazing land.”
The affected subsistence farmers, he claimed, were paying outrageous prices for cattle fodder from the more seasoned white farmers with the little money they had in the interim.
Mbhekiseni Biyela, the mayor of Nkandla local municipality, claimed that careless people started the fires.
Hunters and drunkards blamed
“We are having this problem because of people who are hunters and drunkards who cause menace during the night,” said Biyela.
“They are the ones who start the fires. They are irresponsible and have caused untold harm not only to farmers but to property and homes.”
He said that farmers have been approaching the municipality in large numbers to ask for assistance.
“Our help is limited because we are a small municipality. We plead with other stakeholders to come on board and save the people’s livelihoods,” he said.
The death toll and devastation caused by the fires are not limited to Nkandla.
The recent fires also severely affected the nearby villages of Nongoma, Hlabisa, Msinga, Nquthu, Ulundi, and Eshowe.
