My last column two weeks ago painted a bleak picture of SA’s 2019/2020 agricultural outlook, highlighting prospects of drought in some regions of the country. Lately, conditions have improved notably, and farmers managed to plant the area they intended.
“Cadre employment must stop and an effective civil service must be built up by appointing competent people.
South Africa’s energy crisis has many dimensions, from political and economic to technical and environmental. Recently, the country’s power utility, Eskom, has been generating only about 60% of its capacity and has had to restrict usage to prevent a regional blackout.
Stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans) are cold-blooded pests. They feed on the blood of their hosts, which include cattle, camels, horses, dogs and humans. During their feeding they can mechanically transmit viruses and bacteria that cause diseases like West Nile fever, Rift Valley fever and anthrax.
Effective land reform is still required, but the Draft Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill of 2019 (the Draft Bill) will needlessly undermine the property rights of all South Africans: from the 1 million whites with home ownership to the 8.5 million black, ‘coloured’ and Indian families who own houses too.
The next few days will be warm and relatively dry over most parts. Isolated thundershowers are possible over the central interior and Highveld on most days, but the high temperatures and the isolated nature of rainfall events will result in some drying during the period.
