Boland farmer Jaco Botha watched helplessly as two rivers burst their banks, sending a wall of water towards his vineyards and cattle in Rawsonville.
"I had to move all of them from the field to here [close to the house]. This is the highest spot. They could have drowned," he said this week, mopping up after devastating floods led to an estimated R750m to R1bn in losses by the agricultural sector in the Western Cape.
Only the farm house and workers' homes were not engulfed as the province was battered by cold fronts between June 14 and 19.
Botha has 10 bulls ready for sale that could fetch R40,000 to R100,000, along with 40 cows that could be sold for R15,000 to R25,000 each.
"The cattle are under pressure because we can’t get them to the fields because the water hasn’t subsided enough. I have to feed them here now," he said.
Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Jacques Moolman said the flood disaster was a double whammy for victims of the broader logistics and transport disaster.
Roads were damaged, making it difficult to get produce to the port. The Citrus Growers Association told Business Times that early navels and Clementines were especially affected.
"The rebuilding costs will also be significant — roads were seriously damaged and other farm infrastructure like pumphouses on the river was ruined. Whole orchards were also lost," said the association.
Botha said he had removed mud from his kraals and repaired fences but the costly project would be fixing the burst river banks, as more rain was expected in the coming days.
“We have had floods before, but not as bad as this one,” said Botha.
“It’s difficult to estimate the total cost of the damage because we have to fix two river banks ... There is damage to the vineyards as well. My shade was flooded. We have insurance for the oat bales and fertiliser [worth R90,000], but we don’t have insurance for the river banks,” he said.
“Everything was under water, including the kraal. It was just my house and my employees’ houses that didn’t flood. Had the water risen by 20m, my house would have been flooded."
Mncedisi Philibane, who runs a spaza shop in Spooky Town informal settlement, said: “The floods have cost me a lot of money. One of the refrigerators, which I bought for R15,000, was damaged.
“The meat will rot. My business has come to a standstill. I have to raise capital to fix the refrigerator and buy new stock."
Botha's neighbour Johan Jordaan had to move 15 horses to a friend’s farm when the Breede River flooded his property. Jordaan said the floods swept away animal feed worth R400,000. He also produces wine grapes and sweet potatoes.
"My house flooded three times in seven days. Everything is damaged, including mats and furniture. Fixing the river banks will cost me about R2m.
There were lots of vineyards that were damaged close to the river. The irrigation pipes and roads were washed away. Luckily, when the flooding started, I moved the tractors and the bakkies.”
The five-star boutique hotel Last Word Franschhoek was damaged by flooding on June 15. "At this stage we are not sure of the extent of the damage nor when we will be up and running again. The insurers are busy investigating. However we believe that we will be trading again and ready for our guests on October 1," said MD Nicky Coenen.
Assessments of damage to the road network under the control of the provincial department of infrastructure are still under way. The worst affected district was the West Coast.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.