Time is running out for Sutherland, the Karoo dorp with the world-famous view of the stars.
Of late the sky above Sutherland has been so clear and dry, and the veld so parched, that farmers have turned to selling crocheted sheep and homemade rusks to survive a cash crisis caused by prolonged drought — now into its seventh year.
Many have also turned to star tourism — there are 44 guest houses and “farm stays” in the area — to offset a disastrous decline in agricultural production that has seen livestock numbers drop by more than 80%.
A visit to the area this week revealed a desperate farming community increasingly reliant upon charity and nonfarming income, including donations of fodder from Save the Sheep, a charity that was started two years ago by farmers’ wives.
The group produces and sells crocheted sheep and other crafts to provide funds for the neediest farmers, and has spawned similar groups in 74 other towns.
“In the last six weeks we’ve had four heart attacks among farmers, one of them fatal — all stress,” said Hester Obermeyer, co-ordinator of Save the Sheep. “We believe it is the women who have to stand up straight, because if we don’t the men will fall.”
Farmer Ockie Muller said there were no more than about 50,000 sheep left in the district, down from about 400,000, due to farmers selling their stock for slaughter, both for income and to reduce feeding costs.
“We are in survival mode at the moment,” Muller said. “People will have to adapt. We will never be able to farm like we used to. There has never been a drought like this, not according to the records and not in our memory.
“But what makes Sutherland different is that we have taken control of our situation by helping ourselves because government is basically non-existent. We are gatvol of people complaining and complaining — you need to make a plan when things go wrong.”
That view is shared by the town’s businesses, among them a motor workshop run by George Marais, whose family farm Swartfontein has been struggling for several years.
“We have to do something extra to survive,” said Marais, who also mans the diesel pump outside his garage on the main road leading to the Southern African Large Telescope. “If tourism wasn’t here then it would be ‘goodbye’.”
Marais said what little rain fell was not enough to restore the veld, and farmers say that even in the event of good rain it would take a few seasons to recover — time they don’t have in terms of finances. Marais’s four daughters have left the district in search of greener pastures.
Marina van der Merwe, of Blesfontein guest farm outside town, said diversity was the key to surviving the harsh conditions. She and her husband have opened a planetarium coffee shop where tourists can watch a 3D astronomy show.
“We earned additional income from sources other than sheep farming, and that enabled us to survive without over-grazing our land,” Van der Merwe said. “We have been able to preserve our natural vegetation.”
Jaco Steenkamp, a fourth-generation farmer on the Williston road 20km outside Sutherland, said his flock was only a third of its usual size due to the drought. He had also been forced to get rid of his ostriches and cattle — with the exception of one milk cow. “I don’t know what is next — we will never build things up again,” Steenkamp said.
Sterreland guest lodge owner Jurg Wagener, whose business is one of several with an astronomy theme, said: “The stars can’t be hijacked and don’t need water — people can just come and enjoy the universe.”
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