Whatshot

2026
All
September
2025
All
November
All
2024
All
June
All
April
All
2023
All
March
All
2022
All
2021
All
2020
All
March
All
February
All
2019
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
2018
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
2017
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
January
All
2016
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
January
All
2015
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
DHS
April
All
March
All
February
All
January
All
2014
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
KZN
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
January
All
2013
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All
June
All
May
All
April
All
March
All
February
All
January
All
2012
All
December
All
November
All
October
All
September
All
August
All
July
All

What's the issue?

What's the issue?

Author: Tomas Yoko
Date: 2014-07-11
I had a pig farm in Africa. Or at least I wish I had one, you can be sure that I would not let my pigs, sheep, chickens and other cute and cuddly farm animals go a day without water. I can't go a day without water myself, or whisky for that matter.

Somebody else was supposed to do it is just not good enough and please tell me that there was more than one person on the farm to look after the animals.

I am talking about the recent calamity on Thandi Modise's farm, where over a hundred animals have been left to die of thirst and starvation, their corpses littering the dusty farmyard.

Of course it is a political issue now, Thandi being the newly elected chair for the National Council of Provinces, having left her post as the North West Premier.

All I can say is that we have seen this over and over again, farms that go to rack and ruin after they fall into the hands of people who have no interest or inclination in farming. I am not saying that this is true of Thandi, for all I know she might be passionate about farming, you would not say so knowing that the carcasses of her farm animals are decayed beyond the stage that it would take two weeks to achieve.

We should be investing heavily in farming, state run farms should be the order of the day, we have the labour, we have the land, and we have the resources. I just can't figure out what it is that we don't have.

While the unions seem determined to kill our economy and our government is made to look like a limp appendage unmentionable, we will just have to suck it up and make the most of it.

It is not quite as bad as it is in Syria, yet. But give it a mo, we seem hell bent on bettering the desolation they have achieved over there. Across Bight Bridge there are lessons we can learn. Lessons in how not to do it, courtesy of Bob. After the maize farms were divided up amongst his political buddies production fell from two point one million tons to just half a million tons and wheat from two hundred and fifty five thousand tons to just ten per cent of that in 2013.

No, don't make it a race thing, no race card here, it is a willingness to farm thing. Farming is hard work and takes dedication and commitment. Without that people get disinterested and leave the pigs to die and the corn to dry up and blow away.

The new Green Paper on Land Reform had better take note and try to learn from the mistakes that have already been made. Failing which we will all be victim of Monsanto and we will be eating our own death before we know it. With so much land available to the government it would be sensible for them to start a farm development division and build more new farms instead of trying to take away the existing farms from dedicated and committed farmers. But then that is just me.