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1994-05-02
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<text>
<title>
Famine in Transvaal
</title>
<article>
<hdr>
Foreign Broadcast Information Service, March 18, 1992
South Africa: Drought Crisis Continues; Claiming Victims.
Famine in Transvaal
</hdr>
<body>
<p>[Article by Mathatha Tsedu. Johannesburg THE SOWETAN in English
17 Feb 92 p 1-2]
</p>
<p> [Text] Between 1.5 and 2.5 million black farm labourers and
their families face starvation in the Transvaal alone because
of the ongoing drought.
</p>
<p> About half of them are being fed by agricultural
corporations which are also helping white farmers to remain on
their land in the face of one of the harshest droughts to hit
South Africa in the past few years.
</p>
<p> The chairman of the Drought Crisis Committee (DCC) in the
Transvaal, Mr. Willie Lewies, said efforts by his organisation
and the corporations had so far staved off the exodus of
farmers and the resultant retrenchment of labourers.
</p>
<p> The departure of the white farmers would spell doom for the
labourers on the farm.
</p>
<p> Lewies said there were about 400,000 farm labourers in the
Transvaal, excluding the Eastern Transvaal, who were affected
by the present drought.
</p>
<p> He said: "We are trying to keep labourers and farmers on
their land. We are aware that there is no other employment and
that we cannot leave people without homes and food.
</p>
<p> "The agricultural corporations are helping with pay and
food, but this won't last forever because the corporations also
do not have money. When the farmer has no money, the corporation
also has no money," Lewies said.
</p>
<p> Lewies said while the farmers had made peace with their
situation, it was the urban dwellers who were still in for a
shock as "prices rocket sky high."
</p>
<p> He said imported maize costs R[rands]600 a ton while local
farmers were being paid R340 a ton. The high price of imported
maize would translate into higher prices for maize meal, eggs,
chicken, pork and even beef because these commodities were all
dependent on maize, Lewies said.
</p>
<p> He said the price of vegetables and fruits would also rise
considerably because they are bound to get scarce by the day.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>