City Press reports that the drought gripping the three Cape provinces could see up to 50,000 farm workers lose their jobs amid rising inflation.  

The lay-offs affecting permanent and seasonal workers in the Western Cape alone will have an “astronomical impact” on rural areas, the province’s local government department chief Graham Paulse told Parliament recently.  Some vegetable crops in the Western Cape have been cut by as much as 80%; fruit farms are taking desperate measures to keep production losses at 20%; and the purée factory in Lutzville will not open this season.  Seasonal workers employed during harvest time were hit particularly hard by the drop in production, said Women on Farms director Colette Solomon, as they relied on the work to supplement social grant income.  Solomon added: “Seasonal workers who would have started in October have not been called to work and are just hoping they will be called over December and January.”  Agri SA chief economist Hamlet Hlomendlini said 25,000 jobs had already been lost in the agricultural sector during the third quarter (from July to September).

• Read this report by Steve Kretzmann in full at Fin24

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