Some small-scale farmers say they have suffered significant losses from the heavy rains and hail that have hit parts of the country.
Among them is North West farmer – Jeff Nong. He farms grapes in Ventersdorp for the distilling of alcoholic beverages.
He says his grapevines suffered significant damage, and he already expects to harvest only over 30%.
Nong says the hail has caused damage on the grapes.
“That damage, you know, it is taking all the harvest that I would have in February. So, I’m estimating that the only harvest that I can have, it can go up to 30%,” adds Nong.
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Meanwhile, meteorologist, Andre Fourie says that South Africa is experiencing the influence of both tropical and extratropical weather systems, thus resulting in thunderstorms that produce hail in regions that do not usually experience hail.
“Every thunderstorm has the possibility to produce hail, with the hailstorms having varying intensity. We are currently expecting and experiencing a La Nina season, which results in above normal rainfall over the summer rainfall region of the country,” says Fourie.
