# Farmers' concerns as threat of summer water restrictions loom

An episode of [Afternoon Drive with John Maytham](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1212305258), 26 Oct 2026, 6:23.

Audio: https://p.podderapp.com/1951050295/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/5dcefa8e-00a9-4595-8ce1-a4ab0080f142/e2113905-04ff-472c-9fff-a6cd00b63b20/7861af97-40c0-4336-b888-b4ef00e927b4/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=cab9ce5d-42b6-4239-9177-a6cd00b6d1ff

Jannie Strydom, CEO of Agri Western Cape, speaks to John Maytham about the impact on farmers of potential water restrictions in the summer. Presenter John Maytham is an actor and author-turned-talk radio veteran and seasoned journalist. His show serves a round-up of local and international news coupled with the latest in business, sport, traffic and weather. The host’s eclectic interests mean the program often surprises the audience with intriguing book reviews and inspiring interviews profiling artists. A daily highlight is Rapid Fire, just after 5:30pm. CapeTalk fans call in, to stump the presenter with their general knowledge questions. Another firm favourite is the humorous Thursday crossing with award-winning journalist Rebecca Davis, called “Plan B”. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Afternoon Drive with John Maytham Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays from 15:00 and 18:00 (SA Time) to Afternoon Drive with John Maytham broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/BSFy4Cn or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/n8nWt4x Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: In the news at the moment is the Premier Alan
[0:02] Speaker 1: Windy saying that water restrictions should come sooner rather than later.
[0:08] Speaker 1: The Department of Water and Sanitation still has to do
[0:10] Speaker 1: a kind of technical study before telling municipalities and agriculture
[0:16] Speaker 1: how much less water they have to use than their
[0:19] Speaker 1: normal use, but that's coming fairly soon. Yanni Stradom is
[0:23] Speaker 1: the CEO at Agri Western Cape. Yanni, good afternoon.
[0:28] Speaker 2: Good afternoon, John, and good afternoon to the listeners.
[0:31] Speaker 1: What part, I mean, what percentage, what sort of rough
[0:33] Speaker 1: percentage of summer agriculture in the province is dependent upon irrigation?
[0:41] Speaker 2: Quite a large percentage, John, especially the agricultural part that's
[0:47] Speaker 2: connected to the Western Cape Water System. That's also part
[0:53] Speaker 2: of irrigation. the, the, the individual and industrial usage of water.
[0:59] Speaker 2: So the system, yeah, we've, we've had already meetings as
[1:03] Speaker 2: you alluded to the intro or in the intro, and, uh,
[1:07] Speaker 2: there are suggestions on the table, but like we said, uh,
[1:10] Speaker 2: the department still needs to do the final modeling and
[1:14] Speaker 2: then we'll have our final meetings and discussions in terms
[1:17] Speaker 2: of what restrictions they are looking at. And, uh, Saying that,
[1:21] Speaker 2: I mean, we're all responsible and we know that water
[1:26] Speaker 2: is scarce and one should rather be proactive than facing
[1:33] Speaker 2: a situation that we had in 2019 with day zero
[1:36] Speaker 2: on us and all of that. So we don't want that.
[1:39] Speaker 2: But can I.
[1:41] Speaker 1: Come in there, Yanni, and ask you what changes provincial
[1:44] Speaker 1: agriculture has made since the day zero scenario? Because, you know,
[1:48] Speaker 1: I think farmers are clever people. They're used to dealing
[1:51] Speaker 1: with all sorts of challenges. So this happens. Sure, just
[1:54] Speaker 1: survive it or sorry, didn't survive it, had to sell
[1:57] Speaker 1: the farm or, you know, whatever the other outcome was.
[2:00] Speaker 1: But then it could happen again. So let me make
[2:02] Speaker 1: sure that I farm water smarter. Has that happened a
[2:07] Speaker 1: fair bit?
[2:08] Speaker 2: Yeah, one can be sure of that, John. I think
[2:13] Speaker 2: in terms of better usage of irrigation water, irrigation systems
[2:20] Speaker 2: that's been implemented, cultivars of crops that's more water or
[2:26] Speaker 2: drought resilient, using of lesser water to produce. And I mean,
[2:33] Speaker 2: currently farmers are also not getting the total amount allocated
[2:37] Speaker 2: to them. So they're working with what they get. So no,
[2:41] Speaker 2: for sure, definitely. And we're still advocating for more capacity
[2:48] Speaker 2: in terms of storage capacity on farms. But it is
[2:52] Speaker 2: a process. We know we had two, three years of floods.
[2:57] Speaker 2: And one would like to see that the capacity on
[3:00] Speaker 2: farms being increased so that one can store that water faster.
[3:04] Speaker 2: once we have the floods for these drier spells and
[3:07] Speaker 2: El Niño situations that's on the table currently.
[3:12] Speaker 1: What particular crops are most at risk of not reaching
[3:17] Speaker 1: the kind of yields that farmers need to reach in
[3:19] Speaker 1: order to make a profit and reinvest?
[3:24] Speaker 2: Specifically on this system, we have vegetable farmers, potatoes specifically,
[3:30] Speaker 2: table grapes, wine grapes, deciduous fruits, specifically stone fruit, berries,
[3:37] Speaker 2: blueberries and strawberries, and then to a certain extent, citrus
[3:42] Speaker 2: as well. So it's quite a vast variety of commodities
[3:47] Speaker 2: that will be influenced by a curtailment at this stage.
[3:52] Speaker 1: Okay, and let's do what we need to do in
[3:58] Speaker 1: order to, well, Let's just hope that next winter's rainfall,
[4:04] Speaker 1: because if there is a restriction of 10, 15, 20
[4:09] Speaker 1: percent and we have normal rainfall from May, June, July, August,
[4:13] Speaker 1: September next year, then we can go, sure. But if
[4:17] Speaker 1: we don't, if we have another significantly below average, then
[4:20] Speaker 1: we're in serious trouble and we have to make allowances
[4:23] Speaker 1: for a repeat drought.
[4:26] Speaker 2: No, absolutely, John. That's what I said. I mean, the
[4:28] Speaker 2: agriculture sector is quite responsible. And we know, we recognize that.
[4:35] Speaker 2: And that's why, yeah, we will work with what we get.
[4:38] Speaker 2: But just to understand the impact, I mean, and I mean,
[4:42] Speaker 2: it's not a competition between individual or your Schedule 1
[4:46] Speaker 2: usage individuals and so forth. It's just a question of
[4:49] Speaker 2: what's the economic impact. I mean, The agriculture, and we
[4:53] Speaker 2: did just like we say in Afrikaans, a buddhasom. So
[4:56] Speaker 2: it's not scientifically calculated, but for every cubic meter that
[5:01] Speaker 2: we use, the agricultural sector contributes 30 rand to the economy.
[5:05] Speaker 2: So one can just imagine, let's say, for example, we
[5:10] Speaker 2: get an 18% curtailment. We're talking about 35 million cubic
[5:16] Speaker 2: liters of water restriction. And if you times that by
[5:19] Speaker 2: the 30 rand, we're talking about more than a billion
[5:22] Speaker 2: rand less contribution to the economy. So it's substantial. And
[5:27] Speaker 2: by saying that, we're not saying we're that special, but
[5:31] Speaker 2: understand every drop of water used is to cultivate, produce food,
[5:40] Speaker 2: and then also contributing to the economy. So it will
[5:42] Speaker 2: definitely impact, but we understand we don't want, definitely don't
[5:47] Speaker 2: want the day zero facing a day zero again. Because that,
[5:51] Speaker 2: I mean, we all know the figures of 6 billion
[5:54] Speaker 2: rand that the cultural sector lost during that period, 30,000
[5:59] Speaker 2: job opportunities, although we don't want that. But we welcome
[6:03] Speaker 2: a process that's well thought through and the modeling that
[6:08] Speaker 2: we all can agree with and trust in terms of
[6:11] Speaker 2: should there be control and what the impact on various
[6:15] Speaker 2: sectors that's been included in the calculations.
[6:19] Speaker 1: Yanni Thredum, thanks for talking to us, CEO at Agri
[6:21] Speaker 1: Western Cape.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.