22 January 2026

Extensive flooding in Limpopo and Mpumalanga over the past two weeks has claimed 38 lives, including children as young as two. The South African Weather Service has escalated its warning to Level 10, the highest alert for extreme flood risk, and the disaster has been officially declared a national emergency. Climate change is intensifying rainfall in South Africa, making floods more frequent and destructive. A 2025 study by Wits University found that the Durban floods of 2022 were more than 100% heavier due to climate change – evidence that that extreme weather is no longer exceptional, but part of a worsening pattern. These floods have laid bare the government’s failure to develop comprehensive and effective disaster management strategies at a national level.

Beyond the tragic loss of life, farmers have reported soil and crops washed away, leaving families food insecure and threatening livelihoods across the provinces. Norah Mlondobozi, farmer and coordinator of the Rural Women’s Assembly, explains that the Mopani District in Limpopo has been experiencing heavy rains since mid‑December 2025. 

“By the beginning of January 2026, the soil was already saturated and riverbanks full of water. The past two weeks have worsened an already bad situation. The livelihoods of families, especially women and children, have been affected. Women small‑scale farmers have lost their crops and topsoil, pump machines have been washed away, and electric motors used to pump water from boreholes were immersed in water. We are not sure if they will be functional after this.”

The Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE), the Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA), and the Inyanda National Land Movement express solidarity with small‑scale farmers, informal traders, and rural households who are affected by these devastating floods. 

MULTIPLE CLIMATE DISASTERS ACROSS SOUTHERN AFRICA

The recent floods are part of a broader climate crisis. During the same period, we have seen devastating wildfires sweeping the Eastern and Western Cape provinces, forcing evacuations and road closures. During the 2025 December holidays, strong winds and rainfall destroyed houses in the region of the Amathole District Municipality and the Buffalo City Metro Municipality in the Eastern Cape, while houses were destroyed in the Dawid Kruiper Municipality and in the region of the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality, Northern Cape province. Beyond South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe have also been affected, with more than 100 deaths reported across Southern Africa as rains intensify.

Despite repeated disasters, several municipalities and provincial governments continue to fail in their constitutional duty of providing safe environments. Disaster management plans remain poorly  implemented and aligned with the national climate change responses, drainage systems are neglected, and rural infrastructure is not climate-proofed. Government responses remain reactive, providing temporary shelter or food parcels, rather than proactive measures that build resilience and continuity.

IMPACT ON FARMERS, INFORMAL TRADERS, AND FOOD SECURITY

Small-scale farmers, informal traders, and poor households are among the hardest hit by these disasters. Fertile soil, seed stocks, livestock, and homes have been damaged, while roads and bridges remain impassable, cutting off access to markets and essential services.

Mawewe Nkhwashu, Program Manager at the Mopani Farmers Association, who is in communication with affected communities, explained that almost all the villages in the Greater Giyani Municipality, Limpopo, have been affected

“Small-scale and subsistence farmers have lost their produce and are facing serious soil erosion, with much of the fertile soil swept away. Pasture land has also been badly affected, placing both crop and livestock farmers’ livelihoods at risk. Right now, we are unable to leave our homes and are keeping in touch via phone. The roads are badly damaged, making it difficult for people to access health services, and learners are unable to go to school.”

Adam Mabunda, a member of the Inyanda National Land Movement who runs a farm in Dzumeri village in Giyani, Limpopo, recalled that more should have been done, given that Limpopo experienced similar destruction 26 years ago during the floods of 2000. 

“It was heartbreaking to not receive any form of relief during the 2000 floods. It took the farm five years to recover with the assistance of the Itireleng Development and Education Project and the Department of Agriculture. Governments need to respond swiftly to disasters by making funds available to resuscitate communities and farms, and provide machinery and equipment to fix the infrastructure as soon as possible to prevent more loss of production, loss of income, and food insecurity.”

Mabunda added that the government must take climate change more seriously. 

“The government needs to be more serious and vigilant around environmental issues and climate change. The Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs should roll out awareness-raising campaigns with information that reaches the last person in the village, since many people do not comprehend how and why we are ravaged by these so-called ‘natural disasters’.” 

CALL TO ACTION

We demand that government urgently:

• Develop and implement climate-resilient disaster management plans in consultation with affected communities.
• Invest in rural infrastructure, such as roads, drainage, dams, and housing that can withstand extreme weather.
• Provide compensation and insurance mechanisms for small-scale farmers and informal traders to recover from losses.
• Establish community awareness and adaptation programmes to prepare households for climate shocks.
• Recognise small-scale farmers and informal traders as frontline climate actors, and include them in decision-making about food systems and disaster planning.
• The South African government must continue to fight for the implementation of the Loss and Damages fund urgently. Africa has contributed less than 4% to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, yet it is the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The poor and the Global South cannot continue to carry the cost of these climate disasters.