While Limpopo Province and other easterly areas of our country deal with extreme rainfall, flooding and washaways, southerly areas along the Cape Coast struggle with an approaching drought. Knysna has enough water for the community for another 10 days, and surrounding areas are not much better off.

Disaster alert teams have reported 19 deaths in Limpopo province in the last week, and huge areas of the Kruger Park are under water, while 631 guests at the rest camps have been evacuated from at least waist-high flooding.

The Limpopo government has conceded that it does not have the capacity to respond fully to the scale of flooding, as the province enters a fourth day of heavy rain.

This as the South African Weather Service has upgraded the warning to red level ten, the highest and most dangerous alert, signaling extreme weather conditions that pose a serious risk to life, infrastructure, and basic services.

Schools remain closed, several roads and bridges have been cut off, and essential services have been disrupted, with provincial officials admitting the damage has outpaced available equipment, personnel, and funding.

Authorities say damage assessments are continuing as communities remain on edge under a red level ten warning and uncertainty over when conditions will improve.

Meanwhile, municipalities in the Southern Cape are desperately making plans to truck water in to communities who will have nothing to drink or to wash and ablute with. The scene reminds me of the almost-drought in the Western Cape in 2017 which was narrowly averted.

And in the country itself, the Minister of Agriculture is planning to declare the Foot and Mouth disease status amongst cattle another State of Disaster. He said that he will table a declaration of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak as a state of disaster at the next Cabinet meeting.

On Wednesday, 15 January 2026, he outlined the national strategy for containing foot-and-mouth disease in South Africa.

“I have a clear roadmap for the protection of our national livestock herd and the restoration of South Africa’s international standing in the agricultural sector,” he said.

Since losing its foot-and-mouth disease-free status in 2019, South African farmers have faced unprecedented challenges.

“I have received many pleas for help, from commercial to communal farmers, who have borne the heavy burden of the recent outbreaks in the country,” he said.

“I must be frank with the nation: achieving FMD-free status is a monumental task that will not happen overnight.”

The Minister said the strategy will be phased over ten years, beginning with stabilisation and consolidation.

It will then move towards the eventual withdrawal of vaccination and final recognition of national freedom through vaccination by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

“I need to emphasise that vaccination is not a silver bullet to eradicate or manage this disease. It is merely one of the tools to combat the disease,” he said. The targeted vaccination will prioritise high-risk zones, with the goal of reaching at least 80% coverage in targeted cattle populations.

High-quality vaccines with high potency will be used during the campaign, especially the trivalent vaccines of SAT 1, 2, and 3, which are currently circulating in South Africa. The Minister added that he wants the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak declared as a state of disaster, which will allow for a better and less constrained response.

He said the state of disaster will allow them to get better cooperation from the police and traffic departments to assist with the movement control of animals.

Marineinsight.com reported on Wednesday that all 21 fishermen onboard a local fishing vessel were rescued safely after a fire broke out on the vessel off the coast of Gqeberha on Monday evening.

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said its Gqeberha duty crew was alerted at 17:52 on Monday, January 12, after a member of the public reported seeing a fishing vessel on fire about one nautical mile offshore of Noordhoek.

At the same time, maritime authorities monitoring radio communications intercepted a Mayday distress call on VHF marine Channel 16 from the fishing vessel Silver Dorado, reporting a fire onboard and that all 21 crew members were preparing to abandon the vessel.

NSRI crews were immediately mobilised to respond from Station 6, while shore teams were sent directly to Noordhoek. Rescue craft Bay Guardian and Rescue 6 Alpha were launched.

Eastern Cape Government Health EMS, the South African Police Service, Transnet National Ports Authority Port Control at the Port of Port Elizabeth, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre were all alerted.

Telkom Maritime Radio Services broadcast an all-ships alert on VHF Channel 16, asking vessels in the area to assist. Several fishing vessels nearby responded to the distress call and headed towards the burning vessel.

The fishing vessel Legugu was one of the first to arrive and launched its own life raft to assist crew members who had entered the water near the burning vessel. By this stage, all 21 fishermen had abandoned the vessel into the sea.

NSRI reported that Legugu rescued 12 fishermen from the water and from a life raft. The fishing vessel Raka rescued four crew members, Maverick rescued another four, and Vulcan rescued one fisherman. All 21 crew members were accounted for and reported to be safe.

When NSRI rescue craft arrived, all survivors were already onboard four fishing vessels. The fishermen were transferred onto NSRI’s rescue craft Bay Guardian, with the transfers carried out in stages by Rescue 6 Alpha. They were then taken to the NSRI rescue base at the Port of Port Elizabeth.

All 21 men were medically assessed by EMS paramedics at the rescue base and were confirmed to have no injuries and to require no further medical treatment. NSRI said all crew members are believed to be South African.

The burning fishing vessel continued to drift towards Cape Recife. NSRI’s rescue craft Rescue 6 Alpha monitored the vessel’s movement and speed on behalf of SAMSA. Authorities later confirmed that the vessel was near a reef close to Cape Recife and was still on fire.

SAMSA has said that the vessel’s owners have appointed a salvage and spill response company. However, efforts to reach the vessel were limited due to the dangerous reef and darkness during the night, and monitoring of the situation is ongoing.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and will be investigated by SAMSA along with the South African Police Service. Telkom Maritime Radio Services has issued navigational warnings to alert vessels to the hazard at sea.

NSRI added that the fishing vessel had left the Port of Port Elizabeth earlier and was heading towards fishing grounds when the fire started.

Nest week, I hope to have a report of a rescue of an injured fire-fighter, in which HAMNET took part!

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR, apologizing for the total lack of any HAMNET-related news in these bulletins, and reporting for HAMNET in South Africa