{"id":867245,"date":"2026-07-23T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=867245"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:30:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T12:30:25","slug":"severe-weather-hope-for-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/867245\/severe-weather-hope-for-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Severe weather hope for South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Severe weather patterns are expected to hit South Africa in the coming summer months, which could contribute to already-rising food prices\u2014but some experts are hopeful that the country will dodge a food price bullet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts have predicted that an El Ni\u00f1o weather pattern will hit South Africa at the end of 2026\u2014climate conditions which often lead to drought conditions in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Past El Ni\u00f1os have had devastating consequences for the country\u2019s agricultural sector, which needs consistent rainfall to function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 2014 and 2016, drought conditions plagued many parts of the country and led to decreased food production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maize farming was heavily affected, with only 8.9 million tonnes of the crop being produced to meet the annual demand of roughly 12 million tonnes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maize was not the only crop affected during this period, and most farming operations saw significant declines in production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of food production had a notable impact on South Africa\u2019s inflation rates, which peaked at 6.8% in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was largely due to reduced farming operations caused by the drought, as food prices play a major role in determining the inflation rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact of food prices on inflation rates is particularly concerning, given South Africa\u2019s current situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2026, inflation reached 5%, the highest in two years, largely due to international conflicts and rising fuel prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was above the expectations of most analysts, who predicted inflation rates to rise to roughly 4.7%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inflation rates have consistently exceeded South Africa\u2019s current target of 3% since the outbreak of the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly 25% of the world’s oil passes through the strait, and its closure has led to erratic fuel prices in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oil prices have already put pressure on South Africa\u2019s agricultural sector, and drought conditions could worsen the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African Reserve Bank has said it expects inflation rates to remain above the 3% target until 2027, but decreased food production could push these figures higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This presents a challenge for South Africa\u2019s consumers, with the rising cost of living placing pressure on many households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hope for South African farmers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa\u2019s chief economist, Wandile Sihlobo, had a positive outlook on the possible El Ni\u00f1o weather pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said South Africa\u2019s agricultural sector was in a good position to handle potential drought conditions, given the exceedingly rainy past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa has experienced an unusually long La Ni\u00f1a period, which has led to heavy rainfall and higher dam levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The heavy rainfall means farms have higher soil moisture, increasing their resilience to potential drought conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Africa will enter the 2026-27 summer crop season with higher soil moisture, because there were excessive rains in the 2025-26 season, which lasted far longer than usual,\u201d Sihlobo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the increased soil moisture would support crop growth even if rainfall were reduced in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere may be sufficient soil moisture to support seed germination and crop development even as El Ni\u00f1o conditions likely result in below-normal rainfall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healthy dam levels are also a good sign for South Africa, with roughly 20% of the country\u2019s farms relying on irrigation supplied by them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irrigation is especially important for fruit and vegetable farming, which cannot normally rely on South Africa\u2019s rainfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sihlobo said South Africa also currently has high grain supplies, which may further soften the impact of a possible drought\u2014especially on food inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both of these factors are good signs for South Africa\u2019s food inflation, which may be kept under control, according to Sihlobo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said South Africa\u2019s agricultural sector is in a better position than it was before previous drought conditions, such as in 2014 to 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Severe weather patterns are expected to hit South Africa in the coming summer, but experts are optimistic that the country can dodge a bullet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":849794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2080277004335591685","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[19921,25745,25075,21374],"class_list":["post-867245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-el-nino","tag-la-nina","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-wandile-sihlobo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867245"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":867252,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867245\/revisions\/867252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}