National police spokesperson, Vishnu Naidoo, last night also confirmed to OFM News' Christal-Lize Muller that three bodies were recovered. This comes after an elderly retired couple, Danie and Breggie Brand and their daughter, Elzabie, who was visiting her parent from Gauteng, were allegedly attacked on Sunday. They were kidnapped in two of their own vehicles by a group of suspects.  Naidoo confirmed in a voice note the body of Elzabie was found in a veld at Takaneng Village near Taung in North West. At that stage the search for her parents continued. The Magogong area is part of the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme bordering North West.

The agricultural sector can expect solid growth for the remainder of 2020. This is according to Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz). Sihlobo says the sector recovered in the first quarter of 2020 by 27.8% quarter on quarter. They expect the following quarters of the year to show solid growth and the year to average at about 10% year on year, compared to minus 6.9% y/y in 2019. This will be underpinned by a recovery in all major sub-sectors of agriculture, namely livestock, field crops and horticulture production. However, Sihlobo pointed out that the remainder of the year may not yield such positive results because of the outbreak of Covid-19. Despite the projected upward trajectory of the agricultural sector, the pandemic has worsened the food crisis which plagues the nation.

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Meanwhile, with thousands of Free State residents already bearing the economic brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic, the provincial MEC for Agriculture has urged young people to take interest in the sector. Tabling his department’s 2020/21 adjustment budget during a virtual Legislature sitting, MEC William Bulwane said women and young people remain excluded from mainstream farming. Bulwane’s call was reiterated by Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Makalo Mohale, who announced that the Free State economy is projected to contract by 3.7%, as all the sectors, except agriculture are expected to experience a decline.

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