Across late May and early June 2026, South African talk radio converged on a single weather story: the return of what climatologists were calling a potentially record-breaking El Niño, with implications for agriculture, water security and household budgets from September onwards. 702 and Cape Talk led the coverage, repeatedly bringing climatologists into studio to translate Pacific sea-surface warming into what it means for Highveld maize farmers and Western Cape winter rainfall.
The framing on air was cautiously alarming. Presenters pressed experts on whether this was a 'Godzilla' or 'super' El Niño, while climatologists from Northwest University and the University of Pretoria urged listeners to watch two indicators above all: soil moisture and mean temperatures. The reassuring note was that good rains earlier in the season had left dams and soils in healthy shape; the worry was what happens if the event stretches across two seasons.
Power FM widened the lens to the economics, noting that even forecasters who normally avoid the weather were being forced to price in an El Niño summer for the maize planting season.
South African talk radio spent the last week of May and first days of June 2026 circling one question: is a 'Godzilla' El Niño on the way, and what should farmers, government and ordinary listeners be doing about it? The framing was set early on 702's morning slot, where presenters teased an interview with a Northwest University climatologist by asking whether, given shifting climate baselines, 'we have a Godzilla El Niño on the way'.12
The core scientific brief, repeated across stations, was straightforward. El Niño is a naturally occurring pattern of unusually warm sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific that is 'typically associated with hotter and drier conditions across much of Southern Africa', as 702 put it when introducing Professor Rulof Berber.3 Berber and others stressed that each event is different — and that this one is landing on top of what has already been 'the warmest three [years] on record'.4
The agricultural angle dominated. Berber told 702 listeners that the saving grace this time is antecedent conditions: 'we've had very good rains this year. And the soil moisture will be not that dry.'5 On Cape Talk, the same expert noted dams across the country were in 'quite a healthy state' after rains continued into the first week of May, but warned the real danger is duration: 'if it's not just one season, but it's two, then it could be dangerous.'6 The two indicators he urged farmers and government to track were soil moisture and mean winter temperatures, with a warmer-than-normal winter already in the forecast.7
Presenters pushed for practical guidance. One 702 anchor flagged 'positive progress being made by the agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen' and asked what 'practical preparations should governments, farmers and ordinary South Africans be making now.'8 The answer from climatologists was less about emergency action and more about disciplined monitoring: watch how quickly the El Niño develops, watch whether it swings back, and plan in stages rather than panic.9
Cape Talk's Clarence Ford pressed a regional nuance often lost in national coverage: what does an El Niño mean for a winter-rainfall province? The expert response was candid — the Western Cape sits outside the classic El Niño drought signal, and the cut-off lows that drive much of its winter weather are poorly understood. Research so far shows 'the frequency hasn't changed', but the link to El Niño in the Western Cape simply isn't strong enough to forecast cleanly.1011 For the summer-rainfall maize belt, by contrast, the message was sharper: a 'super El Niño' that is '10% warmer or 10% more stronger than a normal' event raises drought probability materially, and warnings to farmers were already going out.12
By 2 June, 702's afternoon line-up had escalated the framing further, citing WMO-style warnings that the event 'could start affecting weather in this country, on this continent and all the way across the globe from as early as September' and bringing in the University of Pretoria's Professor Willem Landman to spell out the implications.1314 Landman cautioned that 'each El Niño event is different' and that local climate models were still resolving exactly how this one will land over South Africa, but the historical analogue for a strong event was unambiguous.15
Power FM took the story into the economy. On a markets-adjacent segment, an analyst conceded that 'economists don't like to forecast the weather' but said the signal was now clear enough that it had to be factored into the summer maize planting season.16 That neatly captured the wider arc on talk radio: a shift from El Niño as a scientific curiosity to a planning variable for ministers, farmers and forecasters alike.
What remains unresolved, and what presenters flagged repeatedly, is intensity and duration. Several segments invoked UK climatologist Adam Scaife's line that 'we're very confident there's a big event coming', alongside reminders that El Niño now drives 'more extreme weather around most of the planet' rather than a Pacific curiosity.1718 The next data points worth watching, on the talk-radio consensus: how rapidly Pacific warming intensifies through winter, whether South Africa's warmer-than-normal winter forecast verifies, and whether the agriculture ministry moves from messaging to concrete support before the spring planting window.
- 702
- Cape Talk
- Power FM
Citations
- 1.
“El Nino, El Nino, El Nino itself has transpired historically, but what we're looking at now with all the various instances and changes in our climate, do we have a Godzilla El Nino on the way? Professor Rulof Berge, Ola Laysam of our fears and gives up a bit more clarity. As a climatologist, as I mentioned at Northwest University, that's at 10 minutes before 6 AM.”
- 2.
“The climatologist at Northwest University will let us know if we have a Godzilla El Nino on the way at 10 minutes before 6. "Elyme Prettos, Monday to Friday, 4am to 6am, on 702 and K-Talk." And of course it's that time where we look at top 5 things that you should be taking notice of this morning. SA has 4th highest suicide rate in Africa, WA.”
- 3.
“Southern Africa is once again facing growing concerns over the possible return of a powerful El Nino, where the pattern with some climate scientists warning it could become one of the strongest on record. El Nino is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon linked to unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. And it is typically associated with hotter and drier conditions across much of Southern Africa. On the line with us is Professor Rulof Berber, climatologist at Northwest University. Professor, thank you so much for joining us.”
- 4.
“The next 12 or 18 months. Sure. So one thing that is particular about this upcoming season is that we've had very good rains this year. And the soil moisture will be not that dry. What we've seen in recent El Nino's is the combination of long-term droughts and in the heating is the things that should concern us. Now the heating is concerning because the last three years is the warmest three on records.”
- 5.
“Historically, these events have often brought drought, crop losses and water shortages to the region. How concerned should South Africans be about agriculture and security over the next 12 or 18 months? Sure. So one thing that is particular about this upcoming season is that we've had very good rains this year. And the soil moisture will be not that dry. What we've seen in recent El Nino's is the combination of long.”
- 6.
“El Nino. And our worry is that if it's not just one season, but it's two, then it could be dangerous. If it's one, there is a bit of healthy soil moisture because we've received rain through to the first week of May in the number of areas in South Africa. I'm talking to you now sitting in Stalingbos, and when we drove around earlier looking at the dams around the province, they are quite a healthy state. So it's all about for how long will that El Nino be and how intense it will be. But it's sudden”
- 7.
“Farman's in ordinary South Africans be making now. So I mentioned the soil moisture is a very important one, which is counting in our fibre. And then the second one is the mean temperatures. So we are predicting a warmer than normal winter. And then as the as the El Nino develops, that is the thing that we have to monitor. If it swings back fairly soon and”
- 8.
“I was looking at some of the developments and I think it's positive progress being made by the agriculture, Minister John Stienhase. And given that not every strong El Niño produces the same outcomes, one of the key indicators climatologists will be watching in the coming months and what practical preparations should governments farmers and ordinary South Africans be making now. So I mentioned the soil moisture is a very important one, which is a”
- 9.
“They will be exposed, so that's when we have to be planning and thinking and making sure that we approach the problem carefully. Thank you so much, Professor Rulof Burger Climatologist at Northwest University, giving us more foresight and insight regarding the El Nino, which is apparently on the way or not. Thank you so much for your time and for your time and for your time.”
- 10.
“Nino and you spoke to that in a conversation telephonically with us earlier this week as well. For the layperson in Cape Town, we confused. It means, well, El Nino means droughtful South Africa, but Cape Town gets its rain in winter. Help us to reconcile what this developing system actually means for the Western Cape over the next 12 months. Certainly, Clarence, and it's quite important to realize that these systems,”
- 11.
“El Nino and therefore enhanced impacts. But still, we don't know what's happening in the Western Cape until someone says, well, what about cut of flows? What about these cut of lows that, you know, could bring us these storms and we say, well, then we really don't know. We don't have enough history of cattle flows because most of them are happening in the ocean and aren't affecting us. So the research that is being done about cut of flows can only determine two things. One is that the frequency hasn't changed. We're still getting as many cut of flows as we've always had. because”
- 12.
“has been has had a record output so we must understand those connections so when we see now that this el nino this coming and some predictions are saying it's going to be a super el nino which just means that it's going to be 10% warmer or 10% more stronger than a normal el nina but then people say well maybe the likelihood of drought in the summer rainfall region of south africa is more likely and yes so we know about that we're putting out the warnings we're suggesting to farmers that they must take this and do it.”
- 13.
“He's expected to be an extremely severe El Nino, and that could start affecting whether in this country, on this continent and all the way across the globe from as early as September. So what does this mean and what might be done? Professor Willem Lundmann, climate expert, joins us from the University of Pretoria after four. And speaking of uncertain futures, Botswana has had to deal with a great deal of that, particularly as the nature of the world diamond market has changed.”
- 14.
“That phenomenon always brings temperatures rise substantially rainfall diminishes in some places and becomes extreme in others. El Nino, we've spoken about it before. Time to talk about exactly what the implications might be for South Africa and for this. We joined by Professor Willem Lundmann, who is a meteorologist at the University of Pretoria. Prof. Welcome and thanks so much for giving us your time. If the WMO is saying, "I'm not going to be here."”
- 15.
“Those fears are going to respond to this El Nino, because like you have greatly stated before, each El Nino event is different to the previous ones, and also its impact. It's not exactly the same every year. So we need to use our climate models to see how the El Nino's impact will be over South Africa, but it's a bit early stop. Yeah. It's a little bit clearer what will happen. But historically, when this El Nino event, such such as a strong one that we are seeing the moment is an honest light.”
- 16.
“You have to forecast what these leaders of countries are choosing to do. That's so uncertain. You have to have a scenario where you think to yourself, "What if?" Then if you look at the weather patterns coming up. Again, I said earlier, economists have to forecast a lot of things. We don't like to forecast the weather. It's very clear when all of the very clever weather people around the world start to see that there is an El Nino coming. For a summer planting season of maize, like a plant, it's a very beautiful plant.”
- 17.
“We've heat extremes and storm extremes. It's not just about the temperature going up. Several forecasts from national weather agencies have talked about how this could end up being the strongest ever El Nino. I'm sure once upon a time El Nino was a thing we heard about that went in the Pacific and affected California. Well, now absolutely is well beyond that, driving more extreme weather around most of the planet. As a UK climatologist, Professor Adam Scafep put it, "We're very confident there's a big event coming."”
- 18.
“The one upon a time we thought of El Nino as a thing that happened in the Pacific and might affect California, maybe some of the American tropics, but sort of Central America. I'm pretty sure it didn't go beyond or at least it didn't feel like it did. So here we have a UN warning saying, "Well, this could be a super El Nino, a super El Nino to give it a full Spanish pronunciation because they're saying that this is a weather system.”