The depopulated countryside

Since leaving Rhodes we have been struck by the number of deserted dwellings as well as the scarcity of people. We are told that small farms are no longer viable as real incomes have been in serious decline. We are told that a study showed that a decade ago a bakkie cost 5 times less in stock value than today. Farms are being consolidated and the extra workforce is then redundant.
The upside of this is the quality of the veld is improving from the over-grazing of years past. There is also a natural increase in the number of buck. Many farms have also been consolidated and converted to game farms. This also results in lowered population levels.