It’s a simple fact that South African homes and businesses need to deal with termites. Ask a real estate professional around Empangeni or Richards Bay and they will tell you that it’s not a question of if you’ll get termites but when.

When purchasing a property, the purchaser is entitled to ensure that the Pest Control company appointed by the Conveyancing Attorney to inspect the property in question is a registered Pest Control Company with a qualified WDO Inspector.  

The Sale Agreement currently states that the cost of the Entomologist Certificate is for the Sellers account.  Many Purchasers are not aware that it would be in their best interest that they stipulate in the sale agreement as a condition of sale that either they want to appoint their own Pest Control company or that the Pest Control company that is appointed either by the Estate Agent or the Conveyancing Attorneys must be registered with SAPCA (South African Pest Control Association) and have a Qualified WDO (Wood Destroying Organisms) Inspector at the company.  This will ensure that the Entomologist Certificate is from  a registered company and a qualified WDO Inspector.

Termites munch on the structure of Zululand homes and are amongst the most unwanted of pests. Zululand Pest control are leaders in pest eradication and can help you get rid of white ants. 

Nevill Getkate of ZPC is a Qualified WDO (Wood Destroying Organisms) Inspector so should be the first person you should call when having to deal with termites.

Here are 14 lesser-known facts about termites:

1. Workers and soldiers are almost always blind.
2. Colonies can contain thousands or even millions of members. One of the largest reported colonies contained an estimated three million termites, A monster of a termite nest in Australia which measured at nearly 33 feet across and contained more than three million termites. The mudding was constructed so well that scientists had to enter it using a jack hammer.
3. They’re hygienic which is surprising considering half their diet is decomposing material.
4. Protein content of termites is more than that of beef making them a delicacy in some countries. Would you chow down on termites?
5. For every human, it’s estimated there are 1,000 pounds of termites.
6. While termites can eat most materials containing cellulose, they won’t receive nutrients from their diet unless they have a symbiotic organism living in their gut. The micro-organism and the termite literally feed off each other.
7. They go way back. A termite found encased in amber was proven to be 100 million years old. The specimen included protozoans that had lived in the termite’s gut.
8. Soldiers communicate with the colony via tapping especially when they detect danger.
9. Termites never sleep. They work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
10. They can fly. New kings and queens fly as they relocate their new colony.
11. Queens can live 15-25 years laying 40,000 eggs per day.
12. They build up, not out. A termite mound in Africa was estimated to be 42 feet tall or the height of a two story house!
13. Termite mud tubes have been observed as long as 12 feet long!