The Kimberley Prospector

Kimberley, Northern Cape – The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on the Northern Cape Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, to urgently establish a multi-sectoral veld fire task team to analyse the causes of recent fires in Danielskuil, Kuruman and Postmasburg.

The task team must also look at fire-fighting response times as well as after-care provided by the government.

The DA’s call comes after a meeting with farmers affected by fires in Danielskuil, as well as an oversight to a farm in the Kuruman area that recently suffered extensive damage.

The farmers the DA met with have suffered a loss of wildlife and livestock, elimination of grazing land and damage to homes and infrastructure extending into millions of rands.

The DA has pinpointed four serious matters that require immediate attention from the government in order to protect lives, farms, livelihoods and food security:

In addition to the hot, dry and windy conditions being experienced, there are concerns that many fires may have been started by a criminal element. It is essential that a broader investigation be initiated into the causal factors, especially as there has been a general uptick in arson in the province.
Fire prevention methods, including the enforcement of fire breaks, by all land-related stakeholders, including land-owners, municipalities, provincial government, Sanral, Eskom, Transnet and others must be actively enforced on all parcels of land.

The supply of quick access to a consistent supply of resources to fight fires in a coordinated manner needs to be improved upon.

After-care for farmers affected by the fires must be escalated. Disaster declarations must be instituted with more haste to free up resources, including financial assistance and the provision of fodder. Secondary support, in terms of blading of gravel roads and the provision of fuel subsidies, for transport and power generation, must also be implemented to help get farmers on the path to recovery.

The DA has long been pushing for a better approach to disaster prevention and disaster management in the Northern Cape and while aspects of this have improved over the years, the party says there is still a long way to go.

The DA has submitted a letter to the Premier, requesting him to urgently consider the request for a veld fire task team to be established, to work with the Provincial Disaster Management Center, the South African Police Service, and all government and private stakeholders to address the root causes of the fires, come up with a swifter fire-fighting response and to ensure that disaster support is availed in as short a time possible, to all who have been affected.