The people of the province have to come together to fight causes of the smoldering fires that continue razing our province’s telecoms, electricity, road signage, agricultural facilities, buildings infrastructure, grazing camps and animals.
Every fire is caused by a human being, an individual reckless to a point of not caring about the pernicious effects of fires destroying our economy, livelihoods of scores of people that depend on the vibrancy and stability of the agricultural sector.
We are developing agriculture in rural villages, farms, building infrastructure, cropping, fencing grazing camps, farms, mealie fields, improving livestock. We support farmers to earn income from selling produce and grow our economy. But veld fires destroy this beautiful work.
Our province is currently facing widespread, uncontrolled veldfires, which are destroying our agriculture businesses, jobs for farm workers, our economy because these fires affect all farmers, farm workers who rely on livestock, crops, forestry for their sustenance and economic stability.
Veldfires hinder our efforts to grow the provincial economy, combat poverty in the province because they destroy assets that farmers and other local businesses invest their sweat and blood in building, creating food for our province, generating income that pays back business loans, affect workers’ salaries.
During various efforts to stop the spread of these fires, the support provided to firefighting teams, donation of animals and animal feed to farmers whose animals died because of these fires, the coming together of communities to defend themselves against this enormous blaze, warmed the cockles of my heart.
At the present moment we don’t know what started these fires. In the past reckless people these fires in their communities, while in some instances by people throwing cigarette butts into the grass or those leaving unattended fires in their homes or in open spaces. We are also aware of the fact that some veldfires are sparked when some farmers lose control of fires started with the aim of creating fire belts or fire breaks to prevent spread of fires.
We want to call on the people of the province who may have evidence about who started these fires to bring that to the law enforcement agencies so that a proper investigation can be conducted and those who broke the law can be charged and prosecuted.
We warn members of the public that starting fires in open areas without the required permission from fire protection associations or agricultural authorities is a criminal offence that also poses a serious threat to both environment and public safety. These fires also pose a significant risk to human life and property.
The department has been overwhelmed with requests for help from farmers affected by ongoing fires. The National Veld and Forest Fire Act (No. 101 of 1998) that regulates fire management, emphasizes the need for firebreaks, notification, and the formation of Fire Protection Associations (FPAs). The Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (No. 43 of 1983) brings requirements for a permission for veld burning and regulates its use in grazing camps.
We urge residents to safeguard their areas by setting up fire protection associations that must work with municipalities to protect their communities from fire problems.
Addressing this problem requires collective effort and responsibility to protect the environment and the livelihood of those affected. Communities must ensure that perpetrators of veldfires are accountable and reported to authorities to face the full might of the law.
As the department, we do not have compensation for the those that are affected by such veldfires. Even the feed that was diverted from other programmes as a temporary measure is not a sustainable intervention to the problem.
South Africa has a fire-prone ecosystems characterized by alternating wet and dry seasons, which contributes to high fire risks. Factors exacerbating these risks include urban development in fire-prone areas, invasive plant species, and unmanaged fuel loads.
We need farmers and communities to work together with government, other social partners to stop these fires. This must be farmer and community led intervention.
We want to encourage communal farmers, small-holder farmers to formalize their businesses, take insurance policies for their agricultural assets so that they are covered against such occurrences.
The Department encourages farmers to apply for our farmer support programmes that close on 30 September 2024 and forms can be accessed in all the offices of our department and website.
Applications are for Crop Production Programme, Production Infrastructure Support Programme, Livestock Production Improvement Scheme, Household Food Production Programme.
Farmers that have not benefited from these programmes in previous financial years and who meet set criteria are invited to submit applications to the Department through offices of the Department near where they operate their agricultural enterprises.
Kontsiwe is the Eastern Cape Rural Development and Agrarian Reform MEC, a member of Provincial Legislature.
