|
'It was Judgement Day'
30/07/2007 23:02 - (SA)
Aletta Otto, Beeld
Wakkerstroom - An Mpumalanga farmer, faced with the grim task of shooting 400 of his sheep that had been badly burnt in a veld fire, had to ask around for extra bullets.
"It was Judgement Day," says Fanie Landman, a 67-year-old farmer in the Wakkerstroom district.
Landman lost almost 500 sheep in the fire as well as about 1 600ha of grazing and 700 bales of fodder.
"Under the new Firearms Act we're not allowed to keep a lot of ammunition. It felt like the end of the World."
Landman said the fire, which started at an informal settlement near Wakkerstroom, had been fanned by a strong wind.
"It was spreading at more than 100km/h."
Landman said the fire had broken out at about 15:00 on Friday. Soaked towels in water
Within half-an-hour it had spread to his farm, 25km outside Wakkerstroom in the Paul Pietersburg direction.
His wife, Antoinette, 55, and 18-year-old son, Andre, who took refuge in the farmhouse, at one stage thought the house would be razed by the fire.
The couple's daughter-in-law, Corine de Lange, was at home on the farm in the area that she and her husband own. She was looking after their five-month-old baby and two-year-old toddler, while her husband helped fight the flames.
"I soaked towels in case it became life-threatening, but luckily the flames didn't reach our house.
"However, all our grazing was destroyed," she said.
Bertus Burgers, 32, another farmer in the area, lost 99% of his grazing. About 6 800ha were destroyed; 2 000 bales of fodder and 673 ewes in lamb were burnt to death.
"But there's light at the end of the tunnel. We're receiving offers of help from everywhere." Ewes in lamb shot
Burgers said he had to shoot 280 ewes that were badly burnt by the flames, but were still alive.
"I can't describe it, because we really love animals. No money can replace them."
Burgers said the raging wind tore off the roof of a barn. All his kraals, grazing and even poles on the farm were destroyed by the fire.
Landman and Burgers are just two of many farmers who face damage totalling millions of rand.
- Beeld
|
News
