KZN fires to cost millions

2008-09-01 19:05

Durban - At least 14 people have been killed and 59 injured in a spate of runaway fires in KwaZulu-Natal over the weekend.

KwaZulu-Natal's local government MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu said on Monday afternoon that "a total of 636 households were affected".

The fires were worst in the province's uThungulu district - which includes the municipalities of uMhlathuze (Richards Bay), uMlalazi (Eshowe), Nkandla, Mbonambi, Ntambanana and Mthonjaneni (Melmoth).

Mabuyakhulu said that of the 59 people reported to have sustained injuries as a result of the fires at least 45 were from the uThungulu district while 10 of those who died were also from the district.

"The hardest hit areas are the municipalities of Nkandla, Mthonjaneni and uMlalazi. The preliminary assessment indicates that the total loss is estimated to run into millions of rands."

Mabuyakhulu said strong winds had hampered firefighting operations during the weekend. The winds had prevented many of the province's firefighting helicopters and planes from taking off.

Still on full alert

He could not confirm whether the winds had played a role in the crash of a fire bombing plane on Saturday evening.

By Monday afternoon most of the fires were under control. Despite this, the province remained on full alert.

Emergency services were sending food, medical care and temporary shelters to the affected areas.

KwaZulu-Natal premier Sibusiso Ndebele, the agriculture MEC Mtholephi Mthimkulu, social welfare MEC Meshack Radebe and the province's director-general Kwazi Mnagngwa visited the affected areas on Monday afternoon.

Mabuyakhulu said it was too early to determine the cause of the various blazes, but he ruled out lightning.

Caused by human error

"We think these fires were all caused by human errors. None of us can tell whether it was a deliberate act. We are not speculating that it is arson," he said.

He said police would be called in to investigate the cause of the fires and determine blame.

The KwaZulu-Natal Agriculture Union (Kwanalu) said in a statement that concerns had risen that land claims disputes may have been behind some of the fires.

The union, which represents commercial farmers in the province, said: "It is alleged that in some areas where these fires started that they are linked to land claim issues.

"Frustration levels are boiling over and it is believed that fires could help to push people off their land."

Kwanalu chief executive Sandy le Marque said that "this was the message we are getting from the ground (from members)."

She said the areas where Kwanalu members had reported their concerns were in the Underberg, Winterton and Melmoth areas.

In its statement, signed by Le Marque and union president Robin Barnsley, the union criticised both local municipalities as well the telecommunications sector.

"Farming communities have spent the past few days fighting fires whilst little or no support has been forthcoming from municipalities and their officials," the statement read. According to the statement, in the Melmoth area the blaze destroyed more than 5 000 hectares, 3 hectares of avocado's, 113 hectares of sugar cane.

The union reported that in the in the Ntambanana area more than 10,000 hectares went up in flames. The area is primarily a subsistence agriculture area.

"Whilst fighting fires and putting our lives at risk we had no communications, our Telkom cables were either stolen or burnt, cellphone networks both MTN and Vodacom were not operational or we had no signals. "How do we try and save lives, homesteads etc with no communications?"

Earlier operations manager for Rural Metro, Dave Whitaker, said the wind had died down overnight, allowing firefighters to gain the upper hand. He said it was still too early to estimate the damage caused in the uThungulu district.

"I cannot even begin to tell you how many homes have been lost," he said.

1 200 displaced

Melmoth Protection Services officer Derek Horne said that fires in the area had been brought under control in the early hours of Monday morning.

On Sunday evening motorists had been warned to avoid using the R66 and R34 roads. Horne said the warning had been lifted and that there were no fires near the roads.

In a statement on Monday, Zululand Mayor Veronica KaMagwaza-Msibi said at least 225 houses and also grazing land had been destroyed throughout their district, which includes Nongoma, Ulundi, Phongola, Edumbe and Vryheid.

As a result, more than 1 200 people had been displaced by fires that had started at midday on Sunday.

- SAPA