Minister to visit fire zones
2003-09-02 12:59
Nelspruit - Provincial and local government minister Sydney Mufamadi will visit Mpumalanga on Wednesday to assess the damage caused by ravaging fires over the past two weeks.
Mpumalanga's local government spokesperson Simphiwe Kunene said on Tuesday that Mufamadi would also take a report of the damage, estimated at R150-million, to the cabinet for consideration.
Mufamadi has already declared Mpumalanga's Lowveld a disaster area after the biggest fires in the region in 20 years gutted about 40 000 hectares of commercial forestry plantations and private farms in the Nelspruit and Lydenburg areas.
"The overall damage is not quantified yet and the minister will be briefed by stakeholders on the extent of the damage," Kunene said.
Lowveld and Escarpment Fire Protection Association ground operations co-ordinator Simon du Plooy said that most of the fires were extinguished towards the end of last week, while the persistent one in Maritzkop was put out on the weekend.
The province had to call in firefighters from Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg to help fight the blaze.
"Now, we can safely say that all the fires have been contained and extinguished," Du Plooy said.
But he warned that it was too early to celebrate because the weather remained hot with little humidity in the air.
"The weather is certainly not good. Winds can still cause embers to flare up," said Du Plooy.
Thaba Chweu lost entire swaths of its crucial forestry sector around Wilgeboom near Graskop, Hendriksdal and Brondal near Sabie. Two sawmills were destroyed in the blaze, and large amounts of plantation equipment ranging from hand tools to vehicles were also destroyed.
Damage around the capital, Nelspruit, was largely confined to commercial nut and citrus orchards in Cairn, Uplands, White River Estates and Alkmaar.
The latest fire breakouts were in Maritzkop, Graskop, Mariti, Kaapschehoop and Amsterdam last week and were easily contained.
The Lowveld fire has so far claimed just one life - a firefighter who was run over by a truck while working in dense smoke two weeks ago.
Du Plooy said that three people were treated for smoke inhalation and an eight old girl from Brondal burned her feet.
In the Highveld, where small fires broke out in a few places, a Witbank farmer and his wife died on Monday last week while helping neighbours to fight a fire.
Kallie Klopper, 50, and his 40-year-old wife, Leonie, were engulfed in flames and died.
Insurance experts have already warned that most small-scale farmers were not insured and were at a greater risk of losing their livelihoods.