Siyavuya Mzantsi
ARSONISTS are suspected to be behind the Somerset West fires which have caused more than R50 million in damages and destroyed several properties, and affected production in some farms in the surrounding areas.
This was according to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister and Disaster Management head Des Van Rooyen following his assessment of the damage caused by the wildfires in the past week.
Hundreds of firefighters from across the country were deployed to the Western Cape to battle the fires which have ravaged parts of the province, including 3 000ha of veld on the Lourensford and Vergelegen estates. The fires causing large damage to Lourensford Wine Estate owned by billionaire retail tycoon Christo Wiese.
The City confirmed an investigation is underway into the cause of the fires and is willing to give a reward to anyone with information.
Van Rooyen, along with Local Government and Environmental Affairs MEC Anton Bredell and safety and security mayco member JP Smith updated the media about the status of wildfires which had led to some residents and hundreds of animals being evacuated.
The fire has been brought under control but firefighters were yesterday battling the flare-ups, according to officials.
“As you are all aware, this is everyone’s fight. It’s not only going to take us as government to stop it. It requires all roleplayers to come on board. I think we should commend all stakeholders who have participated collaboratively so in this effort.
“According to the presentation and information that we received earlier on, it clearly shows that the sources of these fires are mainly human. Now, it tells that we need to focus on that area because prevention of such activities is far cheaper than having to manage these fires as we do now,” he said.
Van Rooyen said it would be important that the parties intensify their relationship in efforts to educate the public about importance of preventing such incidents.
“We are spending a lot of money that should be utilized to other pressing developments. The other area that we discussed is the need to intensify our enforcement aspects. We really need to work together with the justice cluster in confirming the severity of the matters and deal with those who start these fires,” he said.
Smith said they were following up on the information that had been provided to them by various people.
“We are asking the public to come forward with information that could assist us. We are willing to put up a reward. We need to prevent people from causing such fires,” he said.