Winter: Bennett’s farm up in flames
SITEKI – Former Senator and Businessman Walter Bennett’s farm situated at Mhlumeni, closer to the cordon line separating Eswatini and Mozambique, caught fire on Monday night.
The National Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services personnel subsequently spent two hours battling the flames.
As the winter season is associated with uncontrollable wildfires, the farm was the first casualty in the Lubombo Region. It has been established that the open cordon line had overgrown of vegetation, which exacerbated the blazing flames.
It remained unknown the source of the fire, as suspicion was rife that it might have been started on the other side of the cordon line.
Fire personnel from the Siteki Fire and Emergency Station acted swiftly and rushed to the scene to put out the flames that were spreading under the cold windy conditions.
According to a source close to the matter, the firefighters received a call from Mhlumeni community members, informing them about the fire that had caused them to panic, as it was spreading fast. The source stated that the community members feared that the fire might wreack-havoc in their homes.
“We were panicking as the farm is situated closer to our homes and the fire was threatening to spread into our homesteads. We had to call the firefighters to come and put it out. We suspect that the fire might have been started by people who were smoking and were crossing to Mozambique,” said the source.
Suspected
The businessman also said he was not sure on what caused the fire but suspected that it might have been started at the other side of the cordon line.
Bennett further encouraged the Ministry of Agriculture to clear the route of the cordon line to ensure that fires were controlled.
He also did not rule out that the fire might have been started by people who entered his farm for hunting purposes.
“I hope the officials tasked with clearing the route of the cordon line would continue to clear it to safeguard against such incidents,” he said.
Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary (PS) Sydney Simelane, said he was yet to get a full report on the incident.
“I have been held up for the past two days due to meetings. However, I will try to check on the matter,” he said.
Worth mentioning is that the fire was controlled before spreading to a large area within the farm.
Meanwhile, Xolani Dlamini, Director of Livestock in the Ministry of Agriculture, pointed out that government’s insufficient funds had resulted in the current state of the fence between the two countries.
Dlamini said once funds were available, government would prioritise the re-fencing project of the borderlines.
Lomahasha residents demanded government’s swift action in re-fencing borderlines on suspicion that their cattle were stolen and smuggled to the other side.